The bit where the suspense plays out is actually one of the best bits of the book; she's quite cunning in the way she structures this so that you can't guess what's going to happen to the characters at this point (although I cheated and flipped ahead). And she makes very good use of flashbacks. The artificiality came in having a link made between two characters at the end which doesn't seem to add anything to her themes - unless I've missed something obvious (distinct possibility).

I think I've managed to get away without spoiling anything here, should you ever choose to read it...!

Pestilence... *shivers*