This is a much slower-moving book than most Francises, almost as if he is coming to enjoy describing situations without tightening them into reader-garrotting tension. There are one or two blind alleys too: the knifer is discovered (Tim just meets him socially), but let go without contributing anything really vital to the plot. Leakage of information at the office is similarly cleared up; the story would have been the same without it. And womenfolk, normally one of Francis’s strongest points, are less striking than usual, the bouncing schoolgirl something of a stereotype, the fascination of the chief’s wife stated but not shown.