Ripley's Game ~ Patricia Highsmith (1974)

Absolute gArbage! Most boring book I've ever plodded through, full of
ridiculous pointless garrottings and shootings and people doing things
for no particular reason. Characters who were almost impossible to
tell apart. (The 2 French wifes were practically identical.) Language
that often sounded as if it had been churned out by a demented TomTom
with a serious wiring deficiency. There were loads of tortuous
constructions which kept jumping out and assaulting my brain but I
forgot to keep track of them to give examples. One I can still
remember, towards the end was 'When it came time for lunch'. Huh ??!!
This isn't even Americanese (something I occasionally thought of to
forgive some of the other howlers) as far as I know. It's just nOt
something a native speaker would ever say. The only reason I kept
reading is that I thought vaguely that Highsmith was regarded as a
'respected writer' in her genre and I kept thinking that it would
surely get better. It didn't. Who reads these things? And why?