[In the following review, the anonymous critic provides a favorable assessment of The Courts of Love.]

The one novella and nine stories that make up this collection [The Courts of Love] simply show a master at work. In this her 14th book, Gilchrist will be courting new fans and satisfying old ones. The novella, Nora Jane and Company continues to chart the travails of Nora Jane, who first posed as a nun in a robbery and later managed to birth twin girls from different fathers. One shows up unexpectedly in a bizarre twist that opens up the plot of the work. Then Gilchrist takes up a terrorist-style murder carried out by a Muslim sect. That she then drops it like a hot potato is less troubling than it would be for a writer less skilled. The author has moved on, clearly, to the next story. And her aim is always true. The social commentary she offers is subtle but nonetheless skewers current educational practices with pokes like this: “I don't like her taking Ritalin. I don't think they ought to be giving her drugs … “I'm about sick of this multicultural stuff … All we do is waste time.” The remaining short stories mostly tackle the adventures of adulterous rich white women in the South. And if it's more of the same so be it.