Reviews of An Absolute Gentleman (Links are to full reviews, and take some time loading.)

Entertainment Weekly

"a blade-sharp debut . . . Kinder's prose adroitly plumbs the inner life of an intellectual sociopath who brings equal precision to writing and killing." --Ben Spier

Booklist

"chilling in its normalcy, haunting in its intensity, and stunning in its portrayal of sheer, sadistic, madness. . . a pitch-perfect rendition of the cunning malevlence that can lie hidden beneath the guise of refined civility."--CarolHaggas Starred review. Not available on-line without subscription. Print version August 2007, p. 31.

Publishers Weekly

"you may never look quite the same way at that punctilious little man down the street. . . . this artfully told tale of psychological suspense is as gripping as the spider webs Blume is so fond of studying." Not available on-line without subscription. Print version August 13, 2007.

San Francisco Chronicle

"Can you ever really know someone? That is the question that will haunt people after reading R. M. Kinder's chilling first novel." --June Sawyers

St. Louis Post Dispatch (lead review in print version)

"An impressive debut novel . . . Her chilling portrayal of Blume, a dispassionate professor at a 'backwater university' in mid-Missouri who happens to be a serial killer of women, rings true to a spooky degree. He can be an absolute gentleman or an absolute terror." --Dale Singer

Kirkus

"Blume's personality disorder makes him a prissy, fastidious monster, critical of other serial killers' cruder methods, but a monster nonetheless." (starred review)

The Kansas City Star

"Kinder has the chops to telegraph the story but make the language sing as she does so."--John Mark Eberhart

Los Angeles Times

"[Blume] may ask 'How could I be evil and not know it, since I recognize it when I see it?' But Kinder's precision and care here . . . brings the lie of that question to the reader with quiet brilliance."--Sarah Weinman

NewsDay (Reprint of foregoing)

Sacramento News and Reviews

"a fascinating study of a twisted mind . . ." Traci J. Macnam

Charlotte Observer

"I usually avoid the 'inside the mind of a serial killer' genre, but this one hooked me. . . . It's a great read." Salem Macknee