A review by iffer
Smaller and Smaller Circles by F.H. Batacan

4.0

Although the ending *did* seem a bit pat, I really enjoyed this. The language was straightforward to read, but effectively conjured the setting and characters for me. Perhaps it was mostly because this book is set in the Philippines and by a Filipina author, but it felt different enough to feel refreshing, while still containing all the characteristics of crime fiction that make it so widely appealing. Some of the descriptions of the side characters' situations interrupted the story. I can see why other readers might mind these, but I liked the way in which it provided a look at a cross-section of those living in the Manila/Quezon City part of the Philippines. I really enjoyed the two priests as investigators, wish that this were a series.