Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: Over-rated

This is my first (and possibly last) Iris Murdoch novel. Although I'm not a fan of the mystery genre, I was looking forward to reading it. The central plot involving the suicide or possible murder of a civil servant involved in black magic is surpisingly uninteresting, the pace plodding and the 'revelation' predictable. The periphary characters are heavy-handed from the all too free-spirited civil servant couple to the all too anguished Dachau survivor. The only sub-plot of interest involves an adolescent crush which also gives the book its rare suspense. The coincidentals of the plot are absurd to the point of being Dickensian and the story ties up altogether too neatly (and happily) although I did enjoy the final irony of the love-sick teenagers. I'll stick to Cormac McCarthy for my debate on good, evil and the nature of man