'Don?t forget,? Wexford said, 'I?ve lived in a world where the improbable happens all the time.?However, the impossible has happened. Chief Inspector Reg Wexford has retired. He and his wife, Dora, now divide their time between Kingsmarkham and a coachhouse in Hampstead, belonging to their actress daughter, Sheila.Wexford takes great pleasure in his books, but, for all the benefits of a more relaxed lifestyle, he misses being the law.But a chance meeting in a London street, with someone he had known briefly as a very young police constable, changes everything. Tom Ede is now a Detective Superintendent, and is very keen to recruit Wexford as an adviser on a difficult case.The bodies of two women and a man have been discovered in the old coal hole of an attractive house in St John?s Wood. None carries identification. But the man?s jacket pockets contain a string of pearls, a diamond and a sapphire necklace as well as other jewellery valued in the region of e40,000.It is not a hard decision for Wexford. He is intrigued and excited by the challenge, and, in the early stages, not really anticipating that this new investigative role will bring him into physical danger.
'Don?t forget,? Wexford said, 'I?ve lived in a world where the improbable happens all the time.?However, the impossible has happened. Chief Inspector Reg Wexford has retired. He and his wife, Dora, now divide their time between Kingsmarkham and a coachhouse in Hampstead, belonging to their actress daughter, Sheila.Wexford takes great pleasure in his books, but, for all the benefits of a more relaxed lifestyle, he misses being the law.But a chance meeting in a London street, with someone he had known briefly as a very young police constable, changes everything. Tom Ede is now a Detective Superintendent, and is very keen to recruit Wexford as an adviser on a difficult case.The bodies of two women and a man have been discovered in the old coal hole of an attractive house in St John?s Wood. None carries identification. But the man?s jacket pockets contain a string of pearls, a diamond and a sapphire necklace as well as other jewellery valued in the region of e40,000.It is not a hard decision for Wexford. He is intrigued and excited by the challenge, and, in the early stages, not really anticipating that this new investigative role will bring him into physical danger.
'Don't forget,' Wexford said, 'I've lived in a world where the improbable happens all the time.'
Ruth Rendell has won many awards, including the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for 1976's best crime novel with A Demon in My View; a second Edgar in 1984 from the Mystery Writers of America for the best short story, 'The New Girl Friend'; and a Gold Dagger award for Live Flesh in 1986. She was also the winner of the 1990 Sunday Times Literary award, as well as the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger. In 1996 she was awarded the CBE and in 1997 became a Life Peer.
"Unequivocally, the most brilliant mystery writer of our time. She
magnificently triumphs in a style that is uniquely hers and
mesmerising -"
*Patricia Cornwell*
In Rendell's fine follow-up to A Sight for Sore Eyes (1999), a non-Wexford novel in which a working-class aesthete's quest for beauty earned him an ugly, unexpected end, horror strikes the home improvement plans of Martin and Anne Rokeby. The couple are seriously disconcerted to discover multiple bodies in varying states of decay in a long-forgotten vault beneath their London garden. In the art world, the Rokebys' address is famous as the setting of a '70s-era masterpiece, Marc and Harriet in Orcadia Place, a painting depicting a rock star and his girlfriend. Though Inspector Wexford has retired, the police soon summon him to help solve this most gothic case. Has more than one killer used the vault as a body dump? Rendell's recent style can feel a bit anemic when contrasted with that of A Sight for Sore Eyes, and she populates this sequel with people who resemble sketches rather than vivid, complex characters. Still, this easily outshines most of the competition on either side of the Atlantic. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
This sequel to Rendell's 1999 A Sight for Sore Eyes-and the 23rd installment of her Inspector Wexford series-begins with the discovery of four bodies under the patio of a lovely cottage in the exclusive London suburb of St. John's Wood. Three of the victims died 12 years ago, but the fourth body, that of a provocatively dressed young woman, has been in the vault for only two years. Stymied in their attempts to identify the victims and discover how they came to their violent ends, the London police call in the retired but restless Wexford to serve as a consultant. VERDICT Rendell crams so many characters and plotlines into her story that some readers may have difficulty keeping it all straight and remaining engaged. This experienced author, however, does an admirable job of tying everything together in the end. Recommended for procedural fans and for Rendell's many faithful readers.-Jane la Plante, Minot State Univ. Lib., ND (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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