I was drawn to this book by the cover: very striking, I thought. I like the dress, the upright and poised woman, and the lime green! I don't think I've read anything by this author before but her name seemed familiar, and the title was intriguing enough, so I dived in. And from the outset, this is indeed a strange story which seemed to wrongfoot me time and again with the twists and turns of the plot.

It's a startling opening. Sally Diamond lives alone with her father and when she discovers him dead, she does what he always said he wanted her to do: she puts him out with the rubbish. Naturally this causes shock and horror with friends and neighbours. But Sally doesn't think she's done anything wrong.

Just who is Sally, then, that she should behave in this way? It takes some time before we feel we've got the measure of her, or the book. Is this humour or horror? Or somewhere in between?

Actually as we get to know Sally better - and I found that I couldn't stop turning the pages as her story was compelling and intriguing - we discover her sad and troubling past. This goes some way to explaining the sort of person she has become. 

I still feel slightly uncomfortable liking this book! It's certainly very dark in places. But it's unusual and clever with a mystery to be solved, characters and their motives to decipher. I couldn't put it down.