A Dangerous Business

Smiley read about the history of Monterey, California and walked through the city during the period she wrote the novel.^[2][3]

In a review published by The Guardian, Erica Wagner wrote that the novel was "startlingly flat and unsatisfying".^[4] Writing for NPR, Heller McAlpin noted that the novel was inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and referred to it as "a sort of perfumed 'Poe-Pourri'".^[1] McAlpin also noted that the novel was one of several by Smiley with "inspiration in classic fiction".^[1] Smiley's novel A Thousand Acres draws from King Lear, and her novel The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton draws from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.^[1]