Customer Reviews (11)

It is a bit overlong
Readers new to Ruth Rendell will not likely mind the length, but many of us miss the usual clear cut and to the point style of her earlier works. I will mention that her novels under the Barbara Vine psuedonym are a different story altogether.Those books are lengthy because of the nature of the material in those books.Still this is an engrossing mystery and with a suitably unexpected solution at the end.

Stick to the plot, will you?
Allow me to begin with a fatuous little complaint: The cover art on my paperback edition created the impression among peers that I was reading a romance novel. As a 20something heterosexual male, I found this rather annoying. A good mystery novel should not embarrass the reader!

Cover art aside, I found Gunner's Daughter less enjoyable than I expected. Ms Rendell is a competent writer and has woven a fair number of plot threads together, but the work as a whole was somewhat unsatisfying. It was, I told others when describing the book, as if a romance novelist had written a murder mystery without changing her style. Too many paragraphs are devoted to things which I would just as soon have left out; I understand the desire to portray full and multifaceted characters, but could the protagonist please spend less time agonizing over his prospective son-in-law, for instance? The plot dragged needlessly at times, and in these instances I fell back on pure determination to see the story through rather than intense personal interest in the characters or the writing. Reading shouldn't be like that.

Please do not get me wrong- I do not devote my reading hours purely to Travis McGee or Honor Harrington, and when this book was over I was fairly satisfied that my time had been well spent. I simply feel compelled to caution prospective readers who might otherwise be expecting excitement, suspense, or any of the other trappings of a mystery novel.

Good police procedural with a weak ending
Chief Inspector Wexford, protagonist in many Rendell books, investigates the shooting death, in an apparent robbery, of a well-known writer in her home, along with most of her family.The only survivor and eyewitness is the teenage granddaughter, Daisy, wounded and depressed.As the police investigate, a number of suspicious characters complicate the process; while Wexford's own strained relations with his daughter Sheila make Daisy's plight more poignant.

This longish mystery, with well-drawn characters, plenty of red herrings and several social classes, is enjoyable until the end.The book comes to a rapid conclusion, as Wexford uncovers the truth in a burst of insight and detection, while short-changing evidence gathering.

--inotherworlds.com

My Introduction To Reginald Wexford
I read this book in college for a Detective Fiction course and I loved it.I liked this book so much I went on to read about half a dozen other novels that Ruth Rendell has written about Reginald Wexford.This book isn't so much a mysterious whodunnit as it is about the private life of the detective, Reginald Wexford.It is pretty easy to figure out who commited the murders at the beginning of the book, but Wexford's reasoning is clouded somewhat by his personal life and his relationship with his younger daughter Sheila.If you aren't interested in reading a novel that is mostly social commentary, as most of the Wexford novels are, and are more into a murder mysteries that are hard to figure out, then this may not be the novel for you.If you are interested in reading about social trends that are current, and are written in an interesting fashion, I strongly recommmend this book.

a compelling mystery
A great story; good to the last word in the book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Excruciatingly Boring
I never thought the words "excruciatingly boring" could be applied to any novel by this great author but, sadly, I can find no other way to describe MASTER OF THE MOOR. Unless you are really interested in nature and don't mind reading page after page of descriptions of every kind of vegetation that can be found on the moors, and when these plants bloom, and why, and for how long, you will find it hard to enjoy this novel. It seemed like Rendell set herself a dubious goal of describing every single inch of the moors and proceeded to do so with a mind-numbing perseverance.

Usually, Rendell is amazing at creating quirky, unusual characters and offering her readers incomparably profound insights into their personalities. For some reason, she fails to do that in this novel. Characters in MASTER OF THE MOOR are schematic and as boring as everything else in the book. There is a host of secondary characters who are so indistinguishable from one another that it's next to impossible to keep track of them.

This isn't a long novel but it drags out so slowly and so little ever happens in it that it feels like it's hundreds and hundreds of boring pages long. All of the author's attempts to create a surprising twist are extremely transparent and one can see what's happening long before these so-called mysteries are revealed. The only good thing about this book is that it is so obviously the worst Rendell has ever written than any other novel by her will absolutely shine in comparison.

A gothic edged mystery from Rendell
This is one of the most atmospheric novels from Ruth Rendell, and is one that will keep you on edge. The narrator discovers a young woman's body in his beloved moor and becomes obsessed as he discovers the murderer's lair.I did spot the culprit in this one, but it will probably keep you guessing through most of the book.

Creepy!!
Wasn't sure whether to go for 3 or 4 stars, so I'll settle for 3 and 1/2.It's an interesting thriller with a clever creepiness about it.An intriguing tale of a chap who adores the moors by his house.He knows their every nook and cranny and therefore is the immediate suspect when he discovers the body of a young woman there.

Rendell never says, but I felt this was set in Yorkshire with maybe the Old Town somewhere like Otley. A short book but that's in it's favour and I really liked the build up to the twist but maybe the horror-craver in me would have liked the story to end before the last paragraph as that would have made it more chilling for me.

ADORE, ADORE, ADORE Ruth Rendell
If you were to check out my reading journal you'd see an AWFUL lot of Ruth Rendell in it, as she's one of the most consistently wonderful writers I've ever encountered. Then again, if you're checking out my reading journal I'd need to have a strong word with you, as I'm not quite sure I've given you permission.

_Master of the Moor_ is absolutely fan-tabulously well-written, and what's best about it is the denouement is revealed very, very slowly. There's no sudden "Whoops!Surprise, it's a psychopath!" here. It's one long, slow build up to a conclusion you hopefully won't have anticipated, though after you close the book you may find yourself feeling rather silly you missed the clues.But don't feel too silly, as I missed them, too.

Wonderful stuff!

Reluctant Reader
The book Master of the Moor by Ruth Rendell is a very suspenseful book.It will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire novel.You will continue to wonder what is going to happen next.The book goes a little slow at times, but it is a mystery that will keep you guessing.This book was very well written and was easy to follow.

This novel is about a young man, Stephen Whalby, who loves taking walks through the vangmoore.The vangmoore is an abandoned lead mine that is considered eerie and not many people go there.Whalby was taking a walk, through the moor one day, when he found the body of a strangled girl whose hair was basically shaved off. When he reported the body to the police, they were suspicious that Whalby had murdered the girl himself.Then there was a second woman that was found in the moor that had been murdered also.People became scared because they lived near the moor and they felt that they could be next.

Whalby's odd marriage starts to fall apart. His family begins to think that he is the person who murdered the two young girls. His life begins to take crazy turns.What happens next?Read the book to find out.I would suggest reading this book if you enjoy mysteries and suspense books. ... Read more

Product Description
She waits for him in the dark, her mind and body perfect, passive, until one day, when he goes to the cellar, and she is gone . . .

In A Demon in My View, Ruth Rendell creates a character as frightening as he is fascinating. Mild-mannered Arthur Johnson has never known how to talk to women. And his loneliness has perverted his desire for love and respect into a carefully controlled penchant for violence. One floor below him, a scholar finishing his thesis on psychopathic personalities is about to stumble—quite literally—upon one of Arthur's many secrets. Haunting and intelligent, A Demon in My View shows the startling results of this chilling alchemy of two very disparate minds—one pathological and the other obsessed with pathology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

An Early Classic by the Incomparable Rendell
This is one of the psychological thrillers that made Ruth Rendell the indisputable queen of the genre. Who else but this amazing author could have chosen a psychopatic serial killer as a protaginist of her novel and managed to make him the most sympathetic character of the book? Rendell puts her readers into the mind of her characters in a way that no other mystery writer can match.

This short novel is beautifully structured. Every scene, every word of it make sense and serve a purpose. The story seems deceptively simple but it draws you in in an inexorably seductive way. Every single character is so vividly described that you will remember this entire cast of characters for a long time after you finish reading this book.

I hope that more of Rendell's fantastic early classics come out in Kindle format.

Wow!This book chilled me to the bone
I don't want to spoil anything, but Ms. Rendell has created a monster of a character in Arthur Johnson...talk about unhinged!!!
My only tiny nitpick was that I would have liked more with "the other Johnson"...yes, I really felt his pain concerning his true love, but I wanted a bit more.And all the other characters were great...
With that being said, this book will have you biting your nails off and wanting to read it from beginning to end in one sitting (which you can since the book is really short!).Absolutely loved it!!And the ending...you'll want to stand up and cheer!Highly recommended.

Buyer beware!
The first time I ordered this book through Amazon, there were duplicate pages and missing pages. I let Amazon know about the problem and requested a second copy.Unfortunately the second copy Amazon sent of this Ruth Rendell masterpiece had the same problem.

I plan to order it from another source.I wish you luck if you order this book through Amazon.

Psychological Thriller--4 1/2 star quality
This small book starts out slowly but soon picks up speed such that you can hardly wait to see what will happen.It has some dark but subtle comedic elements too--especially with the two characters named A. Johnson.It seems more thriller than mystery--certainly not a whodoneit.The psychological elements are very interesting if you are into psychology--especially the method of coping with the central pathology.It does have a number of problematic coincidences--especially two related ones at the very end.I could almost guess the final one.Still, it was a satisfying book, my first Rendell too.I shall read more.

The mind of a psychopath
In this thriller, Mrs Rendell portrays a 50 year old psychopath called Arthur Johnson. He fits exactly the definition of a psychopathic person. He is asocial, self centred, impulsive and suffers from an acute anxiety nurosis. He has a strong need to preserve an immaculate ego, he is paranoiac, fears retribution and has an urgent need to be thought well by all people. And men like him cannot be reassured because their belief in their own worthlessness is so intense. Self-confidence cannot be implanted in Arthur anymore at the age of 50. That's why he fears other people - they represent a menace to his own integrity - and so he lives in private isolation.
Characteristically for a psychotic mind, Arthur is unable to form emotional relationships and he has no social ways of coping with his frustrations. This is certainly why Arthur keeps a plastic shop window model in his cellar. This model is dressed in his Auntie Gracie's clothes - for him she is the image of a mother, wife, counsellor, housekeeper and sole friend - which Arthur delights in "strangulating" regularly at night.
A very good thriller which shows that Mrs Rendell understands how a psychopathic mind works and how it can go awry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Review
An Unkindness of Ravens (1985) is the first Rendell novel I have read for four years, and it shows her gifts�characterisation and plotting�at their best, as she combines a scathing look at political extremism, the psychology of adolescent girls, and a gripping police procedural, with themes of feminism, extremism, teenagers vs. parents, women vs. men, poor vs. rich, and paedophilia.

At the heart of the story is Rodney Williams, a missing bigamist, �two different men�One middle-aged, set in his ways, bored maybe, taking his family for granted, the other young still, even swinging � making the grade with a young wife�, and suspected of having paedophiliac tendencies.It must be noted that the fine revelation of his true character is a genuine surprise.Williams� murder�stabbed through the heart, most probably by one of his two wives�seems to coincide with a series of stabbing attacks carried out on men approaching, or approached by, young women��an extraordinary picture Budd�s story had created and one which appealed to his imagination.The dark wet night, the knife flashing purposefully, even frenziedly, the girl running into the rain with a sack slung over her shoulder.It was like an illustration in a fairy book of Andrew Lang, elusive, sinister, and other-worldly�.It transpires that these women are all members of the feminist organisation A.R.R.I.A., whose emblem is a �raven woman [with] a face like Britannica or maybe Boadicea, one of those noble, handsome, courageous, fanatical faces, that made you feel like locking up the knives and reaching for the Valium�.It is the raven emblem�and its followers�that gives the book its title, for ravens are �not soft and submissive.The collective noun for them is an �unkindness�.An Unkindness of Ravens.Appropriate, wouldn�t you say?In their attitude to the opposite sex anyway.They stab at us with knives rather than beaks.�Despite her liberal politics, Rendell is clearly against extremism, although she makes the point that �revolutionaries are always extreme.Look at the Terror of 1793, look at Stalinism.If they're not, if they compromise with liberalism, all their principles fizzle out and you're back with the status quo�That�s what's happened to the broader women�s liberation movement.�

Chief Inspector Wexford, as always, is actively detecting, showing his human side as well as his intelligence, as he tracks down clues and suspects, continually making comparisons to literature and to history.Although the surprising ending, well-clued, shows Rendell�s interest in psychology, with terms such as solipsism, folie à deux, and Freudian seduction theory being tossed around with gay abandon, there is not too much psychology, even though Wexford feels �he sounded like a psychotherapist, though any interrogating policeman was one of those�, and Burden�s familial problems do not intrude.

Quite simply, a modern classic of detective fiction, tense and gripping, a book genuinely �unable to be put down�. ... Read more

Product Description
It was better than a hotel, this anonymous room on a secluded side street of a small country town. No register to sign, no questions asked, and for five bucks a man could have three hours of undisturbed, illicit lovemaking.

Then one evening a man with a knife turned the love nest into a death chamber. The carpet was soaked with blood -- but where was the corpse?

Meanwhile, a beautiful, promiscuous woman is missing -- along with the bundle of cash she'd had in her pocket. The truth behind it all will keep even veteran mystery fans guessing through the very last page.


From the Paperback edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Mr. Smith
Today Ruth Rendell is well known as a writer of thrillers with a fair amount of psychological tension in them. Wolf to the Slaughter is one of her earlier Inspector Wexford novels, and, while she's a competent writer and Wolf is worth reading, it lacks the edge that characterizes most of her later works. Wolf is police procedural focusing on a suspected murder, but with no body, Wexford and Burden are forced to start with no hard evidence, relying on their intuitions. A wealthy youngwoman fails to return home one night, and although her brother isn't worried, the police are. What follows is a manhunt for a fellow using the name Smith, who rented a "by the evening" room from a local woman who is, in effect, running a flophouse. It's interesting to watch the inspectors ferret out information, gleaning tiny nuggets of clues from various sources and trying to fit them into a coherent picture. Characters are one of Rendell's strengths, and this book is populated with quirky and lively ones. Much zigging and zagging finally leads to a truly surprising ending. Exciting it's not, but it is fascinating.

Wolf to the Slaughter by Ruth Rendell
I really enjoy Ruth Rendell novels, but this was not as good as the others I have read. I'm sure the next one I read will be as good as I always expect.

As Good As It Gets In The Police Procedural Genre
Writing: Exquisite
Plot: Nifty
Suspense Factor: Solid
Entertainment Value: Good if you like procedurals

Despite the tough-sounding title, "Wolf To The Slaughter" is a thoughtful, smart and fairly bloodless police procedural. First published in 1967, this early Rendell is a palate-cleanser to the many overwrought, all-plot-no-character "thrillers" of today.

"Wolf To The Slaughter" is the second in the series featuring Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford. He is canny, cunning and determined. Here, the pursuit of the bad guy is mostly smart tracking of scant leads.There's a missing woman (but no body) to start things off and the plot, as it blooms, presents different challenges for Wexford and his second-in-command, Mike Burden.There's a missing car, a certain lighter, and plenty of mental puzzles along the way.The ending packs a nifty punch.

Along the way, the writing is as good as it gets in the genre. The settings are rich, the minor characters emerge from the landscape in sharp relief.One style element I enjoy is Rendell's series of plain, unassuming sentences capped by a stunning bit of color or just the right detail, relayed with poetic imagery.

I could easily fill a few pages listing favorite passages.Here's one description out of many.

"The furniture was much too small and much too new, to achieve harmony between furniture and noble décor. The elegant gleaming windows towered and shone between skimped bits of flowered cotton like society women fallen on evil days."

One of the greatest surprise twists I've read
It's pretty hard to fool a veteran mystery reader, but this one by Ruth Rendell has one of the most ingenuous and unexpected endings I've come across, and yet it's a supremely logical and believable conclusion.But that's just the tip of the iceburg.Rendell as usual presents living and breathing characters that one cares about.If you haven't encountered Rendell and Inspector Wexford, this is a very good one to start with. And if you're already into the series, don't you dare skip this early one.

Best Mystery Author
"Wolf to the Slaughter" is another in a long line of most excellent mysteries by the greatest living mystery author, Ruth Rendell.Her Inspector Wexler mysteries are not as "dark" as some of her other works, but all of them are absolutely can't-put-down-until-finished stories!!Her psychological twists and turns keep one glued to the story, and sorry when it ends -- as it always does -- with exactly the right/believable solution.I can't get enough of her books and having read most of them, sincerely hope she is busily writing a new one!!! ... Read more

Product Description
Teddy was born in squalor. Now he is a craftsman determined to banish ugliness from his life. Harriet is a beautiful, bored trophy wife who employs a series of repairmen for her sexual satisfaction. And Francine is a college student who witnessed her mother's murder and now must free herself from her father's manipulative second wife. Connected by strands of chance, their lives intersecting in the strangest of ways, these three people are on a journey that will bring them to each other--and to a beautiful ivy-covered home with at least one dead body in the basement....
Amazon.com Review
Nobody does North London squalor better than Ruth Rendell. Describing invivid detail the cultural sewer in which a monster named Teddy Brex growsup, she uses hideous furniture, slovenly housekeeping habits, even hismother's diet while pregnant to root us in the setting's hopeless ugliness.In contrast, Rendell introduces people and places of stunning beauty:Francine, a mentally fragile girl who became mute after witnessing hermother's murder; and Orcadia Cottage, scene of a famous painting that isat the center of much of the story's anguish. "It was far and away the mostbeautiful place he had ever seen," Rendell writes when Teddy--a giftedwoodcrafter--first views the cottage. "The proportions of this hall, thisroom... the windows, the walls, the carpets, the flowers, the furniture,the paintings, all of it dazzled him."

Teddy is another of Rendell's frightening moral cripples, a seeminglyordinary person capable of the vilest crimes. When he becomes obsessed withFrancine after meeting her at art school, we know to expect murder--we just aren't sure when, or who will be the victim. Equally vile is Julia,Francine's stepmother, a psychologist of such immense and malevolentineptness that we would swear she couldn't possibly exist if real lifehadn't taught us otherwise. Other important characters are Harriet, a fadedbeauty who connects the past to the present; Teddy's uncle Keith, who firstrecognizes the boy's madness; and a bright red, lovingly restored Edsel,which becomes a hearse.

Like all of her books, Rendell's latest is really about the secret acts ofinsanity that occur behind closed doors. Among her best books available in paperback are From Doon with Death,A Guilty ThingSurprised, The Keysto the Street, and, from the excellent Inspector Wexford series,Kissing the Gunner'sDaughter, RoadRage, and Simisola. --DickAdler ... Read more

Customer Reviews (61)

Weird book about extremely strange people
I read this book for my book group and did finish it.If it were not for the book group I would have trashed it after the first couple of chapters.I cannot believe anyones imagination can come up with all that happened in this book.

Psychological Thriller
I have never read a better psychological thriller than this one. To me, the most perfect mystery is that in which the reader is sympathetic to the killer. I couldn't believe that I was actually wishing he wouldn't get caught and later I was very sad for him. The book is not only a mystery but a tragedy as well. Most mysteries have murders and cruelty involved but in this story there is so much history of the characters that you feel for them and what tragedy awaits them. I found Sight For Sore Eyes to be a dark, chilling story, yet so fascinating that as cliche as it sounds, I could not put it down.

Deeply disturbing non-Mystery
I'm shuddering a bit as I write this.

I've just finished reading this novel for the first time, and, although I've read many Rendell/Vine novels over the years, this is the first that has disturbed me enough to prompt me to write a review.

GENRE. This book was written by one of the acknowledged all-time greats of the Mystery genre: Ruth Rendell (aka Barbara Vine). Rendell takes her rightful place amongst giants like Agatha Christie and P.D. James. Like James, Rendell--and especially her nom de plume, Vine--is an unusually skillful and artful "profiler" of humankind and our species' various psychological states.

Yet, despite the Mystery pedigree, A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES is not a mystery, at least not in the sense of the literary genre. There is no mystery to solve (save for an incidental sub-plot murder that happened in the past), no clues, no (significant) police presence whatsoever. Well, let me amend that: there ARE clues, but all of them lead us toward an excavation of the human psyche, and the ways in which past events and life experiences contribute to behavioral/mental pathology. This book exemplifies the label "psychological thriller." However, if you read on, you'll see why I believe it could almost function as a Horror novel, in some respects.

STRUCTURE. If you have ever seen an episode of LAW AND ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, but were to extract any mention of police or the criminal justice system, leaving us only with the criminal him/herself, you might have an idea of the structure of this novel. It is, simply put and without revealing any of the plot, the story of a sociopath: his early life, his thoughts, his behavior, his crimes, his pathology. We are pulled along by the momentum of the sociopath and his choices, breathlessly wondering about the who/what/WHY of any future repugnant acts we know are sure to come.

POV. Rendell is one of the few popular authors who can skillfully and elegantly "head-hop"--i.e. take us into the third person Point of View of a number of characters, both major and minor, showing us their inner thoughts and impressions and then rotating amongst them. Yet, she manages to hew closely to the sociopath's perspective throughout the novel. The brilliance of Rendell's technique is such that she never actually has any other character comment on or notice or explain the sociopath's pathological behavior. Rather, she gives us a tidal wave of details---his upbringing, yes, but more importantly, his impressions, mannerisms, ideals, obsessions, and pet peeves----that very gradually telegraph to the reader the nature of this man's pathology. By the time you are 3/4 through the book, you will understand sociopathology in a way that your Pysch 101 textbook could never, on its own, get you to do. You will actually be IN the disturbed person's head, and that makes for a very disturbing experience of its own.

VIOLENT MATERIAL. As thrillers go, this one is bone-chilling...not so much for the methods of the murders (they are mundane and far less flashy/clever than a frequent reader of this genre might even hope) but for the WHY of the murders and for the ways in which they are carried out. The first murder especially is deeply shocking; the reader has been uneasily expecting that the character will snap and do murder, but when it happens, his reasons for murdering and his internal thought processes and pragmatic actions afterward are all dreadful. That's really the best word I can find to describe the whole nasty affair of the murders/sociopath's motivations and actions: dreadful. At the end of the novel, I felt rather as though I had finished a book in the Horror genre, so gruesome were the images and impressions the book planted in my mind. I also felt somewhat as though, as in a Horror novel, the horrors of both the sociopath's acts and his mind itself were presented to the reader almost for the sake of themselves, for the sake of thrilling and us and chilling us with just how vile some acts and thoughts can be...indeed, are.

OTHER NEGATIVE MATERIAL. In my opinion, this book gives rather unforgiving and unpleasant depictions of both lower-income communities/families and mentally ill people (there are other characters besides the sociopath who suffer mental illness). Because there are no positive depictions of members of either of these two groups, the harsh portrait is relentless and a bitdifficult (sometimes even painful) to take. But of course, this adds to the novel's memorable-ness and capacity to thrill the reader with suspenseful twists and turns.

ENDING. There is closure of a sort to be had here, but I think you will be happier with the ending if you don't take the police-procedural perspective of a standard Mystery novel. My advice is to go into this novel expecting simply a psychological profile of a killer, and an A to B to C record of how and why he kills. Then, the ending will likely sitwith you just fine.

RECOMMENDED FOR.I recommend this to people who are looking for a very well-written, page-turning thriller that completely engrosses a reader without demanding an intellectual investment (trust me, all you need to do is sit back and go along for the ride). I recommend it also to people who are looking for an "in-between" genre type of novel; this one is a combination of Thriller/Suspense, Mystery, and even Horror. I recommend you have the mental equivalent of a "strong stomach;" the images and ideas in this novel are deeply disturbing and will not leave your mind readily upon your turning the last page and shutting the back cover.

I do *Not* recommend this book to readers who are easily discomfited, to readers looking for positive/encouraging depictions of people living with mental illness, or to people who strongly prefer the conventional police procedural/Mystery format (to the exclusion of other genres).

Another Gem in Her Crown
"A Sight for Sore Eyes," by Ruth Rendell, the prolific, best-selling, award-winning British mystery writer who's frequently acclaimed the Queen of Suspense, is certainly another gem in her crown.

The child Francine Hill has been scolded and sent to her room for breaking one of her mum's vinyl records.While she's up there, a man enters the house and murders her mother.Francine will not speak for nine months afterward.Her widowed father will marry Julia, one of the child specialists working with her; and what a mistake that will prove to be.

Harriet Oxenholme was once a beauty, her looks captured in a widely-admired picture.But now, unlike the well-known book by Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray ; her looks are fading fast, and all that remains is the picture.However, she still wants company.

Teddy Brex has been dragged up by two feckless, neglectful parents.He's now a handsome, talented, resentful, cold young man.

Rendell is far too clever and inventive to have these characters bouncing off each other in the lazy style of American TV shows.She juggles each separately, and builds her plot rationally, brick neatly upon brick, as Teddy builds his work.Her writing is smooth, elegant and flexible; dialog and description are first-rate.And I swear, as she builds to her powerful conclusion, she loses nothing: the woman catches everything she's thrown.

A Beguiling Masterwork
This is surely one of Rendell's masterworks, a beguiling psychological thriller that draws the reader in like candy offered to a greedy child.

Teddy Brex and Francine Hill are damaged teens who meet by chance and are drawn together as though magnetized. Teddy, born in squalor and denied love throughout his life, worships beauty and thinks he has found his ideal in Francine. Francine, who witnessed her mother's murder as a child, sees him as salvation from the cloistered life she's been forced to live by her father's manipulative second wife.

Teddy's obsession with beauty brings a third party, Harriet, a bored trophy wife, into his sphere. Teddy covets the house in which Harriet lives and sees it as the ultimate setting for his life with Francine.

The intersection of these lives is guaranteed to have the reader biting his fingernails in anticipation of a tragic outcome. But, just when you think you know what's coming next, Rendell tosses in a curve.
... Read more

Product Description
After ten years in prison for shooting -- and permanently crippling -- a young policeman, Victor Jenner is released to a strange new world and told to make a new life for himself. It's hard to fill the days, but at least there's one blessing -- he was never convicted for all those rapes he committed. Then Victor meets David, the policeman he shot all those years ago, and David's beautiful girlfriend, Clare. And suddenly Victor's new life is starting to look an awful lot like the old one . . .
... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

A bit different from Rendell,but still terrific
The heart of this novel is the relationship between a rapist released from prison after serving his term and the policeman he's permanantly disabled.This time, Rendell is slow in buildng suspense, but still keeps the reader glued to the page as we see through the eyes of a severely mentally disabled personality.

INTRIGUING LOOK INTO THE SOCIO-PATHIC CRIMINAL MIND...
This is an absorbing story that could only have been crafted by Ruth Rendell, the doyenne of the quirky murder mystery and chiller killer thrillers. Here, she takes a look into the socio-pathic mind of the amoral Victor Jenner, released back into the world after serving ten years in prison for shooting and paralyzing a young police sergeant.

He tracks down the now wheelchair bound officer, meeting both him and his beautiful, devoted girlfriend. You see, in Victor's skewed world view, it was the officer's fault that he got shot, costing Victor ten of the best years of his life. Victor just wants to set the record straight. Who would have thought that they could all be friends? Therein lies the tale.

A Chilling, In-Depth Psychological Thriller!
"Live Flesh" is not the usual crime mystery/thriller. It is, however, a thrilling psychological study of a rapist, Victor Jenner, who suffers from chorea, a disease of the nervous system marked by involuntary, jerky movements of the arms, legs, and/or face. Sometimes this illness is called "live flesh." Victor also has a severe phobia of tortoises, along with a multitude of other neuroses. Throughout the novel, he feels a need for psychiatric treatment, but never follows through. Typically, he blames the system for not providing him with therapy. He does understand that he has serious problems, though, and more often than not knows the difference between right and wrong. The inimitable Ruth Rendell thoroughly explores Jenner's motives, secrets, and complex emotions. She paints a chilling portrait of a man doomed by violence he cannot control. This is obviously much more a book driven by characters, and their development, than by action. The heart of "Live Flesh" lies in the complexity of Victor Jenner's personality and how he interacts with others, two characters in particular. These people are all steeped in a web of consequences stemming from one single event, a gunshot, which alters their lives forever.

Victor Jenner was convicted of shooting a young police officer in the lower back and permanently crippling him. He had been holding a young woman hostage in her bedroom, after breaking and entering her home, while escaping from the scene of an attempted rape. David Fleetwood, the officer, had been trying to gain the woman's release. Victor was not tried for the attempted rape, or the numerous other acts of sexual violence he had successfully committed. The police probably had no idea he was responsible for the crimes. After ten years Jenner is released early, for good behavior. He has serious problems adjusting to life after incarceration. But then, he always had problems adjusting. His irrational thought processes cause him to blame everyone but himself for the events leading up to the shooting. Underneath, however, he feels tremendous guilt for giving in to his irresistible urges which cause so much harm to others. The author allows the reader to enter Jenner's mind, his very thoughts, throughout the novel. He constantly constructs false scenarios which absolve him of guilt. Primary among his rationalizations is that if David Fleetwood had not taunted him by saying that the gun was a fake, a replica, then he wouldn't have had to fire it in order to prove that it was real. Other rationalizations include: if the girl hadn't screamed, then he wouldn't have had to hold her hostage; and if his uncle hadn't owned a gun, which he had easy access to, he never would have had it in his possession. Victor is also firmly convinced that he is incapable of restraining himself because of the chorea, which acts up when he is stressed. He believes that his behavior is as blameless and uncontrollable as the involuntary twitching which torments him.

The plot takes an unusual twist when Victor looks to meet the man he maimed, now wheelchair bound. His delusions allow him to think that, for the first time in his life, he has found true friendship. I must say that I really empathized with Victor, right up until the conclusion - which is a stunning one. His crimes are heinous, but so is the life he has to live with himself. I don't absolve him. I just feel terribly sorry for him - which is all Ms. Rendell's doing. Her characters are rich and so believable. And her narrative is spellbinding. This is a brilliant analysis and portrayal of a deranged man.
JANA

AN INTRIGUING LOOK INTO THE SOCIO-PATHIC CRIMINAL MIND...
This is an absorbing story that could only have been crafted by Ruth Rendell, the doyenne of the quirky murder mystery and chiller killer thrillers. Here, she takes a look into the socio-pathic mind of the amoral Victor Jenner, released back into the world after serving ten years in prison for shooting and paralyzing a young police sergeant.

He tracks down the now wheelchair bound officer, meeting both him and his beautiful, devotedgirlfriend. You see, in Victor's skewed world view, it was the officer's fault that he got shot, costing Victor ten of the best years of his life. Victor just wants to set the record straight. Who would have thought that they could all be friends? Therein lies the tale.

Brilliant!
Though I must admit I might not have made it through this book if I'd read it (I need constant action), listening to it was a real experience. It was slow at the beginning, but I quickly got swept into Victor's world, and felt his humiliation, cringed at his perceptions, and rooted for him . . . for awhile. And then I absolutely hated him. Which, I daresay (can you tell I've been listening to too many British books?), is just what the author intended. Or at least she won't mind.

I thought the book was well read and all the characters were convincing. My favorite was David Fleetwood. I felt I knew him very well, even though only one chapter was from his perspective.

Rendell has written many wonderful books, and this is one of the best. I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description
The first death could have been an accident.
 
When Mavis Ambrose is killed by a falling chunk of concrete, the police have no reason to suspect mischief. However, the bludgeoning of the young and gorgeous Amber Marshalson that follows is clearly murder. In the midst of the hottest summer on record, Inspector Wexford is called in to investigate. He discovers the two cases may be linked, and that Amber was at the scene of Mavis’s death. When a third body is found, the case takes a disturbing and unexpected turn. The deeper Wexford digs, the darker the realities become, and what he finds leaves him feeling lost in a world absent of morals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (39)

A bit of a disappointment
I am a longtime fan of Ruth Rendell's novels, above all, of Chief Inspector Wexford mysteries. Alas, this one is not one of her best efforts. The plot itself is a typical Ruth Rendell. It is smart and convoluted and it unrevels slowly involving the reader with fair clues. The trouble this time is with some of the characters. For example, DS Hannah Goldsmith and her inane love woes. It is hard to imagine a successful police officer with such rigid politically correct opinions. She just didn't ring true to this faithful reader. For any other author this book would be a remarkable accomplishment. For Ruth Rendell it is a bit of a disappointment.

Not one of her best...
Easy reading, grabs you right from the first but I had a few quibbles.Why was Megan's day of death such a concern?If you look back, you'll see there was some back and forth as to whether her murder took place on one day or another.I thought for sure that information would have some bearing on the case, but it just fizzled out.Also bringing pretty much all of the suspects and witnesses together at the end was a bit contrived even for this type of mystery.Entertaining, yes.Bearing up under scrutiny - not really.

NOT AS GOOD AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE...
I have read many of the author's books, most of which I have greatly enjoyed, but this is the first one of her Chief Inspector Wexford books that I have read. While I do prefer her psychological thriller, I found some enjoyment in this book, just not as much as I expected. Though Chief Inspector Wexford is a solid character and well-characterized by the author, some of the other characters that pepper this book are less so. Moreover, I found the plot less than compelling.

The book revolves around two seemingly unconnected deaths that end up being linked. When the commonality is deduced and a third body turns up, the twists and turns abound. Meanwhile, Chief Inspector Wexford, in addition to having a full plate professionally, is dealing with a situation at home that is somewhat perplexing to him.

While I somewhat enjoyed this book, I definitely am a bigger fan of the author's psychological thrillers and mysteries, as I seem to find them more compelling and interesting, overall. I also found the ending to this book somewhat far-fetched and strained. Still, I will give the Chief Inspector Wexford series another whirl.

End in Tears
Generally I enjoy Ruth Rendell's mysteries. I have read a good many. This one is a bit too philosophical and moralizing. Not usually her style. It also makes this book too long...longer than most of her stories. A good yarn however but I could live without the extra verbiage

Disappointing
First sentence:When he lifted it off the seat the backpack felt heavier than when he had first put it into the car.

Chief Inspector Wexford and team are investigating the bludgeoning death of 17-year-old Amber Marshalson.The case takes on an extra dimension when they realize Amber was the actual intended victim when a piece of concrete had been dropped from an overpass onto the first two grey/silver Hondas a short time before.Who wants Amber dead so badly when they failed the first time, they tried again...and succeeded.

I found this a bit of a slow-go.I liked C.I. Wexford but really didn't care much for any of the other characters, of which there were many with very little dimension.DS Hannah Goldsmith is interesting in her compulsive PC-ness, but annoying for the very same reason.Way too much time was spent on her relationship with another officer for the narrative result.

The story was over plotted; I identified the instigator of the deaths quite early.Most annoying to me was the number of women who became pregnant after one encounter.In my life, I've only known one person for whom that was true and certainly not several within a short period of time.It was much too contrived.

So much of the book was involved in dealing with the various relationships and following red herrings in the investigation, the ending, when it finally came, was very abrupt with only a modicum of suspense. I found it a very slow read; not bad enough to make me want to quit, but not good enough to race through the pages.The best I can say is, "I read it."
... Read more

Product Description
Louise North doesn't care what the neighbors think.She lets her lover leave his car just outside her house in broad daylight, telling everyone a cockamamie story about him being a central heating salesman.Still, it's a shock when she's found shot dead, covered by the equally dead body of the "salesman."Now Susan Townsend -- the Norths' next-door neighbor, who discovers the bodies -- must help Louise's husband, Bob, get back on his feet.But is she helping a neighbor . . . or a murderer? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Totally satisfying, a quiet little gem.
I've read no Ruth Rendell before, but having eventually worked my way through all the traditional mystery writers of quality in the English language, I've had to move onto some unevenmaterial in recent years.Finally, I've gotten around to Ms. Rendell, and, totally randomly, the first novel of hers I've read is THE SECRET HOUSE OF DEATH.

What I discovered (after recent disappointments with P.D. James novels of this same vintage) was that Ms. Rendell delivers everything that a seasoned reader of mysteries could ask for:interesting characters, subtly detailed observations of everyday people (in this case primarily husbands and housewives in "suburban" London) and, of course, a fascinating mystery which lurks unsettlingly behind the superficial exterior of a crime whose details we get to know within the first third of the book.

Ms. Rendell briskly moves back and forth between the perspectives of a few characters until ultimately we are seeing the unfolding of the story through the eyes of three people:the two main unconnected protagonists (Susan Townsend and David Chadwick) and the quietly thoughtful Inspector Ulph.

The writing is effortless but first-rate.The unfolding of material (and clues) is done efficiently and in a way which captures your attention while still provoking your curiosity, never giving too much away and yet inexorably giving us the details we need to attempt to construct the network of evidence on our own.

Based on this book, I look forward to reading many more of Ruth Rendell's novels.I feel that once again I'm in good hands.And, as an added bonus, she seems to capture a quality that I've long admired in a less well-known British mystery novelist, E. X. Ferrars:namely the ability to draw a fully-realised domestic situation and draw you into the story by allowing you to get to know the dynamic of people in their homes, their everyday concerns, their social pressures and awkwardnesses, their little joys.

There's nothing "spectacular" about this book -- the field of characters is fairly small, and the world they traverse doesn't intersect too many other people in the course of the book.But it's a book that seems to have the sure hand of someone who knows both how to write a good mystery, and how to present real-seeming and interesting "middle-class" characters. There was nothing dreary about it, nothing marked with the kind of glib weariness or cynicism of P.D. James' novels from the late 60s or early 70s. It's a novel filled with people "doing their best," and familiar to most of us.

I recommend it very highly indeed!

THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM...
Ruth Rendell is a brilliant writer of psychological suspense and mysteries. She is noted for her quirky characters and unlikely killers, many of whom seem quite ordinary. What they all seem to have is a dark side that manifests itself in the deadliest ways. This book is no exception.

Here, an attractive young woman, Louise North, who lives in a suburban housing complex, is incessantly gossiped about by her neighbors. It seems that that when her handsome husband, Bob, leaves for work, Louise gets a male visitor whom all the neighbors think is her lover. Her neighbors marvel at the brazenness of this hussy living in their well-ordered midst. Imagine the boldness of Louise in having her lover park his car right in front of her home. What if her husband were to come home unexpectedly?

When her next door neighbor, divorcee Susan Townsend, is inveigled by a distraught Louise to come over for coffee, Susan only reluctantly agrees, not wanting to be drawn into any sordid disclosures. After all, she does not engage in any of the vile gossip surrounding Louise and her romantic encounters with the mysterious gentleman caller. Still, the next day she goes to Louise's home at the appointed hour, only to find Louise and her ostensible lover locked in a deadly embrace.

Naturally, under the circumstances, Susan and Bob find themselves drawing towards each other. Bob seeks out Susan, becoming a regular visitor, and before she knows it, Susan finds that she is more than happy to comfort Bob, and a relationship of sorts develops. Susan, however, gets a feeling as if she were a moth being drawn towards a flame. Something is askew. There is something wrong with the entire picture! She just doesn't know what. Slowly the pieces come together with the help of a stranger named David Chadwick. It may just be that things were not at all what they seemed in that cloistered suburban household inhabited by the Norths.

This is an intriguing little mystery, though the characters are not as quirky or edgy as in many of the author's other books. Moreover, the mystery is not that much of a surprise, as the clues are all there for the discerning reader to piece together. Still, there are enough twists and turns to make for an entertaining, fast paced read. It is a book that will be enjoyed by all those who love a well-written mystery.

THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM...
Ruth Rendell is a brilliant writer of psychological suspense and mysteries. She is noted for her quirky characters and unlikely killers, many of whom seem quite ordinary. What they all seem to have is a dark side that manifests itself in the deadliest ways. This book is no exception.

Here, an attractive young woman, Louise North, who lives in a suburban housing complex, is incessantly gossiped about by her neighbors. It seems that that when her handsome husband, Bob, leaves for work, Louise gets a male visitor whom all the neighbors think is her lover. Her neighbors marvel at the brazenness of this hussy living in their well-ordered midst. Imagine the boldness of Louise in having her lover park his car right in front of her home. What if her husband were to come home unexpectedly?

When her next door neighbor, divorcee Susan Townsend, is inveigled by a distraught Louise to come over for coffee, Susan only reluctantly agrees, not wanting to be drawn into any sordid disclosures. After all, she does not engage in any of the vile gossip surrounding Louise and her romantic encounters with the mysterious gentleman caller. Still, the next day she goes to Louise's home at the appointed hour, only to find Louise and her ostensible lover locked in a deadly embrace.

Naturally, under the circumstances, Susan and Bob find themselves drawing towards each other. Bob seeks out Susan, becoming a regular visitor, and before she knows it, Susan finds that she is more than happy to comfort Bob, and a relationship of sorts develops. Susan, however, gets a feeling as if she were a moth being drawn towards a flame. Something is askew. There is something wrong with the entire picture! She just doesn't know what. Slowly the pieces come together with the help of a stranger named David Chadwick. It may just be that things were not at all what they seemed in that cloistered suburban household inhabited by the Norths.

This is an intriguing little mystery, though the characters are not as quirky or edgy as in many of the author's other books. Moreover, the mystery is not that much of a surprise, as the clues are all there for the discerning reader to piece together. Still, there are enough twists and turns to make for an entertaining, fast paced read. It is a book that will be enjoyed by all those who love a well-written mystery.

THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM...
Ruth Rendell is a brilliant writer of psychological suspense and mysteries. She is noted for her quirky characters and unlikely killers, many of whom seem quite ordinary. What they all seem to have is a dark side that manifests itself in the deadliest ways.This book is no exception.

Here, an attractive young woman, Louise North, who lives in a suburban housing complex, is incessantly gossiped about by her neighbors. It seems that that when her handsome husband, Bob, leaves for work, Louise gets a male visitor whom all the neighbors think is her lover. Her neighbors marvel at the brazenness of this hussy living in their well-ordered midst. Imagine the boldness of Louise in having her lover park his car right in front of her home. What if her husband were to come home unexpectedly?

When her next door neighbor, divorcee Susan Townsend, is inveigled by a distraught Louise to come over for coffee, Susan only reluctantly agrees, not wanting to be drawn into any sordid disclosures. After all, she does not engage in any of the vile gossip surrounding Louise and her romantic encounters with the mysterious gentleman caller. Still, the next day she goes to Louise's home at the appointed hour, only to find Louise and her ostensible lover locked in a deadly embrace.

Naturally, under the circumstances, Susan and Bob find themselves drawing towards each other.Bob seeks out Susan, becoming a regular visitor, and before she knows it, Susan finds that she is more than happy to comfort Bob, and a relationship of sorts develops. Susan, however, gets a feeling as if she were a moth being drawn towards a flame. Something is askew. There is something wrong with the entire picture! She just doesn't know what. Slowly the pieces come together with the help of a stranger named David Chadwick. It may just be that things were not at all what they seemed in that cloistered suburban household inhabited by the Norths.

This is an intriguing little mystery, though the characters are not as quirky or edgy as in many of the author's other books. Moreover, the mystery is not that much of a surprise, as the clues are all there for the discerning reader to piece together. Still, there are enough twists and turns to make for an entertaining, fast paced read. It is a book that will be enjoyed by all those who love a well-written mystery.

Just what you'd expect from Rendell!
A great story from one of the greatest storytellers of our time.This is not an Inspector Wexford tale, but it has all the elements of one.The neighbors are alerted by a barking dog every time the central heating salesman calls on their neighbor Louise.Then Louise and the salesman are found shot to death in her bedroom, an apparent murder/suicide.As the police investigate, friends and neighbors of the victims begin to wonder if the case is as simple as it first appeared . . . . ... Read more

Product Description
Wealthy Alice Whittaker -- now Alice Fielding -- is known for her generosity, and when her friend Nesta vanishes Alice is determined to find her and help her. If that means money, well, Alice has plenty of it.

Then Alice starts to feel sick -- a virus perhaps, something she just can't shake. Her handsome husband, who is ten years younger than she is, seems determined to keep her at home. Does he just want her to feel better? Or is he trying to keep her from finding Nesta?

Ill though she is, Alice can't help asking questions. And the more she learns about Nesta's disappearance, the more certain she becomes that her own life is in peril.... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Even a mediocre Rendell is better than most
Spoiler alert** Finished this book late last night and was disappointed with the ending.Then, this morning after "sleeping on it" and re-thinking the plot, I was satisfied that it ended just right.After most of the story takes you where you just know what is going to happen, you are abruptly turned 180 degrees and you are not where you thought you would be.This may not be her best work, but Rendell is just so very good, most of her work is very satisfying.She is IMO never less than 3 stars and sometimes much more than 5 stars.

Confusion
Alice begged a ride from her brother to visit Nesta Drage in Orphingham, (Constable had painted the river).Alice is unable to find her.She goes to ask someone named Daphne about her.It seems that Alice has married Andrew who is considerably younger than she is.They do not have children for reason of her age.Alice is a sort of heiress and so there is a suggestion that Andrew did well monetarily in the match, although Alice's better nature wants to insist upon the existence of love.She finds out there is a redirection notice on Nesta's address of Saulsby.It seems that new address is 193 Dorcas Street, Paddington.

Andrew tells her she is an innocent and he'd rather she not pursue Nesta at the new place.Alice becomes sick with a virus.Her brother Hugo refuses to accompany her to London.Hugo feels that Nesta is manic-depressive.At the address in Paddington, the Endymion Hotel, Nesta has not been seen for three months.A so-called Mr. Drage, Nesta was supposed to have been a widow, had just come to collect her mail it is learned.Andrew calls Alice, Bell.He commiserates with her.

A for-hire car firm asks Alice about Nesta Drage.Alice pays the bill for her.Nesta has left a wooden trunk with Daphne and her father.Daphne and Alice open the trunk and find there nearly all of Nesta's belongings.Alice goes to the police.The official says he will not list Nesta as a missing person yet, but he will keep her circumstances in mind.

Her doctor, Harry, lets it slip to Alice, that somehow Andrew and Nesta were involved with each other.Andrew claims that Nesta was repulsive to him.Alice discovers that Saulsby is an address used in Trollope-- it is made-up.Andrew is a fervid Trollope reader.

Unusual - possibly not for all tastes
For fans of Rendell who admire her books, the way she turns the genre on its head, this is another brilliant example of Rendell's ingenuity. For new reader who like the conventional boundaries of the genre, this may not be quite so satisfying a book...

Suffice to say, it is well-written, engaging, with a set of interesting and well-developed character. Too, here Rendell really her theme (i.e. vanity, what it can lead to, what it can cause, how it expresses itself in people) and runs with it!This is a marvellous exploration of vanity, she probes deeply into each of her characters with this interesting theme in mind.

With Vanity Dies Hard, she really confounds expectations. She turns everything we expect, everything we and the charachters assume, on its head, so that we can be sure nothing in the world of Rendell is certain...And it all makes such beautiful sense. This novel of hysteria and vanity is a unique gem from RR

Surprising, not disapointing
This is one of Rendell's more interesting novels, and she seems to be having a lot of fun with the conventions of the genre : in another of her novels she tells us who murdered who, when, where, how and even why in the first paragraph. Here she once again twists the rules of the mystery novel, but in another way of courseand any real analysis of that twist of the rules would destroy the fun of the first read, sorry. But I have reread this novel a couple of times, with a great deal of enjoyment at how well she twists expectations and very gently pokes fun at the genre. Great novel.

Not her best; somewhat engaging; dissapointing ending
I read this book while on a plane ride and it was engaging and a great companion. However, the ending was extremely disapointing. I imagined Ms. Rendell writing this book on a deadline from her publisher or something.Not her best work. However, been a fact that she is a Master at what shedoes, her worst still good enough. ... Read more

Product Description
Rhoda Comfrey's death seemed unremarkable; the real mystery was her life.

In A Sleeping Life, master mystery writer Ruth Rendell unveils an elaborate web of lies and deception painstakingly maintained by a troubled soul. A wallet found in Comfrey's handbag leads Inspector Wexford to Mr. Grenville West, a writer whose plots revel in the blood, thunder, and passion of dramas of old; whose current whereabouts are unclear; and whose curious secretary--the plain Polly Flinders--provides the Inspector with more questions than answers. And when a second Grenville West comes to light, Wexford faces a dizzying array of possible scenarios--and suspects--behind the Comfrey murder.

Brilliantly entertaining, exceptionally crafted, A Sleeping Life evokes the dark realities, half-truths, and flights of fancy that constitute a life.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Twisted, yet mesmerizing in its own way
I can't give this a tip top rating for Ruth Rendell, but it definitely grabs hold and keeps one going until the rather convoluted ending.Inspecto Wexford's frustration in his investigation here is catching, and I found myself frustrated at times as one apparant red herring after another is presented to us.I give the author credit for making a victim we never actually meet such a fascinating subject.

One of Rendell's best stories.
Ruth Rendell is my favorite author - in fact, her books are the only ones I read.I've probably read 90% of her books.I read her books over and over again because they always fascinate me.I tried a Patterson novel recently and thought it so bad that I threw it against the wall.

A Sleeping Life is one of my favorites. Ruth writes true mysteries, you think something is going on and then realize that it isn't what you think at all. She layers her stories, you go along and all of a sudden, something new is revealed. This happens over and over, all the way to the end. It's sort of like being in Inspector Wexford's head.

She is considered by many critics the best mystery writer in the world and yet very few people I run into, know of her. Some of her writings have made it to PBS - but they do not give a good representation of her writing and I think this is because there is a lot of narrative in her books and it is hard to show this in film.

Inspector Wexford at his dimmest
For the most part Ruth Rendell's early Wexford novels hold up fairly well, especially for those of us who were around when they were first published thirty years ago.Sometimes, however, changing social mores render her "surprise" endings a good deal less shocking, and therefore much easier to guess, as is the case here.

She drops so many clues that the "mystery" is pretty easy to guess about halfway through.That makes slogging through the last half, waiting forReg to twig to the solution, a fairly tedious exercise.Excellent writing and interesting characters go a long way here, but they can't quite make up for the obvious nature of the plot.

Marvellous Ruth Rendell!
Although I figured out the curious twist of the book early on, I still read it, fascinated by Ms. Rendell's skill.I am catching up with some older Inspector Wexford mysteries that I have missed over the years, and so came to "A Sleeping Life".Ms. Rendell is a master in creating a world where nothing is what it seems, and this book does this marvelously.It is different too because Wexford has an unidentified corpse for over half the book, and he is getting more and more frustrated as he goes up one blind alley after another.But a word and its meaning turn it around for him, and he manages to untangle the web, and discover the killer.If you are a mystery lover, than you cannot miss any one of Ms. Rendell's books.(And she has a lot of them).

Well Organized, Intriguing, and Stylishly Written
Many critics praise Ruth Rendall for her psychological insight into the characters she presents.I have never understood this; from my own point of view, her psychological insight usually consists of inconsistencies and uncertain motivations--the latter of which most often arise from a vaguely drawn plot that seldom has any "mystery" to it at all.

Clearly, I am not among Rendell's fans.Still, if I were hard pressed to recommend a Rendell novel, I would most likely recommend A SLEEPING LIFE--for although very typical of her work in terms of character, it is indeed a reasonably well structured mystery with a double-folded solution that few will completely anticipate.

The story concerns Rhoda Comfrey, an unattractive woman of fifty years whose body is found twice-stabbed along a path.But when Inspector Wexford attempts to trace Comfrey's movements, he is unexpectedly stymied: although her bed-ridden father resides in the area, she herself does not--and although it is generally understood that she lives in London, no one has any idea where, nor does an appeal through the press bring forth her address, her occupation, or even any one in all of England who has seen her, much less actually knows her.

As the days pass in mounting frustration, Inspector Wexford gradually finds himself also drawn into the somewhat suspicious absence of noted novelist Grenville West, who may or may not know Comfrey and who may or may not have suddenly disappeared under mysterious circumstances.Is there any connection--or is it just another wild goose chase so typical of this particular case?

In spite of my general dislike of Rendell's work, I found myself quite caught up in this particular title, which shows Rendell at her stylistic best and working with intriguing characters and a well-organized story.If you must read a Ruth Rendell novel, this would be a good choice.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer ... Read more

Product Description
The dark, good-looking Guy is from a council flat. Leonora has a mews house in Holland Park, and her mother doesn't care for Guy - or the way he makes his money. His obsession with Leonora increases, even after they have grown apart, until eventually it creates in him a murderous madness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Once again, Ruth Rendell takes us inside a creepy, obsessed mind
I do disagree with the reviewer who suggests that Ruth Rendell doesn't like her characters. The principle ones in this novel are certainly deeply flawed, but over the length of the story, I found myself hoping the lead character would come to himself, and I experienced ups and downs during the reading. I'm certain that anyone reading this will discover and experience the same feelings.

My favorite Rendell novel
Rendell deserves all of the superlatives heaped upon her- I won't go into them here, just read any other review.

I enjoyed Going Wrong book even more than the other Rendell/Vine titles in my library. However, as much as I love delving into the worlds she created, I have to say they always leave me emotionally unsatisfied.One of the best rewards for spending time with good (or great) literature is, in my opinion,that moment of identification, where the author nails and names something that has always existed under the radar of the average person's consciousness, some feeling or experience that is common to the human condition.
For all of Rendell's clinically accurate descriptions of the asocial or otherwise unwell mind, there are no such revelatory moments in any of her works.

Furthermore, empathy seems to lie outside of the emotional spectrum available to most of Rendell'scharacters and, more importantly, to the narrator/author herself.

There is wit, there is accuracy and there is irony in the way Rendell presents her characters, but there is no warmth or compassion.I think Rendell considers showing the weaknesses and faults in one character (lets say Leonora) tantamount to showing compassion to another (here, Guy).I'd venture to say that the author does not like any of the characters she has created (with the possible exception of C.I. Wexford).

I think in future I'll indulge in Rendell/Vine books only when in the grips of severe misanthropy.

A TWISTED TALE OF OBSESSIVE LOVE...
British author, Ruth Rendell, is, undoubtedly, the doyenne of psychological suspense, painting subtle portraits of offbeat, quirky characters that are just a tad off the beaten path. Delving into their psyches, she draws the reader into the slightly skewed world that they inhabit. Their world then becomes that of the reader, as the author weaves a tapestry of a world that is just a bit awry, deftly letting the reader know that something is wrong, so very wrong.

The author does no less in this well-written novel, as she leads the reader into the mind and world of Guy Curran, a handsome, young man from the slums who has led a hard scrabble life, elevating himself from the bowels of poverty by dint of his own hard work and acquiring great wealth in the process. Unfortunately for him, that hard work included some less than reputable dealings in the drug trade, which provided the capital for his now legitimate businesses.

For years, Guy has been obsessively in love with Leonora Chisholm, an upper class miss who, after years of being his reluctant childhood sweetheart, has rejected him and all the trappings of wealth and comfort he has to offer her. She prefers to live in genteel poverty with her friends, while acquiring a new boyfriend whom her family and friends like. Guy is convinced some of his past, shady dealings have come to the attention of someone in Leonora's family or inner circle. He believes that that individual has persuaded Leonora to turn away from him.

Now, who would go and do such a thing? Read this well-written book and join Guy in the process of eliminating the likely suspect in this twisted tale of obsessive love. ... Read more

Product Description
Elizabeth Nightingale found peace and tranquility on her nightly walks through the rich, dense forests surrounding Myfleet Manor. But the peace she treasured was shattered one night when she found death waiting in the woods. Chief Inspector Wexford and his colleague Inspector Burden find a most unsavory case on their hands -- and must use all their wit and wisdom to solve it . . .
... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good with a super ending
I don't think this is one of Rendell's best Wexford novels but it does have a good plot, a diverse cast of characters and some thought-provoking material.If you enjoy Wexford novels then you'll be missing out if you don't read this one eventually, but it isn't one of my favourites.The best part of the book was the ending, which I found to be very surprising and shocking.

This time Wexford is investigating the murder of Elizabeth Nightingale, living a dull, well-off life in the country with her husband Quentin.Their marriage is completely passionless and sexless, but someone reacts violently enough to Elizabeth to murder her on one of her evening walks in the forest.Then along come Detectives Wexford and Burden to crack the case and drag up the psychology behind the characters.

Perhaps one of the reasons why I'm not raving about this novel is because the type of characters shown in it are my least favourite - a wealthy upper class couple, their servants and wealthy, upper class friends.I much prefer a detective novel that focuses on normal people rather than the Master and Mistress of the house and their stereotypical rough and uneducated working class servants.This certainly isn't a side of England that I recognise anymore and Rendell's newer Wexford novels reflect this, tending to focus on all different kinds of people in the social scale without being stereotypical.One of my favourite characters was Sean Lovell, whose thwarted ambitions to become a singer were strangely touching, particularly when Wexford overhears him pretending to be a popstar in his shed (we've all done it, haven't we? :-) )

The novel also looks at what it means to be a woman in 1970s Britain.Unfortunately, the females in this novel are probably the weakest characters, such as a housewife who has given up her job to devote herself to her husband who doesn't really seem to like her anyway and a rather silly Swedish au pair.One of the themes of the book seems to be `what makes a good woman'.What strikes me is that in this book the men act pretty much as they like without anybody commenting on their behaviour, but every aspect of each woman is judged and examined.It made interesting, if frustrating, reading.

Overall, a good book with a brilliant ending.Due to the publication date of this novel (early 70s) it is rather old-fashioned, but the psychology is still relevant.

Enjoyable, but not Rendell's usual great work.
. . . . . . . .. .. . .~ - * * * - ~
~ - ~This was not one of Ruth Rendell's best.Her strength is usually in creating believable characters in almost un-imaginable situations.

~ - ~ In this story, the Lady of the Manor, Elizabeth Nightingale, is murdered in the forest right near her home.Most of the characters seem like stereotypes.There is the wealthy husband who doesn't really understand his wife.Upstairs lives the Au Pair - a young Dutch woman apparently only interested in her sex life.The housekeeper and gardener speak nothing but praise of their employer.The young under-gardener worships the "Lady of the House", and believes she's promised him help in his wish for a career as a DJ and a singer.Her brother is a neurotic scholarly writer who dislikes his sister.Her sister-in-law may benefit from the will.

~ - ~The book is entertaining, but not nearly as absorbing as Rendell's usual.You may be able to guess the killer and motive.The ending was a surprise to me, but not nearly as powerfully surprising as Ruth Rendell's usual twists and turns.Inspector Wexford hardly did any inspecting, mostly listening to a narrative from a friend of the family.Even just listening to the tale of the family's history seemed to take an inordinately long time- 3 or 4 days of conversations.

~ - ~ This book is entertaining, and easy to get interested in.However, for a sample of the best of Inspectors Wexford and Burden- I suggest two much more absorbing books: "Road Rage" and "No More Dying Then"

A completely unexpected outcome
This was an enjoyable book because there were several possibilities presented, but the person who was responsible for murdering the victim was unexpected.

I had no idea of where the case was headed and was surprised at the end.An excellent read.Ins. Wexford is a favorite.

Excellent murder mystery
Terrific vintage Rendell, one of the best Chief Inspector Wexford mysteries.The wealthy and beautiful Elizabeth Nightingale is murdered one night in the woods, and it is up to the intelligent, cantankerous Wexfordand his sidekick Burden to solve the crime.This appears at first to be afairly ordinary mystery; the leisurely pace and sharp humor may fool thereader into thinking that this is a peaceful, quiet novel.The finalrevelation, however, is disturbing and shocking, one of the author's mostgripping and powerful conclusions.Otherwise, a fairly light, literate,entertaining mystery, written in Rendell's irresistably readable prosestyle, filled with ingenious plot twists and numerous red herrings.Abravura performance; even this comparatively minor work shows that Rendellcan easily outwrite the vast majority of her contemporaries. ... Read more

Product Description
According to the London Sunday Express, Ruth Rendell is "one of the best novelists writing today." For readers new to her work, this collection of five mysteries, all cases for Detective Chief Inspector Wexford, is a perfect introduction.

In Wexford, Rendell has created a rare and endearing character. Like all memorable and remarkable individuals, Wexford is a man of great intuitive power. His best performances are flashes of insight, solutions that seem more inspired by instinct than intellect.

"Rendell has a taste, a gift for the macabre. One never puts down one of her books without feeling chilled to the bone." (Daily Express) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Introduction to Inspector Wexford
This review refers to the paperback edition.This is a somewhat short collection of five stories featuring Inspector Wexford, a person whose age and position are similar to Inspector Morse (as seen on PBS).Four of the stories are set in England, and one on the Adriatic coast where Inspector Wexford and his wife were on vacation.Three of the stories involve murders, one a case of switched children, and the last an attempt to reopen an older, historic case.The settings seem to be in roughly the 1970's to 1980 time frame.

I personally thought that the plots were quite good for shorter stories.The stories reflect English laws and customs, so guns are not used and the violence is considerably less than in the macho, have-gun-will-travel, type novel often found in the U.S. (perhaps this is why many people like English mysteries).The characters come across well, and the plots are well developed.In one case, a guilty party is identified, but there is some question as to whether the guilt can be proven in court.

Brilliant short stories
This is a very, very good short story collection. Each of the stories within is a little gem of detective fiction./ they are just as ingenious as any of her novels, the crimes just as compelling and the psychology just as accurate. the characters are well drawn and Wexford is on absolutely brilliant form.

They are clever, incredibly enjoyable, and unguessable. They are an excellent showcase of all Rendell's talents, and i would reccomend this short story collection to any fan of detective fiction. Enjoyment is guaranteed. ... Read more

Product Description
When Ismay and Heather's stepfather was discovered dead in the bathtub nine years ago, the police concluded the drowning was an accident. But Ismay has always silently suspected that Heather might have had something to do with it. Now they're older and their lives seem to be moving happily forward. But when Heather becomes seriously involved with a man for the first time, Ismay's long-repressed memories can no longer be ignored. With painful inevitability, Ismay learns that she may not able to keep the dark truth hidden forever. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (54)

Really?
This book is supposed to be a mystery, but it is more or less a book about a set of multiple self deprecating losers who muddle their way through 340 pages of the book.Take a long walk instead of reading this book, you will be the better for it.

Enjoyable story with unsatisfying ending
I'm a huge fan of Ruth Rendell and always read/listen to her books with pleasure.This is a review of the audio version as read my Rosalyn Landor.It took me a few discs to adjust to Landor's reading of this book.It seemed she missed much of the humor I always appreciate in Rendell's writing. This immproved at about the 3rd disc.I had considered giving up before then but due to the intrigue in the writing, I held on until the reader herself got engaged with the story. The Water is Lovely was an enjoyable book and the plot had enough twists and turns to get the reader intrigued.The outlandish coincidences and turn of events didn't bother me as I fully expect those with Rendell, in fact they add to the humor.The ending was a disappointment though.It seemed hurriedly tacked on with a solution of killing off the most complex personalities in a tidy way.The remaining characters are the least likeable and the future outcome for them has to be grim.How depressing.I hope Ms. Rendell will write a sequel redeeming this book and giving life back to the characters that she has left to live a miserable existence in our minds. Then again, these characters are all such losers, they deserve each other.

What Really Happened?
In this audio book mystery thriller, two sets of sisters share a home.Beatrix and Pamela live in the upstairs flat and Ismay and Heather, daughters of Beatrix live downstairs. Some nine years earlier Ismay and Heather's stepfather Guy, was found floating face up in the bathtub.

The sisters still live in the same home and they have not talked about the day their stepfather died.Now, however, since Heather is involved in a serious relationship, her older sister Ismay wonders if this same thing could happen to another man. Ismay is haunted by reoccurring dreams and thoughts about that fateful day when Guy was found dead. She seems to recall Heather pale as a ghost and soaking wet when Guy was found, and why was has that bathroom been sealed off?

My Thoughts - Rosalyn Landor did a great job narrating this book.The author did a terrific job creating doubts and suspicions along the way to hold the listener's interest.At the end of this audio, I was left with a few questions, however, the surprise ending was a treat so I was not disappointed. RECOMMENDED

Take a dip, if you dare!
Ruth Rendell belongs to that elite group of writers whose style is so distinctive you would recognize it anywhere.You could, for instance open a Rendell novel, not knowing its title or author, and after reading a couple of pages, know almost without question that this book is written by Ruth Rendell. What is it about a book by Ruth Rendall that makes it so unique and impressive?

First, there is the fact that Rendell is completely comfortable in her writing "skin".She uses language withcrisp confidence, never hitting a jarring note, never missing an opportunity to find the right word or phrase that powerfully and succinctly delineates character, describes a scene, or ratchets up the suspense.

In Rendell books the reader is given undisputed access to the unsavory thoughts and feelings of people who, in earlier times, might have been described as evil.Yet it is not only evil people who lie, maim, or kill in Rendell books.Often it is people who seem to be living quite unspectacular lives who find themselves destroying the lives of others or of themselves, either intentionally or unintentionally.And the victims in Rendell's books often find themselves, like flies, blundering into webs that weren't there yesterday and wouldn't have been there tomorrow. In the books of Ruth Rendell, innocence and the best intentions offer no protection.

The Water's Lovely, Rendell's latest offering tells the story of two sisters, each with the desire to protect the other, yet each living lives circumscribed by guilt and secrecy. Ismay, the older sister, believes she knows that it was her sister Heather who drowned their pedophilic step father, although his drowning in a bathtub is ruled an accident. Heather believes that Ismay's delicate hold on reality makes her vulnerable and in need of constant protection.When Heather begins an unexpected and intense relationship with a man at work, Ismay is torn between warning Heather's boyfriend or depriving Heather of the love she has sought for years.

Because this is a Rendell story, there are numerous other complex characters well supplied withquirks and crimes, whose actions will ultimately affect the lives of those they are intimate with, as well as those they will never get to meet. The psychology of victims and criminals is always under the microscope in Rendell's world. Sometimes, quite uncomfortably, the reader is brought to the realization that there is not always that much difference between the two.

A chronicle of bottom-feeders
Give Ruth Rendell credit, she doesn't shrink from heavy investment in unsavory characters and unhappy endings in pursuit of solid psychological thrillers."The Water's Lovely" is certainly one of these literary ugly ducklings, minus the beautiful swan at the ending.

The characters in "The Water's..." are largely unappealing and unsympathetic--loathesome in some instances, but the story of two sisters and their dubious friends, spirtually wounded relatives and dangerous acquaintenances does hold your attention, in much the same way that an evolving train wreck might.By the end of the book, the reader is worn out and appalled at what has transpired, but certainly not unaffected.

I have enjoyed other Rendell books more, but "The Water's Lovely" has my admiration for its audacity to be different and flagrantly disagreeable.Not for everyone, I would say.Most loyal Rendell fans will appreciate it though. ... Read more

Product Description
The chilling tale of a mother and daughter living alone on an isolated estate is the story of a daughter totally protected from the outside world--but not from her mother's murderous obsessions. Reprint. NYT. K. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Expert weaving of past and present
As pointed out by others, this novel does deliberately and knowingly by the lead character parallel the story of Scheherezade and her 1001 nights.Ruth Rendell through her character, Liza Beck, has us as entranced as any sultan as the story of Liza's obsessed mother is unfolded.As usual, the author has us prepared for the worst while hoping for as happy a resolution as the circumstances in the story will allow.

A MODERN DAY SCHEHERAZADE...
This is another taut, well-written psychological thriller by the queen of this genre. The author weaves a compelling tapestry of events and characters, and, as the story unfolds, the reader is held in its thrall. Fans of the author will find this spellbinding tale riveting.

Eve and Liza, mother and daughter, live in isolation in a remote location in the English countryside, where Eve acts as caretaker for Shrove House, a large estate, to which she has an extreme attachment. Liza has lived her entire life on the estate, removed from the outside world with little or no contact with other people. She was also home schooled by her mother. Consequently, Liza, removed from all normal congress with other people, has never known what it is to have a playmate nor was she aware of the existence of television or radio. The only people with whom she has ever come into contact, other than the occasional delivery person or estate worker, were the men, friends of Eve, who arrived at their home only to disappear later under mysterious circumstances.

The Shrove House estate is owned by Jonathan Tobias, a childhood friend of Eve's, and when he suddenly dies, the police question Eve concerning his death, as she is a suspect. Liza, now sixteen, begins to see her world crumble around her. Eve, fearing the worst, concocts a plan for Liza to leave home and go to stay with a friend of hers. Liza, however, who has, unbeknownst to Eve, formed an attachment to Sean, the new young groundskeeper for the estate, has her own plans. Thus, the story begins to unfold.

Unburdening herself to Sean and revealing her strange upbringing and the odd goings on in her mother's household, Liza proves herself to be a modern day Scheherazade. Holding the reader captive with the story of her life, which is set against the backdrop of her mother's obsession with Shrove House and the murders that take place there whenever anyone threatens to upset her mother's apple cart, Liza's story is, indeed, a beguiling one. While telling her tale, Liza finds herself discovering a world that she never knew existed. Liza eventually finds herself at a crossroad, and the path she takes will define the rest of her life.

Ruth provides a "happy ending" for once?!
This book reminded me somewhat of Shirley Jackson's classic novel of madness and isolation "We Have Always Lived In The Castle."


I like pretty much ALL of Rendell's books but I felt this one was a bit "long" for no real reason. We knew what the mother was up to so by the end of the book--much of it told in flashback--I was expecting a final encounter between daughter and mother...which doesn't happen.


Most of her books I give a 4 or 5 star to (she's THAT good) so you can't go wrong with this...but again, the length didn't seem to add anything to the overall story. And it does have a happy ending...for a Rendell booK!

Not a Typical Formuliac Book
When I read the back cover of the book, it really did not seem that interesting to me.I started reading the book because I had heard good things about Ruth Rendell, and wanted to "check out" the author.I was very pleasantly surprised.

First of all, Ruth Rendell is an excellent writer.I have read so many books that are really so-so when it comes to the author's ability to construct complex and descriptive prose.This is not one of them.There is amazing character development, and although the book tells the story of a very unusual life, I felt the author was able to tell the story in such a way as to make the reader understand the lifestyle.

Secondly, this book is a departure from so many tales that are really interchangable.The story was unique, and interesting.I could summarize the book, but doing so would not do justice to the storyline.A summary simply cannot encapsulate the story.The story is in the telling, not the tale.

Lastly, I could not anticipate with certainty how the book would end.More than once I thought to myself, "Ok, I can see where this is going. . .," and I was wrong.It is refreshing to truly wonder HOW the events will unfold, instead of wondering WHEN the events will unfold.

I look forward to reading another Ruth Rendell book.

Study in nurture
Through the main character's, young Liza's, story the readers learn the extent to which her mother, Eve, went to bring her up in an atmosphere that, while giving her a sound moral and intellectualbasis and a preparation to work hard, very effectively isolated her from what Eve saw as an amoral and dangerous world. Both of them have lived practically alone in the country for the whole ofLiza's life, with only one or two visitors in that span of time. And Eve had her own reasons to live and raise her daughter this way; reasons that the reader will discover together with an amazed and amazing Liza, the fruit of Eve's unfortunate clash with evil....in many ways. It is only when Liza finds herself totally alone in that world her mother had so successfully kept off, when she understands what her mother did, and finds that she can stand on her own two feet, as an independent person.

Because what education can do for a person, how it can be a basis from which to build independence, and a way to achieve the strength of mind and will necessary to live in the middle of the dangerous world, is really the theme of this story. Of course, the instance that the story provides is very extreme. As with other novels by this author, the extreme circumstances provide the reader with a clearer conclusion than we are bound to reach in our ordinary lives....or not. Thus, as usual, through a convoluted and fascinating story, Ruth Rendell places us in the middle of a moral dilema. Was Eve really right in brining her daughter up as she did? When we see young and innocent, but strong, independent and quick-witted, Liza find her way on her own in the big, big world, I think the author is giving us her opinion.

As usual, you should not expect from Ruth Rendell the ordinary whodonnit, even though her stories arguably belong in the "detective" genre. It is a genre that she transcends. And this is one of the best masterpieces of the great master, Ruth Rendell (who also writes as Barbara Vine). ... Read more

Product Description
Minty’s boyfriend, Jock, was killed in the disastrous train wreck at Paddington, shortly after he borrowed all her savings. Now he has come back to haunt her. Zillah lost her estranged husband, Jerry, in that same accident. She is not convinced he is actually dead, but for reasons of her own decides not to pursue the matter. Fiona’s fiancé, Jeff, has simply disappeared–quite inexplicably since she was supporting him in style.

In her ingeniously unnerving new novel, Ruth Rendell deftly traces the connections among these women–and between them a series of vicious stabbings terrifying London. Adam and Eve and Pinch Me is a masterpiece of malice and psychological suspense. Amazon.com Review
In Adam and Eve and Pinch Me, the mills of the gods appear to have ground Jock Lewis to dust--or have they? Jock's obsessive-compulsive girlfriend, Minty, thinks he was killed in a train crash and is tormented by his ghost. But the cheerfully amoral Jock--AKA Jerry Leach and Jeff Leigh, depending on which woman he's romancing--faked his death to move on to yet another unsuspecting lady. His one legal wife has swept their union hastily under the rug and married a conservative member of Parliament, who has his own urgent secrets. Jock's most recent fiancée, a successful banker, hasn't minded keeping him in the manner to which he's become accustomed--that is, until the day he doesn't come home. When his body is found in a cinema, the intersections of his past collapse in a way that destroys some lives and rebuilds others.

Adam and Eve and Pinch Me is no whodunit: the murderer is known from the outset. The suspense arises from the uncertainty of whether justice will be served. That deftly handled angle draws the reader into the book, while Ruth Rendell's famously acute insight into all forms of borderline madness makes it all so believably chilling. --Barrie Trinkle ... Read more

Customer Reviews (31)

Heavy on Characters-Light on Plot
Jock, Jeff or Jerry?A handsome clever con man insinuates himself into the lives of many women - unfortunately one of them is going insane.If the plot had stayed with these women only, we might have had a great story, but the author put just too many characters and their story lines into this unsatisfying read.These secondary story lines take away from the main and we are bogged down with non-pertinent information.

This book, as was the last one I read, "The Birthday Present" a let down.After I finish the last of the Rendell's on my bookshelf, there will be no more.Ironically, it is the first she ever wrote.

Another Rendell Gem!
Ruth Rendell is one of my favourite authors, and this book proves why.No one can write a psychological thriller like her, and in this book she has written in a character that is obsessive=compulsive and a schizophrenic.Her ability to depict these emotional illnesses in her characters is unparalleled.Her writing skills are unique and spell-binding.In this book we have three women living in different parts of London that don't know each other, but are inescapably bound together by their involvement with a man.The tension builds and builds throughout the book until the explosive ending.

What, no soap?
Rendell is great at creating characters who grab and keep your attention, but she can also bushwhack the reader, sort of. Jerry Leach (or Jock Lewis, or Jeff Leigh, or whatever name he's using this month) is a user of women, moving in with a series of girlfriends and taking their life savings and credit cards. He starts out as the central character by virtue of his leech-like activities but -- surprise -- he becomes a victim himself almost exactly halfway through the book. Thereafter, he appears only as a ghost in the mind of Minty Knox, an obsessive-compulsive shirt-ironer for a London dry cleaner. There's also Michelle and Matthew, the former a sadly obese middle-aged woman, the latter her dangerously anorexic but loving husband. And Zillah, Jerry's featherbrained not-quite-ex-wife, who enters an ill-advised marriage of convenience with a gay conservative MP. And Minty's black neighbors, Laf and Sonovia, who don't realize how much they know. And on and on. Like many of this author's books, if properly handled, this would make a terrific film.

Interesting Characters, light on plot
Rendell is such a good writer that I never feel totally unsatisfied, but, that said, it's hard to spend so much time with a dim main character.Minty is an addled spinster, yes a type, who falls in love with a con man, who takes her up more or less because he is in her neighborhood one night and is told she has money.The book is enlivened by the other characters, Minty's neighbors and her boyfriend's other conquests, and although it is interesting, and I think psychologically accurate enough to a point (the killing), Minty just isn't a good enough character for a book to be based on her.Now, the Rottweiler, with its serial killer who is offended by his press coverage, that is a character driven book that is rewarding.If you love Rendell, you'll like this one well enough.If not, then pass.

Another delicious Rendell
Because Ruth Rendell's last few outings have been vaguely disappointing, I approached this most recent book with a little reluctance if not outright trepidation.In fact, it sat in my bedside book pile far longer than a Rendell would usually have done in the past.But I needn't have feared...she's back in form and this is an absolutely fascinating character study of men and women and need and manipulation.There are several main characters here whose lives intertwine most unusually, and it is hard to decide who is the best-written of these.They all spring to life with their own unique collections of human foibles and motivations and they are all on a collision course, each with the other.You can see the train wreck coming, but you can't avert your eyes. ... Read more

Product Description
From Agatha Christie to Ruth Rendell is the first book to consider seriously the hugely popular and influential works of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Nag Marsh, P.D. James and Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine. Providing studies of 42 key novels, this volume introduces these authors for students and the general reader in the context of their lives, and of critical debates on gender, colonialism, psychoanalysis, the Gothic, and feminism. It includes interviews with P.D. James and Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine. ... Read more

Product Description
Who would garrote a middle-aged housewife and leave her body in the parking garage of a suburban shopping mall? Chief Inspector Wexford is no sooner on the case than a car bomb's explosion lands him in the hospital. It's now up to Mike Burden to step in and solve the case. He's got a suspect . . . but will he be able to make him talk?
... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

An impending tragedy
The victim in this excellant mystery is less than likeable, but the most important element to me was the growing sense of impending tragedy. The subplot involving the good inspector's daughter's anti-nuclear activities adds to the enjoyment of the book

Overdone.
I found this book unsatisfying.Maybe I just don't like the circuitous nature of English mysteries.Maybe I need more action and less talk.Fewer -- and more relevant --red herrings.And I resist the English mystery tradition of the know-it-all detective who, in Sherlock Holmes fashion, gathers people around him at the end and in great detail tells what went down and by whom.Whatever. I just found the book so-so.

The Unveiling
Rendell usually has a reason for the titles of her books, although some are really weird.For this one, she creates a saying that one's closest relation is both veiled to us and yet is also at times unveiled. The saying is not altogether apt, but in this Chief Inspector Wexford mystery he and his associate Burden peel back layers of a woman's psyche slowly but thoroughly to reveal the killer behind her facade of chilling disinterest.

Good, But Not Her Best
For those interested, this book is available as part of a two book package, ISBN # 0 09 187009 7, which combines the present novel with "Lake of Darkness" at a bargain price: both books are good, and I preferred "Lake of Darkness."

This is not a long novel, but it is a compelling read and it is hard to put down. Overall it is well balanced to a point, but becomes a bit complicated in the second half. It has good characters, a good plot, and it has mystery. The book came out in 1988.

The story involves a murder at a shopping center, and the murder is solved by detective Wexford.

So, overall the story is good but there are a number of complications as we reach the end. Because of that, I thought it was a bit too complicated and some comments were slightly extraneous. But, it is an excellent read, and it is both compelling and entertaining.

Recommend: 4 stars.

One of the best
This a most satisfying Wexford and Burden tale of detection, and all the better for not being an overtly "psychological" novel, with which it should not be compared.

If you are more interested in the process of the detection of the crime, and in the characters who detect, rather than in the warped mind of its perpetrator, you will enjoy this as much as any other in the series.

Ruth Rendell made her name with Wexford and Burden, and she still writes at her best when she returns to the genre which first brought her success. This is no exception. ... Read more