The Black Prince (Vintage Classics Murdoch Series)

The book is so great, I almost feel it has magic powers. It’s tragic, comic, mysterious, thought-provoking and so much more than the sum of its parts. It manages to be both a great detective story and a great love story at the same time. It’s the only book I’ve ever read that feels as if it encapsulates all of life and the human experience.

Sophie Hannah, New York Times

A source of wonder and delight...No summary can do justice to the rich intricacy of character and incident with which Miss Murdoch crowds every page

Spectator

This is great Murdoch. It rings as clear as The Bell...her humour is all the more achingly funny because she keeps it on the edge of our vision

Daily Mail

Iris Murdoch's marvellous, heroic novel...A gloriously rich tale

The Times

More than almost any other writer, she understands the currents beneath the surface: the way that inappropriate crushes, egotism, loathing, loneliness, can overcome apparently calm lives and leave disaster, even death, behind.

Charlotte Mendelson, Guardian

Funny, learned and lyrical, I urge you (re)visit it

Piers Plowright, Tablet, *Books of the Year*

Murdoch is at the height of her powers in this novel, combining a complex plot with a heartrending analysis of the meaning of love

Good Book Guide