End in Tears by
Ruth Rendell
pbk out August 06
(Arrow)
at £6.99
A new book by the Baroness, in which she returns to her old creation,
Detective Chief Inspector Wexford , so well-known not only from her
books, but because of the long television series that gave us all so much
pleasure.
Though for a long time Ruth Rendell has been known for her
'psychological' thrillers, where usually the strange and sometimes
bizarre aspects of human behaviour are explored, this one seems more a
return to the older conventional style, with Wexford, his wife Dora and
colleague and friend Mike Burden involved in a straight investigation in
good old Kingsmarkham.
Perhaps a little different in that Wexford also has a tense family problem
of his own to deal with, but the main story is the seeking of the killer of a
young mother, found battered to death in a country lane. It transpires that
a previous attempt was made on her life when someone dropped a rock
off a bridge, but hits the wrong car. A series of suspects is paraded, then a
girl-friend of the victim is also found dead. They had gone together some
time before to Frankfurt and Burden suspects a drug connection, but
events prove otherwise, the girls having been involved in a different
racket, not unconnected with Wexford's own domestic problems.
This is vintage Rendell revived and certainly worth a read.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
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End in Tears by
Ruth Rendell
