A strictly private affair, ["Original Sin"] concerns a man's struggle for understanding of himself after he has pushed his wife's head far enough down beneath the bath water to give her everlasting peace….

[Mr. Tabori is not content with the obvious motives.] Unfortunately for the book, its author digs … deeper in his search for motives and uncovers a ganglion of complexes in Tristan Manasse. It is in this part of the story, where the author forsakes the outward facts to probe into hidden guilts and fears in Tristan's subconscious, that the theme of murder trails off into ambiguity.

Yet "Original Sin" cannot be dismissed too lightly because it has not been well enough thought out, for, despite the muddled analysis, it contains writing which puts Mr. Tabori's talent beyond question. Not easily to be forgotten are the sand-strewn streets where stunned passers-by search the sky for a token...