Customer Reviews (1)

Worthwhile
This book is very engrossing. You can't wait to get back to it. But it doesn't deliver all it promised. ... Read more

Product Description
Rodney Williams's disappearance seems typical to Chief Inspector Wexford -- a simple case of a man running off with a woman other than his wife. But when another woman reports that her husband is missing, the case turns unpleasantly complex.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy
A women's rights group populated by high school and college girls and led by a virulent feminist, with a stylized raven logo.The mysterious disappearance of a secretive businessman who's often out of town.Everyone in the neightborhood seems to know about both. It's up to Inspector Wexford to tease apart the disparate threads and solve more than one murder. There are other crimes, equally reprehensible, that contribute to the tangled mess. It's fairly easy to figure out who did it. How, when, and why are questions more to the point, with more obscure answers.
Rendell is a literate author whose Wexford series never fails to please and intriguing. And her books are even better when the victim deserves his fate.
Note: This book was written in 1986, a long ago time before cell phones and word processing. Though this does not affect the mystery itself, a typewriter is one of the major clues, a blast from the past!

Not her best, but still dratted good
This is the first of Rendell's "Inspector Wexford" novels I've read so far, and this one wasn't quite as impressive as most of her other endeavors, in some ways. What I did enjoy was the secret society of man haters, or perhaps the uber-feminist group would be a better way of putting it. I found all that psychology fascinating and very compelling.I also had no idea who on earth was perpetrating these murders, so it's not like I had figured it out and was all annoyingly smug.Maybe it was the lack of enough appropriately psychotic characters, or the lack of insight into them throughout the book, as is the case with most of Rendell's other efforts.Still, Rendell on a bad day beats most other contemporary authors on a good one, so I'm not really complaining. Too much.

another excellent Rendell novel
An "Unkindness" is the collective noun for a group of ravens. They are not particularly predatory birds, but neither rare they soft and submissive. Now, the Raven has become the symbol of a militant feminist group known as Arria, whose attitude to the male gender is, like the nature of said bird, far from submissive.

When Chief Inspector Wexford was asked to investigate the disappearance of his neighbour Rodney Williams he was certain it was just a case of another middle-aged man having run-off with a young woman. All the signs pointed that way. A waste of time to concern yourself with, his thoughts tell him. However, he would be shocked to his core when, weeks later, Rodney's disappearance turns out to be the centre of a violent and bizarre murder.

As reliable as ever, this is Rendell - and Wexford - once again on fine form. If you want an entertaining, intelligent and realistic with piercing insights into society, Ruth Rendell is the author to whom you should turn. The Wexford series remains the best example of the English detective story currently being produced. It stands out not just for its layered intelligence, but its unflinching social observancy, its piercing insight into human nature, and its warm (sometimes!) and nostalgic centre in the form of Reg Wexford.

This novel is a very strong addition to the series. Rendell's mystery is intricate and dramatic and original and very intriguing, with a plausible solution that will shock if not surprise. An Unkindness of Ravens is an excellent book of detection as well as being a vehicle for Rendell's unerring observational insight into society and its constant shifts and changes. It is well worth anyone's time.

Tiresome
I picked up the audio version of this book hoping it would keep my interest for a cross country drive. Instead, I found myself irritated at the tedious pace and extraneous details.I didn't care for any of the characters, and by the time I realized it wasn't going to get any better...I was in too deep and had to finish out the 9+ hours to find out whodunnit.At least it kept me awake for the drive.Nevermore.

Compulsively Readable
An Unkindness of Ravens marks yet another Inspector Wexford mystery and it revolves around the disappearance of a neighbor and a militant feminist group.The story holds together well enough and it's a super fast read.As I've read more Ruth Rendell novels, I am disappointed in the rushed pace of the novel.A story like this needs to unfold slowly.Not that I want to make a novel overly long, but I feel a tad more background information on the recurring characters and the current suspects would work to her advantage.It's not her best.It's not her worst.It's a serviceable mystery that is over before it starts. ... Read more

Product Description
The first young woman murdered had a bite mark on her neck, prompting the media to dub her killer “The Rottweiler.” As the number of killings grows to two, three, and beyond, that nickname sticks, even though it has become clear that the original bite was incidental. The Rottweiler is a serial garroter, distinguished by his habit of taking a small trinket from each victim as a macabre souvenir.

The strangled young women all lived in the same ethnically diverse London neighborhood near Lisson Grove, so it is here that the police focus their investigation. Soon their suspicions lead them to an antiques shop, where items taken from the victims start turning up amid the clutter. As we get acquainted with the odd assortment of characters who work in and pass through the shop, we sense that one of them will be the Rottweiler’s next victim...unless the meticulous killer makes an uncharacteristic mistake.

Ruth Rendell is in top form here as she deftly propels the narrative, alternating between the inner life of a compulsive killer and the daily affairs of those who live nearby, unknowing yet somehow aware of the unnerving shadow of his presence.

“Ruth Rendell has written some of the best novels of the twentieth century.” —Frances Fyfield

“Rendell’s clear, shapely prose casts the mesmerizing spell of the confessional.” —The New Yorker


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Impressive
What can anybody say about Ruth Rendell that hasn't been said before? She is one of the best (and I would say simply THE best) authors of the mystery genre anywhere in the world. Rendell's great skill at creating unforgettable characters makes her novels unique. THE ROTTWEILER is no exception. You will remember every character of this great mystery long after you finish reading the book.

There was, however, one thing that disappointed me greatly in this book and caused me to give it only 4 stars. For some strange reason, Rendell decided to reward all of the really nasty characters in the book with happy dream-come-true endings. The only character who is not a really disgusting human being is punished by misery and unmitigated suffering. The novel would be perfect without these last few pages that disrupt the narrative integrity of the book and offer a strange break with everything we have learned up to that point.

In spite of these weird last pages, the novel is really great and, as usual, beautifully written.

A novel in search of a plot
Disappointing novel from Ruth Rendell, past mistress of suspense.In this one, there is precious little suspense, the serial killer plot having an oddly perfunctory and cursory feel to it.The tale is more a slice of life study of some London characters, with a serial murderer thrown in to the mix, but most of these people are not interesting, so it's hard to see what the appeal of this novel would be.

The identity of the serial murderer is revealed a third of the way into the novel, and then the main mystery is the motivation of this person to kill.When we learn that motivation it's no great surprise (it's one of tritest explanations one can get), provoking in the reader a "Who cares? So what?" reaction.This marks a sad decline from classic Rendell psychological thrillers from the 1970s and 1980s.Read instead A Demon in My View, which The Rottweiler superficially resembles, for an example of a good Rendell.The Rottweiler is toothless, while A Demon in My View has bite.

Dull...Zzzzzzzz....
I am a fan of Ruth Rendell and Barbara Vine and fortunately have read some of her wonderful novels.If "The Rottweiler" had been my first Rendell novel, it probably would have been my last.The book is just plain dull.The plot goes nowhere and plods along at a snail's pace.I wanted to finish the book so I stayed with it, but it took me forever because I kept falling asleep trying to read it.The characters are one dimensional stock caricatures.They are a sad lot with none having any redeeming qualities.I ended up disliking all of them and I wouldn't have cared if the book ended with the killer doing away with every last one of them.One of the problems with the plot is that there are too many subplots going...even the main plot (the murders) is more like a subplot.The many plotlines are never really brought together in a satisfactory way.It just leaves you with the feeling, "thank goodness that's over."Yawn...

Well written
The Rottweiler is a very well-written thriller with a large (too large) cast of characters.Her villain is wonderfully wicked - one of her best I think - and I like the way this one unfolds, not with any real mystery as to "who done it" - we learn fairly early on who "the Rottweiler" is, but how the rest of the cast fits into the picture.I believe there are too many extraneous characters that really do not further the plot - Will and Becky being a case in point, and really just about everyone except for Jeremy and the robbers.Couldn't Rendell have wrapped the others into the story a little better? For example I thought Kim had "potential victim" written all over her and even Zeinab is not given as much space as she deserved.Bringing in the band of teenage thieves to wrap things up seemed to take away from the others.It seems like they were only there to provide Rendell a kind of escape valve to catch the killer.Still I enjoyed it, very suspenseful, (as usual) and loved getting into the mind of the killer (though his wanderings into his past life seemed a bit too contrived.) Recommended - it's a page turner!

The Rottweiler - Not the 'Best of Show'
Positives:Though not a terrific mystery - I eventually accepted the comedy and characters.At the end I really did care about most of these people.She always reinforces my belief that we barely resemble the 'rational man' of economics.

Deltas:Tried to tell a few too many tales within the novel.

Overall:Library book ... Read more

Product Description
Philip Wardman, an ordinary young man, sports one eccentricity: a neurotic fear of violence and death. Like Ferdinand, he likes to smell the flowers, particularly those in his mother's garden, where stands a statue of the goddess Flora, who over time has come to represent all the female virtues.Imagine Philip's consternation when, at his sister's wedding, he encounters a living incarnation of the marble Flora: Senta Pelham, an actress happily contemptuous of conventional morality. She comes to him that night.But Senta has a dark side. Where death frightens Philip, it fascinates her. She proposes a wicked test: to prove his love he needs to kill."Vintage Rendell. Shrewd psychological insight, irresistible narrative force...a true member of that small family of great living authors." --Scott Turow ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

A haunting exploration of an unbalanced mind
THE BRIDESMAID is of top Rendell quality. Obsession is a key theme here, as the male character is obsessively drawn to a family owned statuette and then transfers his affection to his future brother-in-law's cousin.But even deeper is said cousin's twisted conception of love. Once again, Ruth Rendell takes us into the abnormal mind, and this is well worth your while.

Chilling & Satisfying
The Bridesmaid is the book that introduced me to Ruth Rendell.

The Bridesmaid doesn't always rate as a favorite for Rendell's readers or critics, but it's near the top of the list for me. Her ability to crawl inside Philip's sexual obsession and his lack of certainty over what's real and what's imagined is brilliant. I also enjoyed the weaving together of the opening description of his aversion to violence and the gruesome violence that entered his life.

Although the plot has been criticized as flimsy, I don't agree. I thought the circumstances held together to reach a satisfying conclusion.

Relentlessly gripping
Philip Wardman is a young man working for Roseberry Lawn Interiors. He is of quiet, sedate character and he hates violence of any kind. At his sister's wedding, Philip meets her bridesmaid Senta Pelham and falls in love with her. She has a white complexion and silver hair thus resembling Flora, the stone statue in Philip?s mother?s garden. Philip's love for Senta grows passionate until one day she claims that they both have to kill somebody to seal their love for each other. And so begins an awkward journey through sick and weak minds, through an emotional, erotic and irrational relationship. Mrs Rendell's novel is appalling, shocking, convincing and relentlessly gripping. Mr William Gaminara offers a respectable performance in this audio book and I enjoyed very much listening to his reading.

A truly scary story
I was housebound with a snowstorm outside.A perfect time to take this book, with a drink, and read in bed.I had a hard time putting it down and read much later than I should have.

Senta, the mysterious bridesmaid, proved to be a bit more mysterious than imagined.Philip missed a lot of signals and not only from her.He didn't realize that his mother had another man friend and wasn't really feeling jilted by Gerard.Philip seemed too tied up with himself to notice what others were doing.

Interesting story of how it all ended with mistaken identities and lack of communication.A winner, however.

The best, by the best
One of Rendell's greatest gifts is her ability to show what happens when a normal person crosses paths with a sociopath.The hero has no idea what he's met up with because he's too decent to think that way; he and his girlfriend talk past each other in the most chilling way.It's like watching a slow-motion train wreck.

I couldn't disagree more with the reviewer who says the ending is dull and disappointing; it's the most dramatic and horrifying ending I've ever read.The last three pages are a tour de force of writing; it just doesn't get any better."They [the police] would come for this, though.They'd come for this." Gives me chills every time!

Do yourself a favor--read it! ... Read more

Product Description
From the author of A DEMON IN MY VIEW, SIMISOLA and BLOOD LINES, a mystery novel in which a young woman donates her bone marrow to save a person she does not know.But soon the grateful recipient will arrive on the woman's doorstep and change her life forever.Amazon.com Review
Discovering Ruth Rendell late must be like discovering Mozartlate: any regrets for time wasted are overwhelmed by the pleasure ofhaving so many treats to choose from. She writes mysteries aboutInspector Wexford and suspense thrillers about what happens whenpeople's lives accidently collide. This new book falls into thethriller category: in the first few pages we meet a large group ofpeople living in and around London's Regents Park. There are thehomeless, whose hardships are added to when a murderer begins todecimate their ranks; a barely-restrained lunatic who works as adog-walker; a drug dealer and his violent helper; and Rendell'scentral character, Mary Jago, a gentle young woman whose courageouscharity brings her lots of trouble. The best recent Wexford mystery isSimisola; other recommended Rendellsinclude: From Doon With Death, The Tree of Hands, AnUnkindness of Ravens and The Brimstone Wedding (writtenunder her Barbara Vine alter ego). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Neither a drama nor a thriller
This book was a disappointment to me - the author apparently couldn't decide whether to write a drama or a thriller, so she combined the two and didn't do justice to either.pity - I've really enjoyed some of her other books.

Rendell's made my neighborhood quite creepy!
I should have remembered Rendell's remarkable ability to endow everything and everyone she writes about with a thick layer of creepiness.Although putatively a mystery novelist, it's this creep factor that distinguishes Rendell's writing from the rest of the genre, and ironically it's the creep factor that made this particular novel interesting to me.

Set in Regent's Park and St John's Wood, a staid and very posh neighborhood of London, the plot involves a serial killer (with the habit of impaling his homeless victims on the spikes of the park gates), by a hapless masochistic heroine stalked by abusive ex-boyfriend, and by her new love who is (disasterously) not who or what he says he is.

The contrast between these characters and their genteel surroundings pushes the book beyond the mystery genre and closer to horror.The mystery part (who is the killer/why does he kill/who will he kill next) seems secondary to the author's interest in giving you some shivers and convincing you the world is full of undeclared maniacs.If you like that sort of thing, just remember to keep the lights on and lock the doors before you get started.

I picked up "Keys to the Street" in anticipation of a six-month move to this part of London. Now when I walk through Regent's Park I sometimes fight the urge to look over my shoulder for serial killers and stalkers!

Not one of her best.
Keys to the Street is not one of Rendell's better books, and she has so many better books.Diehard fans will like this well enough, but the endless descriptions of London neighborhoods are very dull, and the book takes a long time to get off the ground.Also, there are occasional shortcuts taken, which is something this author seldom does.Her characters are usually very well done, although again, this one didn't blow me away.New readers should start with The Rottweiler, or any of the Barbara Vine books.

I'm just speechless!
Fortunately I can type! I just finished the book on CD. What a book! I thought Live Flesh and Make Death Love Me were great, but, wow!I won't get critical here and pick it apart, just recommend it!

Read something else
This plot was unbelievable, the ending even worse.This was the first Ruth Rendell I've read and I'm told by my book club counterparts that she's an excellent author.If that's really the case I would recommend starting with some other books of hers because this one was lame. ... Read more

Product Description
After weeks of rain, Chief Inspector Wexford has just finished moving his books and furniture upstairs to protect them from the rising waters when the telephone rings. Two local teenagers and their babysitter have gone missing. Wexford isn’t particularly worried, since these things usually sort themselves out. But as hours stretch into days, he begins to suspect he has a kidnapping on his hands. The stakes get even higher when a member of the missing trio turns up dead in the woods nearby.

In the course of his investigation, Wexford must deal with a neighbor whose alibi is questionable, a religious cult and its sylvan rituals, someone close to the children’s family who nurses a terrible secret, and the babysitter’s ex-husband, who reveals the woman’s hidden penchant for violence.

In The Babes in the Wood, Ruth Rendell draws the reader into a riveting story that alternates between Chief Inspector Wexford’s domestic life—his worries about the security of his home and his daughter’s odd new boyfriend—and his determination to see through a kaleidoscope of lies and bring a murderer to justice.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Beneath the surface
It's raining in Kingsmarkham. And raining. And raining. There's flooding in the town, close to the home of Inspector Wexford, who is worried about his adult daughter, a divorcee with appalling taste in men, as well about his house. In the midst of the deluge, a teenage brother and sister vanish, along with the woman who has been staying with them during their parents weekend away. Wexford sees no real evidence of foul play, but is uneasy anyway. When the woman's car is spotted in a shallow gorge, with her body inside, he grows seriously more concerned.

As always in this series, Kingsmarkham on the surface is deceptively peaceful, and during the investigation, some surprising undercurrents bubble up. Children and parents who hate each, an evangelic church group, and the ugliness of pedophilia all have their role to play in the unraveling of this mystery. Rendell is a fine writer who consistently offers well structured plots and wholly believable characters. Wexford himself is one of the last of a dying breed, the devoted public servant working from a moral sense undiluted by the flash and trash of modern society.

Wexford...er, Rendell, Strikes Again!
I ran across "The Babes in the Wood" in a hotel in Pattaya, Thailand.It was one of only a few English books available.It was worn out and missing a few pages (which I was able to get hold of on Amazon), and after I finished reading, I knew the reason for the wear and tear.

I have to admit this is my first Rendell novel.After finishing this one, I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another.There was something comforting in getting through the pages of this interesting mystery.The characters seemed to come to life with Rendell's vivid descriptions and thus I found myself more intrigued than most movies or television shows I have viewed as of late.

Ms Rendell obviously does her research when it comes to the buildings and locations contained in her story.Furthermore, she seems to have a widely varied vocabulary as I found myself making a few trips to search for a few definitions.These facts alone are enough to make Wexford come to life as one of the more sophisticated Inspectors in the realm of crime busting.

My hats off to Ruth Rendell for an excellent read.

Soggy
Sub-par Rendell, with characters who are difficult to distinguish from each other, a meandering plot, little narrative drive and no memorable writing.Wexford's daughter Sylvia has yet more man trouble in her life as a sub-plot.There's also some sort of odd Christian Druid cult that was not particularly convincing.Is there anything really like this in Britain?What one mainly remembers about this tale is that it rained a great deal during the investigation and everyone got wet.Much inferior to her earlier Wexfords and even 2007's Not in the Flesh, something of a rebound.

Flat characters, unsatisfying ending
I've never read a Ruth Rendell novel before. I came to the Babes in the Woods hoping to find an author of British detective fiction with an approach similar to that of P.D. James. I was disappointed.

The characters, without exception, are completely one-dimensional. I understand that psychological depth and character complexity is not a concern of every author. However, flat characters become a problem when, as with the Babes in the Woods, the believability of (and reader's satisfaction with) the ending depends upon the depth and realism with which the author portrays the killer's psychology. This novel was a let-down.

Can any Rendell fans out there tell me if I happened to pick a sub-par example of her work?

Also, two nit-picks:

1) I'm not sure about the print edition, but the Kindle edition is rife with typographical errors.

2) I'm no expert--I guess I only have the exposure most kids get along with a college education--but Rendell describes marijuana as a brown powder, and that seems sort of odd to me. Am I way off base, or has Ruth Rendell never seen marijuana?

Another Rendell masterpiece!
I am a huge Ruth Rendell fan, and this book did not disappoint me.In it we have a series of bizarre consequences stemming from the disappearance of two teenaged children and their minder on a rainy weekend.The book is set around a huge flood that hits Kingsmarkham, and we have Wexford watching the waters rising in his own yard as he gets drawn further and further into the strange disappearance, and the even stranger family that the children belong to.The book will keep you guessing until the end.Rendell uses the book to also air her views on sexual exploitation, fundamentalist religion and disfunctional families.You always get a lot more than just a mystery with a Ruth Rendell novel.This lady is a masterful writer.Most others pale in comparison. ... Read more

Product Description
Mix Cellini has just moved into a flat in a decaying house in Nottinghill, where he plans to pursue his two abiding passions--supermodel Nerissa Nash, whom he worships from afar, and the life of serial killer Reggie Christie, hanged fifty years earlier for murdering at least eight women. Gwendolen Chawcer, Mix’s eighty-year-old landlady has few interests beside her old books and her new tenant. But she does have an intriguing connection to Christie. And when reality intrudes into Mix’s life, he turns toi Christie for inspiration and a long pent-up violence explodes. Intricately plotted and brilliantly written, 13 Steps Down enters the minds of these disparate people as they move inexorably toward its breathtaking conclusion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

One of Rendell's Best, and That's Saying a Lot
Ruth Rendell is, without a doubt, is one of the best (and in my opinion, simply the best) mystery writers alive. It must be hard for this prolific writer to top her previous stellar achievements in the genre and avoid disappointing her readers. 13 Steps Down is not only great, it is also a prefect example of Rendell's writing at her best. I would say it is on the same level as her fantastic earlier A Judgement in Stone and One Across, Two Down.

One of Ruth Rendell's main strengths is her talent at creating fascinating and quirky characters. In 13 Steps Down, she manages to create one of her best casts of utterly unforgettable characters that will stay with you long after you finish reading the book. She is also fantastic at depicting a slow descent into madness experienced by her characters. What might seem as an inoffensive quirk, might gradually develop into a full-blown insanity.

This is not a traditional mystery where a dead body is discovered and the whole book traces the search for the killer. There are murders in the book but you will know who the murderer is from the start and will get to witness the crime being committed. Still, this doesn't make the book any less of a page-turner. Even though it is definitely not a whodunit in the classical sense of the word, 13 Steps Down is harder to put down than most traditional mysteries.

A page turner
Nicely done, suspenseful, a page turner.Not a mystery, as we always know that Mix is the perpetrator of the crimes.The ending was a letdown - and truly more unbelievable than ghosts - but Rendell's mastery of drawing us into her characters' thoughts and lives is wonderful to behold.I think one of her best characters ever is Gwendolyn Chawcer - sad and yet portrayed with humor and compassion.I also loved the old biddies - I was hoping for a showdown between them and Mix.I would have put my money on the women!Worth reading (or listening to as I did).

Unpredictable
I found this book very powerful.Admittedly, I'm not a regular reader of mysteries, so what may strike others as "pro forma" strikes me as unpredictable and exciting.

I loved being in the mind of "Mix," a naive and unlikable man.I particularly enjoyed his thoughts about aged women ("They're all hags," or something to that effect), and the contrast with his views of young women ("Unless you're gorgeous, don't expect me to respect you," or something to that effect).I'm amazed that I wasn't put off by this misogynist, that Rendell kept me turning the pages.

How does she do it?I have no idea.And people say I'm a feminist.

P. S.I also really liked the fortune-teller, Shoshana.I had no idea, until I read this book, that fortune-tellers also consult OTHER fortune-tellers --and the name of the other fortune-teller (not her real name of course) is rather wonderful: Hecate.

Inside a killer's boring mind
Hey Ruth Rendell, here's a tip:

Parking the car, walking down a hall, bringing in the mail, going to the gym, and complaining about the landlady are all boring things to do, even if it is a killer doing them.

Picking out clothes to wear, going to the parent's house, and dieting are all boring things to do, even if it is a glamorous rich chick doing them.

I listened to this book for two cd's and all that happened was different people walking around doing nothing, as stated above. If I wanted to hear about somebody's diet, I would talk to some one in line at the grocery store, which I might add, I DO NOT EVER DO. And yet, here I am paying to listen to drivel about what some dumb FICTIONAL CHARACTER usually eats, and similar garbage, on and on and ON and ON. It's self-indulgent writing to the point of being offensive.

Usually I give a book one cd before I dump it, but I was stuck somewhere and had to gag on two. And it still blathered away for an hour and a half with nothing at all happening.

Man, what a terrible book. A real yawn cocktail. AVOID.

I review only audiobooks. Check out my other reviews, then download, plug in, and never be bored again, especially if you don't bother with this awful book.

Flawed but interesting enough to be worth reading
As a mystery, this novel is seriously flawed (other reviewers have pointed to the problems) and the ending is contrived and very disappointing, but as a study of obsession and self-delusion, it is powerfully worth reading.

Thirty-year old Mix Cellini is obsessed with 1940s/1950s British serial killer John "Reggie" Christie and with supermodel Nerissa Nash, whom he has met (by chance) once. His self-delusion manifests itself in the ability to justify his every action as something forced on him by someone else and to believe that everything Nerissa does or says points to their love and eventual marriage.

Cellini's 80-year old landlady Gwendolen Chawcer is obsessed by her love for the doctor who attended her dying mother decades before. She deceived herself then that his professional politeness was reciprocation for her own love, and she deceives herself in the present when she reads his wife's obituary, that he and she will be reunited and married.

Nerissa is obsessed by her love for the boy next door. She, alone, eventually gets what she thinks she wants but realizes that the prize is worthless.

I've not read much by Ruth Rendell, and other, better-read reviewers suggest that it's not one of her more successful novels. I found it psychologically interesting enough that I'll get around to reading some more of her work. ... Read more

Product Description
It's impossible to forget the violent bludgeoning to death of an elderly lady in her home. Even more so when it's your first murder case.

Wexford believed he'd solved Mrs. Primero's murder fifteen years ago. It was no real mystery. Everyone knew Painter, her odd-job man, had done it. There had never been any doubt in anyone's mind. Until now.

Henry Archery's son is engaged to Painter's daughter. Only Archery can't let the past remain buried. He wants to prove Wexford wrong and in probing into the lives of the witnesses questioned all those years ago, he stirs up more than old ghosts. ... Read more

Product Description
A stranger lures a child into his car with the promise of sweets. A young man spots his fianc??s double in a public park of ill repute. An executive visits the secluded home of a former employee whose intentions are frightfully unclear. A modest soul weds the woman he rescues from suicide--only to fall victim to an unfathomable form of possessiveness?. In the eleven tales gathered in The Fallen Curtain, Ruth Rendell lays bare the twisted inner workings of the unbalanced mind.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A deception
Ruth Rendell is one of the First Ladies of Misteries but this book of short tales falls short of possible expectations from such a star; small stories, some obvious, and looks like she wrote mementoes in her pocket book to write novels with those subjects, but never maneged to do them. OK, not so good tales from Ruth Rendell are better than some misteries from other writers, but there is no comparison between this book and her others, writing either as Ruth Rendell or Barbara Vine ... Read more

Product Description
From the author of End in Tears comes a chilling thriller for “Quick Reads” — books for emergent readers, published as part of the UK’s World Book Day Adult Literacy Initiative 2006.

What you do in childhood may come back to haunt you. Stealing things from people who had upset her was something Polly did quite a lot. There was her Aunt Pauline; a girl at school; a boyfriend who left. And there was the man on the plane… Humiliated and scared by a total stranger Polly does what she always does. She steals something. But she never could have imagined that her desire for revenge would have such terrifying results. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

ruined rendell for me
Got this book at a very cheap price (about 3 dollars) a couple of years ago..it was given away as a gift at a dutch book-week a year or so previously. The price, the critic reviews, as well as the fact that a well-known and renowned dutch book convention would give away this book (they had given away books by mankell and other well-known & estblished writers in earlier years) made me buy. They wouldn't risk their reputation I thought.

In my opinion, they made a mistake. This book is, despite the price (it only has ninety or so pages at that), not worth the time spent at reading it. It ruined Rendell for me, although I have read nothing else from her, had however planned to, and believed this would be a good introduction. As another reviewer has said, it's about a girl/woman who steals things to avenge mistreatment by other people, and her bad conscience and internal blockades rule the most part of the story. This is not a book about a strong woman, rather the opposite. I would almost feel sorry for the main character, if her constant doubting, worrying, passiveness & inferiority complex weren't just all so psycho-silly.

There are far too many great female and male writers out there than that I would take a chance reading another Rendell.

ghost writer??
Was very disapointed in this comic book novel-save your money and find a copy at a spring yard/garage sale-that's where mine's going-in the bargain bin.

Weird little story -- great for a plane trip
This is almost like a short story. I read it in about an hour or so. Polly steals things from people as revenge when they do mean things to her. I can't really tell you much more without giving away the entire plot. If you can get a copy of this inexpensively, I'd get it, expecially for a plane trip. A lot of the action takes place on an airplane. I could see this as an Alfred Hitchcock episode, if that gives you any help. ... Read more

Product Description
In The Fiction of Ruth Rendell: Ancient Tragedy and the Modern Family, Barbara Fass Leavy interprets the multi-layered themes treated by Rendell, who also writes as Barbara Vine. Mysteries as popular entertainment are distinguished from mysteries as literary art, establishing that Rendell's books are capable of meaningful and pleasurable rereading even when "whodunit" is remembered. Leavy argues that Rendell draws on Greek tragedy and the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. By employing the Oedipus and Electra complexes, Leavy explores the ways in which Rendell's characters are enmeshed in disturbed family relationships. Complex and illuminating, this book will appeal to Rendell fans, mystery lovers, and students of crime fiction. It will also supply valuable insights to sociologists, psychologists, and family therapists. The Fiction of Ruth Rendell: Ancient Tragedy and the Modern Family probes deeply the subjects treated by a brilliant and original writer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A fascinating study of Rendell and her literary influences
I have been a huge Ruth Rendell fan for many years and have often felt she is underrated as a writer. Of course she is justifiably appluaded by critics of crime fiction for her expert plotting and ability to create compelling page-turners full of psychological insight; however, her status as a writer of multi-layered novels has never been fully recognised until now.

In this study, Barbara Fass Leavy uses a deep reading of many of Rendell's works to show that she is not only a serious writer who transcends the crime fiction label, but also a writer with a profound appreciation and knowledge of literature. In particular, Leavy argues, Rendell has used ancient Greek tragedies as sources of inspiration for many of her novels, and often explored the psychologcial theories of Freud and Jung through her characters.

What I found particularly rewarding in this book was Leavy's detailed study of family relationships in Rendell's fiction. Leavy shows how complex these are, and how they relate to the famous Oedipus and Electra complexes. Leavy clearly has a superb knowledge of Rendell's oeuvre and understands especially well the relationships between Wexford, Rendell's series detective, and his two daughters. She also shows how Rendell tackles the nature/nurture debate within her fiction, and how her treatment of this has evolved over time.

This is a challenging literary study but a very rewarding one. Leavy is to be congratulated on her efforts to raise awareness of the work of Ruth Rendell and her place in English literature. Above all, this book does what the best literary criticism does: encourage you to go back and re-read its subject. ... Read more

Product Description
Mix Cellini is obsessed. And not just with the supermodel he’s been stalking. He’s also endlessly fascinated by the life of Reggie Christie, the infamous serial killer hanged fifty years ago.

So when things get difficult—his snoopy landlady and her friends watch him with growing suspicion and the object of his desire ignores him—Mix turns to his hero, Reggie Christie, for inspiration. And Reggie was a man for whom murder began as a practical solution and became a matter of appetite.

In Thirteen Steps Down, Ruth Rendell masterfully interweaves the multiple narratives that connect the angry young man who longs for recognition, the young model he dreams about, and his elderly spinster landlady, who has found a reason to hope that romance may still find a way into her life. Chilling, charming, and utterly compelling, Thirteen Steps Down winds its way to a conclusion that defies the reader’s expectations in every way. This is psychological suspense at its very best. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (45)

Interesting read yet disappointing
I had read a recommendation on this about it being a great read but I was quite disappointed in it. Almost like a variation on Hitchcock's "Frenzy" with the actual crime not to mention some stalker movies/books I've read. Not a bad read, just disappointed (I guess you could call this a so-so review due to a backlash from having read such a glowing recommendation).
I like Martha Grimes, Michael Connelly, T.Jefferson Parker & Robert Crais. I also have read all of Dame Agatha and Marsh.

Predictable and annoying
It's a hard feat to switch point of views as often as the writer did in this book, and failed to suceed.By always jumping into another character's pov, the reader always knows what's going on, which losing the mystery of the mystery.

The main charcter was dislikable, to say the least.He was arrogant, pushy, and rude.And I normally love villains.His IQ wasn't even that high, as some suggest.He was stupid where as the writer tried to make him sound smart.I love smart serial killers, who have a method to their madness.Mix lacked this entirely.He killed out of passion, and fumbled around being obvious to try and cover it up.I would have been much more interested in reading a book about his role model, Christie, and his murders.

The characters themselves though were pretty in depth, I have to say, which is why I gave this 2 stars as opposed to 1.She really gave you a lot of background information and let you get to know the main characters, which I love in a book.I just was very disappointed that none of them got their happy ending.And I am not even into happy endings.The endings, for everyone, just felt rushed.

All the longing for the boy next door, to finally get him and reject him?Bleh.

All the longing for the supermodel to finally get in and walk away?Bleh.

All the longing for the good Doctor and then she up's and dies before there's any resolution?Bleh.

I wouldn't recommend this book.To anyone.In fact, I'm throwing my copy away after that dull read.

A definite departure for Rendell
If you're expecting a comfortable, Wexford-like read, this isn't it! I'm a huge fan of Rendell's Inspector Wexford series. This book, not so much. I have enjoyed a few of her other forays into Wexford-free mystery, but this one left me pretty cold. Maybe it's because so little of Wexford's character is revealed in each novel, so that each revelation feels like a major concession and you really become sympathetic with the character, but Mix and the other characters in this book seem peculiarly wooden and contrived.

As far as I know, it's the only book in which Rendell writes from the point of view of the murderer, so maybe that's the problem, but I actually found it quite disturbing. I had to put the book down a number of times to get my thinking straight again. Mix really doesn't have any redeeming qualities at all, classic socio/psychopath, but dammit, I was just SCREAMING for him to get caught before he'd even committed his first murder. I couldn't stand him. Maybe that was the point.

The old lady was pretty reprehensible too. She wasn't likable at all, and the other characters were all of the slappable variety as well. I didn't like a single one of them, and so had a hard time feeling any sympathy/empathy for any of them. I did kind of cheer for the model a little bit at the end, but even so, she was a vapid twit. and vastly annoying.

I was very disappointed in this book, especially considering how excellent Rendell's writing usually is.

It just did not grab me.
One cannot always explain why things are.Why do I not like vanila ice cream while someone else loves it?This book just wasn't that enjoyable.

Suspenseful but too fussy...would have made a better short story
In a nutshell...a very readable story with lots of "Oh they're bound to catch him now" moments; so good as far as suspense goes but a let down at the end in that it just well, ended...nothing remarkable at all.

I felt the book was too padded out with stuff that was really irrelevant, like the doctor that Gwen writes to (after reading his wife's obituary) in the hope of resuming their romance from half a century ago. Or the clairvoyant that everyone seems to visit and whilst she does tend to `see things' relevant to the characters...it's still really unimportant. The fixation with Narissa doesn't really need to be there either or her fixation with some other guy whom she realises isn't for her anyway.

I'm glad I read it, it wasn't a bad read...I like suspense but not the best.

... Read more

Product Description
Sir Manuel Camargue, yesterday one of the most celebrated musicians of his time, today floats face down in the lake near his sprawling English country house. The consensus is accidental death -- but Inspector Wexford knows the stench of murder most foul when he smells it. Particularly in the company of two suspects -- one, the victim's fiancee, who is too young to be true, the other his daughter who may be no kin and even less kind . . .
... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

This detective story has an interesting twist

Ruth Rendell is a consummate writer of both psychological thrillers and detective stories. Frequently, readers who like one genre do not read the other. However, there is some overlap, frequently there are psychological insights in the detective tales and vice versa. All in all this adds to make Rendell books superb readings. This book is no exception.

A renowned flutist is found dead. He either fell into the frozen pond by accident or was pushed. The flutist was about to be married to a young girl who could have been his granddaughter. The flutist has a daughter who he has not seen for nineteen years. She claims the million pound estate. The young woman tells the police inspector Wexford that her fiancée told her that the alleged daughter visited him just before his death and that her fiancée recognized that she was not his daughter and that he told her that he was changing his will to disinherit her and to give his estate to his future wife. He died before he could change the will. Wexford is convinced that the woman is an impostor and spends considerable time and effort to prove it despite his superior telling him to drop the investigation.

Rendell tells the story in a very well written manner filled with suspense and a delightful sense of humor, like a dash of salt that brings out the taste. But nothing is as it seems to be and readers will enjoy finding this out.

Inspector Wexford visits coastal California
Others have done well in describing the plot, but for me, born and raised in California, the most entertaining part of this novel was Inspector Wexford's trip to California which takes up roughly a third of the book. Notable is the very British perception of the west coast including the people, the scenery, and the annoyances such as having to drive on "the wrong side of the road".Okay, the mystery itself is up to Rendell's usual standards, pretty typical for her fans, but I do think Californians like myself will especially enjoy it.

Twists and turns
This is the book that made me a devoted fan of Ruth Rendell, and for that alone it deserves five stars! The story is relatively simple as others have described it--the death of a famous musician brings suspicion onto the man's much younger fiancee, and his long lost daughter.

Yet what made this book stand out was how Rendell handled the simplicity of the plot and still managed to deliver a couple of jaw dropping twists.I really did not know where it was going to end up!(And this was after having read all of Agatha Christie's novels!)

Of all the Wexford titles, this one and "Shake Hands Forever" are the most Christie-like in their brevity and construction.Not a perfect book (as others have pointed out), but the most "fun" I've derived from a Rendell work.

Not of the calibre of most Rendell's, but still good
This book was about an old musician who wanted to marry a very young woman, and poof, out of the woodwork, comes a long-lost daughter.She seems to have all the answers, but something about her puts Wexford off, and he travels all the way to California to try to determine who this woman is.There's a very big twist at the end of the book, and lots of Wexford and Burden which is a good thing.We even see a lot of the long-suffering Dora (Wexworth's wife).A book written by a woman at the top of her game.

A problem with tempo
A routine, throw-away tale bearing all the hallmarks of an author who feels comfortable enough to just keep churning 'em out.One example: the Wexfords, in California, telephone home and reference is made to the time difference, remarking that the UK is 8 hours behind California.It should of course be the other way round!This mistake is repeated several times.In a mystery, everything can be a clue and this is just the sort of thing a reader will take note of.Well, the reader needn't bother -- the author didn't. ... Read more

Product Description
In a shabby London suburb, sixteen-year-old Pup Yearman dabbles in magic. But for Pup's older sister Dolly, the magic is more than dabbling. Deformed by a facial birthmark, Dolly desperately wants to be cured, and her obsession with Pup's magic sends her on a dangerous downward spiral into confusion, madness, and possibly murder. And meanwhile, in a squalid boardinghouse not far away, a young Irishman sharpens a set of butcher knives . . . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

One of Ruth Rendell's creepiest novels
This is one which grabs the reader with the first sentence and doesn't let go until the last one.It starts with Peter, called Pup, believing that he's sold his soul to the Devil, and slowly first introduces Doreen known as Dolly who becomes preoccuppied with making dolls and wine as an escape from her consciousness of a disfigurement.As the title warns you, the dolls become a sinister part of the plot which interweaves her story with a seemingly unrelated one involving a murderer who is likewise severely mentally unbalanced. To say more would be to deprive the reader from full enjoyment of this superbly crafted chiller.

A mystery? I think not.
I read this book because I was under the mistaken impression that it was a mystery novel. This book, however, is miles away from the traditional mystery novel: there are no whodunnit aspects whatsover, no clues, no "bad guys", and no detective. This book is called a mystery mainly because they needed to call it *something*, and mystery was closest. So, don't read this if you're in the mood for a classic mystery experience.

That being said, this book is worth reading. Imagine, if you will, a master baker making a cake with batter mixed with broken glass: The cake would be beautiful, masterfully formed, delicious, and painful to consume. Reading this book is a similar delicious but painful experience.

The characters in this book, aside from one (Pup), all become trapped in their own personalities and psychoses, leading them all in an inevitably downward spiral. Each character is represented faithfully and personally, so much so that you come to sympathize with every character in the book -- including a murderer. Dolly, who receives much of the focus in this book, is especially difficult to watch. As her life inevitably become more and more like living death, I became more and more distraught until reading the story became almost uncomfortable for me. If this book is anything, ultimately it is how one small disfigurement (a nevus on Dolly's face) in turn disfigures her entire life.

In order to make this novel feel more like a mystery, the blurb on the back of the book promises a surprise ending, but I saw it coming from a mile away, as will most people reading the book. This predictable ending makes it no less of great book, but does emphasize this book's sense of fatalism.

Although well written, I'm giving it 4 stars because it really is uncomfortable to read and so won't be as fun of an experience to the traditional mystery reader.

Pure Class
I read this book as part of my holiday reading and I was not disappointed.The novel was chilling, disturbing and all too realistic.Everything was right on target - the plot, the characters, the fantastic ending...

The main characters are a motley crew.Pup is a young man who wants to be a geomancer (like a magician) and whose belief in magic is the catalyst of all the terrible things to follow.Dolly is Pup's sister who is reclusive due to a birthmark on her cheek which has left her confidence in shreds.Diarmit is a man who has never been the same mentally since a bomb exploded near him when he was a boy in Ireland, and who finds comfort only by carrying around a dangerous set of knives.It is scarcely necessary to mention that these characters end up embroiled in a diabolical plot that is psychologically fascinating.

I would recommend this to dedicated Rendell readers because this book is really, really great.To first time Rendell readers I would suggest starting with some of her newer books (such as Sight for Sore Eyes) and working back to this one because the book is a bit old fashioned in its language and clothes the characters wear etc, but this is not a big problem.

JoAnne

Ruth Rendell is truly amazing
Ruth Rendell has written so many novels that publishers have a job keeping them all in print, all readily available, and normally they fail dismally, meaning that only the most recent novels are available, and older, equally brilliant little gems, are only eclectically available to readers, and thus people frequently miss out on the author's entire marvellous cannon. The problem is that if even one novel by Rendell remains out of print, readers are missing a unique and unequalable reading experience. The Killing Doll is just such a case - an absolutely unique book among her body of work, yet it retains all the factors which conspire to make each novel brilliant. Psychology, irony, chill, skin-crawling reality, brilliant characters, brilliant plots and shocking twists, etc etc etc.

The Killing Doll is a relatively hard novel to pin down. Most of Rendell's novels outside the Wexford series tend to be. This one is, on the one hand, a book about the Faustian pact of young Peter Yearman who sells his soul to grow taller, and soon becomes drawn, along with his adoring older sister Dolly, into the world of the occult. However, as Peter grows up he turns away from the magick he once believed in, and goes out into the real world. Unfortunately, Dolly - shy and friendless, nervous of going outside of the house due to a large birthmark on her cheek - cannot separate herself from it - she still believes his seeming powers are genuine. As events conspire to tip her further over the edge - from very early on it is clear that isolated Dolly, who talks to her dead mother and comes to make dolls representative of those she hopes Peter's magic will harm, is a little Schizophrenic - the novel from then on dwells in the very dark places of madness, as all the characters move along happily with their dangerous delusions, until the final catastrophic chapters in which all the events are brought to a shattering climax.

I adore her books. I have a passion and thirst for them which will not be slaked, and I defy anyone to deny that she is not one of the best novelists writing today. Fine, I have no problem with people disliking her books (after all, some people of course won't like keeping company with strange, slightly warped characters who tang with a disturbing, uncomfortable reality) if they find the things they cover slightly disturbing, but anyone should at least be able to admit the incredible quality which lies at the core, whether they like the subject matter or not. It is quality that sings to me, sings to me of damaged people and twisted things, terrible worlds of Shakespearean irony (the tradition of the great Tragedy is alive and well in Rendell's novels) , and lives lived at risk from those around us who need just a subtle trigger to send them to madness. She is an insightful, clever and diabolically vicious writer who never shies away from showing us a different side of life, and The Killing Doll is another work of genius.

Another thriller
Like another reviewer, I am on a Ruth Rendell reading binge this summer.Am going thru the shelf of her books that my library has.

I like the Inspector Wexford books best, but have read all of them so have started on her other books.

She writes about the strangest characters, but what is scary is that they get away with seeming quite normal or the people around them mostly ignore them. Just when you think it may turn out well for them something unexpected happens!What a wonderful imagination she has. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

A tantalizing gem from Ruth Rendell
A juvenile game and an overly imaginative adult who believes cryptic messages are being left by members of a criminal gang slowly builds up to classic suspense and a twist at the end that hints at how juveniles can "graduate" into the criminal life. The story is slow` in development, but the journey is vastly enjoyable which is generally the case with this author.

The 34-year-old virgin triumphs...
Rendell again inhabits the territory of the novel here, creating scenes and characters not easily forgotten. Sometimes I have found her creations gratuitously odd...but not this one.
Mungo Cameron takes over his brother's role as head of London Central, one of two rival teenage spy networks who occupy themselves by secretly influencing various events in their world and communicating their plots in coded notes left in drops around London.Another, Charles Mabledene, is originally part of the rival network Moscow Central, headquartered in the private school Utting, but when Charles makes contact and asks to come over to London Central, the issue of trust arises and Charles' loyalty to London Central and his new public school Rossingham must be tested.Thus arises the perceived necessity of his talking to strange (possibly dangerous) men.

There is more than one strange grown man in this book (and a few odd women!).One is Mungo's dad, a chronic but endearing worrier who manages to overlook most things that he really should be worrying about.Another is John Creevey, proprietor of a garden centre, no longer the 34-year-old virgin that he was when he married, but still cuckolded by his wife Jennifer who has moved in with her lover Peter Moran.John's sister Cherry's earliermurder haunts him, as does her obsessive fiancée Mark, who befriends John after Cherry's death and shares secrets that John would prefer not to know.

One villain is predictably repulsive. Another surprises you with his depth and complexity, as does John Creevey, who is well on his way to being an attractive and healthy person by the end of the book.Mungo, like his brother, grows out of his preoccupation with spycraft and moves on to real life.The worst villainy is left for us to imagine, as Charles contemplates his future...

My First Rendell Book: 3½ stars
By accident, John Creevey, a middle-aged, not-yet-divorced man, stumbles across a secret code drop run by a "mini-Mafia" of young students, the leader being 14-year-old Mungo Cameron, one of the main characters. Their paths later cross when John attempts to communicate with them by putting a hit out on his wife's lover, a known pedophile.

I really got into "Talking to Strange Men" at the beginning, but my interest petered out about a third of the way through when nothing really explosive had happened so far--it's just John pining for his wife and Mungo going about his everyday life at school and home. My interest was piqued again, though, by the end when one of the "mini-Mafia" agents is assigned to tail the above-mentioned pedophile. Despite the book being slow-paced and burdened with too many underage spies and their seemingly meaningless assignments, I'd still recommend "Talking to Strange Men" to mystery readers who're into British psychological suspense, mainly existing Ruth Rendell fans.

More wonderful stuff from Rendell!
John Creevey could only guess at what the coded messages were for...were they the work of a drugs ring, a protection racket, a spy ring, or something else equally sinister?

Unbeknownst to him, John has stumbled upon some teenagers' spy-game, played out between two rival "centres" based in the city. They play amateurish espionage games, trying always to get one-up on one another, and leave coded messages detailing latest orders and objectives. Recently separated from his wife, John is lonely and slightly depressed, and becomes obsessed with these strange messages. Sometimes, he dedicates whole days to cracking the codes, and eventually these strange messages drag John and those around him down into a tangle of revenge and murder.

This is classic Rendell, which is of course to say that it is crime writing that does not get any better. The mundane details of everyday life ground the plot firmly in a hard reality, but the originality and hints of surrealism cast it into darkness and make it sparkle with something very special indeed. The characters are drawn with brilliant insight - the children playing their inconsequential power-games are brilliant generic creations, and John, obsessing over the codes and messages as they rush to fill the void in his life. Of course, the twin plotlines merge in the end as only a Rendellian plot can, in an understated cataclysm of unexpected brutality. She spins her web with care and tenderness, and then inevitably it traps its victim, horrifically.

In many ways, of course Talking to Strange Men is trademark Rendell. It contains everything we expect, but of course it is also unique in its originality. That she has written over 50 books now and has yet to repeat herself and continues to be original is a truly stunning achievement. Most authors become stale after about ten books. It is testament to Rendell's huge talent that she has not fallen foul of this - she has always refused to stick within boundaries of any kind, and the genre is far richer for her.

This book, also a clever homage to the espionage genre, is another superb achievement from the author. A twisted, strange, compelling piece of brilliance.

WORST BOOK EVER BY RENDELL
This book did not even come close to resolving the conflicts developed in this story.What happened to John, Jennifer, Martin, Mungo, Augus?There was something going on there that was not wrapped up.Are we supposed to think Charles's killing of Peter the END GAME.THIS END [was not good]. ... Read more

Product Description
Nine deliciously frightening and exquisitely crafted tales of psychological terror from Ruth Rendell.

A self-appointed critic reads books only to catch out their errors of fact and usage, which he points out to their authors in vicious letters: Then one day he comes upon a book that attacks him. An elderly woman finally avenges herself on the man who raped her sixty years before. An idyllic village in the English countryside offers newcomers its own peculiar kind of hospitality and exacts a terrible price on those who reject it. Delivering high-voltage shocks with the elegance of a Henry James, Piranha to Scurfy is further evidence of Ruth Rendell’s mastery of any form she puts her hand to.


From the Trade Paperback edition.Amazon.com Review
These short fictions showcase Ruth Rendell's many gifts, among them the ability to evoke a mood and trap a reader in the deepest recesses of a character's psyche. The title story (its odd name comes from the volume of the encyclopedia her character uses in venting his spleen at published authors whose work suffers from a lack of precision) draws us into the mind of a lonely man whose inability to please his mother makes him vulnerable to self destruction. "The Wink" and "Walter's Leg," two stories about revenge, demonstrate that it is indeed a meal best eaten cold. "The Professional" is a small gem with an ironic twist, notable for its acute insights into social class and status in England. In these and other pieces in this collection, Rendell's powers of invention and acute psychological insight remind one of the chilling tales she writes as Barbara Vine. But the best is saved for last, "High Mysterious Union," a tale that's like the weather in Rendell's typical English landscape: sunny at the start but increasingly dark and threatening as the plot thickens. A translator rents a cottage in a village that seems like Lake Wobegon. Everyone is beautiful, strong, and kind, especially the women, who seduce the newcomer with their charms and then abandon him when he fails to see the rightness of their unique, bizarre ways. He gets away with his life, but it will take days before he (and his creator) give you back your own. --Jane Adams ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Another virtuoso performance
This collection displays Rendell's continuing mastery of storytelling no matter the length or format.The tone here is somewhere between Vine and Rendell, and could easily have been written under either name.The title story (perhaps a novella' I'm never sure where the cutoff is here) combines Vine's mastery of rich character and Rendell's relentless plotting.

While Rendell is widely acknowledged as a brilliant mystery writer, she should be so regarded irrespective of genre.

Ruth Rendell Short Stories
Many and varied stories from a top-notch mystery writer.Each is quite different from the others.Some are short and some are long.All worthwhile listening to.

EXCELLENT SHORT - AND NOT SO SHORT - STORIES
For an evening oflight reading this is just the thing and the scope and variety of the author,s imagination is breathtaking at times.Read this book and you will not be disappointed.

Timothy WingateOttawaCANADA

What the h* does Piranha to Scurfy mean?
This book is so boring, I barely made it half-way through; the stories are idiotic in the sense that if you don't understand it, it must be art.

Good Stories - Great Reader
The stories are good, mysterious. Add to that the outstanding talents of Jenny Sterlin and you have 4 hours of good times ahead. ... Read more

Product Description
Two things interest Stanley Manning: crossword puzzles, and the substantial sum his wife Vera stands to inherit when his mother-in-law dies. Otherwise, life at 61 Lanchester Road is a living hell. For she lives with them now--and she will stop at nothing to tear his marriage apart. One afternoon, Stanley lends death a helping hand. But very soon after the deed is done, he finds that his actions may cost him. In One Across, Two Down, master crime writer Ruth Rendell describes a man whose strained sanity and stained reputation transform him from a witless loser into a killer afraid of his own shadow. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Not high on the thrill scale, but enjoyable
One Across, Two Down is a light read.Not to say that it's boring because it's not.But the signature Rendell thrills-and-chills isn't here.Oh sure, of course, there's a murder or two, but then there always is with Ms. Rendell's books.Stanley, a crossword puzzle aficionado, is a perennial loser despite his impressive command of the English language.The whole story revolves around him and all throughout this character reminded me of Inspector Clouseau (Pink Panther) - bumbling, egocentric, inept and hilarious.Everything Stanley touches turns to dust or chaos.If you want an undemanding and entertaining Rendell story, try this.

Early suspense from a master storyteller
This is one of Ruth Rendell's early novels (first published in 1971), a bleak foray into greed and despair. Stanly and Vera live in a North London suburd along with Vera's mother, the caustic Maud, who hates her deadbeat son-in-law with a passion. The feelings are mutual from Stanley, who is constantly planning Maud's demise when he is not obsessed with his favorite hobby - crossword puzzles. As in most Rendell novels, there are few likable characters here with the exception of Vera, the long-suffering wife. In a way, each character gets what they want, but the hands of fate have ways of playing them out in unexpected ways. There is a pervailing atmosphere of doom and gloom that gets darker as the novel progresses and Rendell may get the reader to gain a little sympathy toward Stanley, which is quite an accomplishment.

greed
smooth, if inconsequential narrative. economical with word and psychologically insightful. reminiscent of hitchcock's black and white t.v. tales.

Wonderful tale of greed gone out of control
I knew from Rendell's past books that this would end in chaos.There some tense moments, but Stanley ends up getting ....It moves right along and is hard to put down.

It's a good story about people waiting for someone to die so they can inherit money and how easily it can go wrong.

Vera, Stanley's wife, is a docile, meek character at the beginning.... ....Having nosy neighbors was ...downfall. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Rendell's Masterpiece
The novelette included in this collection, "The Strawberry Tree," may well be Rendell's masterpiece, the single work that stands above all her other many fine novels and stories. It's a work of exquisite craftsmanship and deep psychological depth. I gasped at one point, laughed at another, and ended in tears. A British television adaptation (with the same title; you can find details at imbd.com) is also excellent.

Short stories that don't feel like a compromise.
Whether in a novel or a short story, Ruth Rendell's storytelling is just captivating. Her style is consistently haunting, there is depth to her characters, and there's the twist which will come at you out of nowhere. Whether you're a dedicated mystery fan or simply enjoy reading extremely skillfully put together prose, regardless of genre, Ruth Rendell is irresistible (and very addictive!).

A collection of 11 stories
The two longest stories in this collection are the first story, "Blood Lines," an Inspector Wexford tale of 40 pages, and the last story, "The Strawberry Tree," a somewhat strange tale which is 85 pages long.In between are 9 short stories, some of which are only 6 pages.As usual with collections, some stories are better than others.All the stories involve murder, attempted murder, or accidental death, with the exception of "Clothes," which is about a compulsive shopper.As in other English mysteries, guns do not come into play.Murders tend to be by poison or bludgeon.The author has an inventive mind when it comes to eliminating people (I would be afraid to get on her wrong side).

While some stories are very good, I had trouble getting interested in the long novelette, "The Strawberry Tree," which is written in a narrative form with only a little dialogue.The narrative starts on the island of Majorca with no real indication of why the narrator is there, then skips back 40 years to give an account of past events on Majorca, her life in between, and finally her arrival on Majorca where the story started.A mystery is introduced along the way, and a solution is finally presented.This story, like the others, was written in the 1990's, but the Spanish apparently didn't use DNA analysis.

Ok collection, until the final story
This is an ok collection of short stories, right up until the final novella, "The Strawberry Tree". Until then, most of the stories are enjoyable, all are well written, but some of them don't have much impact. "Clothes" is a bit puzzling, to name just one. However, there are some excellent ones. "In All Honesty", "Lizzie's Lover" and the wonderful "Unnacceptable Levels" which is very short, but the best short story in the collection apart from the final one.

The characters are all well drawn with accurate psychology, and many have rather disturbing and strange traits. The first story, a Wexford, which serves as the title for the collection, is well written and clever, but not quite as entertaining as some other Wexford short stories.

However, now we come to the final story. "The Strawberry Tree" is a short novella of about 90 pages, but it is the best story in the collection, and possibly the best novella i have ever read. It says many things about the human condition, as well as being incredibly touching, well evoked, interesting, clever, very well written, etc. It in itself is worth the price of the entire book. Set in part in Spain, she describes the foreign landscape beautifully, as she does the relationships between the four main children in the story. It is a beautiful story, full of psychological perception. It's intriguing, compelling, emotional, sometimes sad, and has a subtle twist to the tale that it is hard to pre-empt.

First class, but this book by the world's most talented writer. Of this generation or any previous. ... Read more

Product Description
Mopsa, driven by a past scarred by madness and violence. Benet, stricken by the most grievous loss any woman can bear. Carol, trapped in a life of crushing drabness no lover can change. Three mothers joined by a single thread of terror, whirled into a spiral of kidnapping, murder, and a final, reckless affirmation of love.
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Customer Reviews (15)

One of Rendell's most touching and sensitive novels
Ruth Rendell at her best with one of her typical casts of dysfunctional adults and the intertwinng of disparate lives. At the heart of this tale is the the problem of making right choices involving an abused child.

Rendell at her very best!
Other reviewers have well described this extremely suspenseful book by the queen of psychological suspense drama. There is nobody like Ruth Rendell to figuratively grasp you by the throat and hang on - you can't get away. She holds you captive to the very end, leaving you limp but satisfied.

"Tree" is the story of three mothers: Mopsa, with the "look of ineffable foxy cunning," her sweet, vulnerable courageous daughter Benet, who suffers the worst loss a woman must bear, and Carol, golden haired, cherub-faced and a promiscuous gold-digger. The three are tied together by an iron chain of terror that propels them inexorably into a vortex of murder, and kidnapping and deceit.

In "Tree of Hands" Rendell is at the top of her form. Her characters are very convincing, and beautifully portrayed- even the little boy Jason comes alive on the page. Don't miss this one!

Movie
Let me begin by confessing that I've not read the book! But I was reading the other reviews and noted one from G. Underdown back in February, 2004 that suggests the book would make a good movie. I wish I could reach him directly, but perhaps everyone would like to know that it has indeed been made into a movie in 2001, Alias Betty. The director is Claude Miller whose most recent film was last year's marvelous A Secret.

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother
The Tree of Hands, at its core, is the story of three mothers.First, there is Mopsa, a recovering schizophrenic with no impulse control--whose perceptions and ideas of maternal love are filtered through the lens of lingering madness and narcissism.Second is Benet, Mopsa's daughter, whose devotion to her toddler renders her beyond reproach, yet whose personal loss brings about a deception of fantastic enormity.Lastly is a self-absorbed Carol whose neglect and abuse of her three children could turn even the most tolerant of us livid.How these lives converge in ways that bring about tragedy for some and happiness to others is where Ruth Rendell excels.I've often thought that if Ms. Rendell had not become a renowned novelist, she would have made a brilliant psychologist.With her usual acute observation of humanity she has created here authentic, complex characters with very real emotions and very real faults.The plot, as outrageous as it might seem, works brilliantly on the strength of the characters who breathe life into it.Although the book has its flaws (the subplot of a sponger who attempts to make the score of his life has only the slightest of connections to the central story), they are forgivable as the narrative manages to retain its focus.

I've always had difficulty substantiating my 4- or 5-star reviews of Ms. Rendell's novels for fear of disclosing too much.To even allude to a specific plot twist to illustrate the author's clever machination seems unfair to prospective readers.I, instead, chose the above quote as the title for this review primarily to hint at the central theme of this book.I do hope it and, of course, the other favorable reviews here are enticement enough.

The Mother From Hell

Eek! This novel is dark and intense--even by the standards of Ruth Rendell, the Queen of Darkness and Intensity. When a troubled young woman loses her child, her none-too-tightly-wrapped mother comes up with a horrible remedy (kidnapping) for her daughter's anguish. This shocking deed causes a large cross-section of dysfunctional Brits to intersect and interact all over London, with even more horrifying results. Imagine a novel by Charles Dickens--with a really high body count.

Nobody does this sort of thing better than Ruth Rendell. That's why we love her. And this novel is one of her best. Enjoy (if that's the right word). ... Read more