Alyson Rudd writes: I like a good argument but none of the Books group members disagrees with me: this is a fabulous novel. To judge from the e-mails, Patricia Highsmith's style impressed you the most. She does not present each murder, or thoughts of murder, with a drum roll. Tom Ripley is prepared to kill and Highsmith was confident in her ability to explain why that should be. There is no need for her suddenly to become excited or moralistic about it.

Ripley desperately wants a better life. He feels he has worked hard for no gain and is on the lookout for short cuts. One night the father of Dickie Greenleaf approaches him in New York. Would Ripley travel to Europe and try to make Dickie see sense? Dickie's father is worried that his son is wasting his time in Italy. It seems too good to be true; Ripley is being paid to escape his tedious life and his dull friends. When Tom finds Dickie he is disappointed. Dickie has a girlfriend, Marge, and neither wants to befriend him. But Ripley is not swayed. He wants Dickie to like him and he takes an instant, jealous, dislike to Marge. In a reckless attempt to win over Dickie, Ripley tells him the truth, that he has been paid to convince Dickie to return home.

Ripley is lucky. Dickie is amused and wants to hear all about it. Ripley moves into his new friend's house, they go on outings and sail together most days. Marge is annoying but life is sweet until Dickie discovers Tom trying on his clothes. Understandably Dickie decides Tom is becoming too close. The friendship cools. Ripley rails at the unfairness of it all and murders Dickie; not in anger but in pique. Ripleys character might seem unrealistic but In Cold Blood, Truman Capote's detailed account of the real-life killers of the Clutter family (which was a previous Books group choice), gives us another killer very matter of fact about murder and too self-absorbed to notice any moral angle. Highsmith understands all too well that a killer can be intelligent, entertaining, highly regarded but full of an indignation with society that can fuel murder.

Tom pretends to be Dickie and cashes the cheques sent to his son from Mr Greenleaf. He feels no remorse, only annoyance that Marge is worried and agitation that he might stumble upon someone who knows him as Tom while he is pretending to be Dickie. Astoundingly, Ripley remains capable of seeing beauty around him. His aesthetic appreciation of Europe actually increases once he has become a brutal killer. Even more astoundingly we, the readers, will Tom, who remains childlike and eager to impress, to succeed. He had avoided Venice for fear of being disappointed by it and when he falls in love with the city, we are somehow glad for him.

With a favourite film it is best not to get the director's cut, or some disillusion may set in; so too with a favourite novel. Read it first and then decide if the film will spoil your enjoyment of a re-read. The Talented Mr Ripley is a case in point.

Mary Hodgson, Coventry

Tom is the typical loner. I was reminded of Salinger's Catcher in the Rye in the opening pages. Here he was, detached, remote, friendless, disparaging of acquaintances, sponging off others, engaging in childish and irritating pranks, drifting round the metropolis. It was all rather preppie, and amoral. Where Highsmith shows her expertise, however, is not simply in the creation of Tom's character; it also lies in the shifts she makes to the plot. After Tom has become close friends with Dickie, she changes up a gear and moves us into the arena of personal combat through the presence of Marge, who sees Tom as a rival for Dickie's affections. This of course paves the way for the first murder, and reminds us of the opening chapter. What is so stimulating about this novel is the dispassionate manner in which Highsmith presents the character of Tom. There is no hint of personal comment; the reader is left to decide. And in the end, despite the horrors of his crimes, we want Tom to survive. Is this because we think that once he has escaped he will commit no more such crimes?

Brian Trundle, Leeds

The tension starts from the very first sentence, and the pacy narrative corners Ripley ever tighter. As a thriller, it is masterfully written, but makes some key departures from the standard genre fare - it is told favouring the criminal's point of view, there is a lack of moral judgement, and in the end Ripley goes unpunished (he even ends up wealthy). Ripley starts off bitter - he is a "have not", envious of the "haves". With luck, and some success at petty crimes, his lies get deeper and crimes graver. I find his transition to a premeditated murderer something of a leap, but there remains something incredibly believable about him. There is a lot of the author in Ripley - the tortured sexuality, the class consciousness and cool intelligence. On its publication it must have been shocking, yet it retains real impact to this day. It is interesting to note that in the recent film a key change was made, in that Ripley ends up a prisoner of his loneliness. It seems that, even today, we find it hard to accept the idea of a criminal walking away with a smile on his face.

Simon Reid, London

I couldn't put this book down. I thought that having seen the film first might spoil the suprise, but it didn't at all, except that I could only see Tom as a blond! I have gone straight to the library to get the next in the series.

Tracey Smith, Newcastle upon Tyne

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