“Excellent . . . short and brisk, propelled by the suspense of multiple questions . . . deft and gripping. Ciment writes with a mordant intelligence and, refreshingly, doesn’t belabor topics that in someone else’s novel might take up many pages. I was left unsettled by this deft and gripping novel, and also deeply impressed.” ~ Curtis Sittenfeld, The New York Times

“Stark and absorbing . . . scathingly funny . . . a smart, compact, refreshingly unsentimental exploration of the persistence of desire amid the fact of death.” ~ Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

“Ciment’s incisive language turns The Body in Question into a profound story about mortality and the mysteries of human behavior . . . I happily could’ve been sequestered for a while longer within the confines of Ciment's smart and disturbing novel.” ~ Maureen Corrigan, NPR/Fresh Air

Two sequestered jurors on a tabloid-worthy Florida murder trial tumble into an impassioned, illicit affair in this engaging, empathetic novel . . . part love story, part whodunit, part coming-of-old-age tale. This honest, mature look at life and love adds to a growing body of evidence leading to a decisive verdict: Ciment is an author well worth reading. ~ Kirkus (Starred Review)

Ciment, a virtuoso of the situational novel, has created a hypnotizing, forked tale of trust and guilt, masks and doubling, lies and desire, life and death. As she stealthily readjusts the depth of field and provokes the reader into questioning testimony personal and judicial in this intricately unsettling tale of morality and longing, Ciment dramatizes the anguish of betrayal, age, and illness and the many forms that acts of love can take. ~ Donna Seaman, Booklist