About this deal
After reading the "Dossier" I knew I wanted to read more about Ruth Rendell and would encourage everyone to read more about her fascinating life and diverse accomplishments. There is nothing extraordinary about Margaret Parsons, a timid housewife in the quiet town of Kingsmarkham, a woman devoted to her garden, her kitchen, her husband. Parsons led an extremely uneventful life, being a lay preacher, but Inspector Wexford is intrigued when he is looking through her belongings and fine a number of expensive antique books all inscribed 'From Doon to Minna'. The novel introduced her popular recurring character Inspector Wexford, who went on to feature in 24 of her novels. Whether the reader is surprised by where the novel goes, I think the appeal of the book is in the very competent execution of those ideas.
This was written in 1964 and my dad would have been 43 and Wexford was 52 so they were close in age. I generally feel that when I've read three or more books featuring one character I enjoy each successive book a little bit more. In one of these podcasts, Meredith had recommended the Inspector Wexford series to Louise Penny fans.Seemingly a classic British murder mystery, much like Christie, whom Rendell apparently disliked and strived to get away from comparisons to, and yet in retrospect very different. One of my strongest memories growing up was my mother’s stack of Ruth Rendell and Colin Dexter novels, one of which always seemed to be on hand for those sorts of occasions in which you were stuck in a waiting room. I was a little less fond of the use of a trap which is used to prove a case – something that I think is usually pretty uninventive and underwhelming in these sorts of stories.
Let’s face it, the clues in this case are fairly slight so it was a pleasant surprise that she manages to lay a convincing trail to the killer with such a weak starting point. Means of Evil → When Wexford and Burden attend wholefood fanatic Axel Kingman's wedding, they never suspect that they will shortly be investigating the new bride's death. From Doon with Death, now in a striking new paperback edition, is her classic debut novel -- and the book that introduced one of the most popular sleuths of the twentieth century.While it is a manipulative move designed to try to add power to his explanation at the end, I think that information is only needed if something does not occur to the reader that they might figure out for themselves. Update, May 6, 2015: I am undertaking a Ruth Rendell "key" works project -- the books The Guardian recently noted as such the day of Ruth Rendell's death. I know nothing much about Inspector Wexford or Mike Burden (who actually does decent work and doesn't go around contradicting or second-guessing his boss), just that they are the law. As the woman's past is investigated the husband is either oblivious or may be among the numerous suspects. The humanity of Wexford shows not only his impatience when his time is wasted but also his compassion while still following the letter of the law.
So, this one doesn't really have much in the way of backstory of our Inspector, but it is quite a good police procedural.
Unusually, Rendell does not make any of the characters particularly sympathetic and that adds to the reality of the crime and suspects. The problems are those of the early 1960s, when women were just starting to extricate themselves from being exclusively housewives and starting to reach for sexual equality. Being one who always gives everything more then one try, I imagine I'll read another of Rendell's books but will not be in a hurry to do so.