No More Dying Then (1971)

One of my favourite Wexfords - plenty going on, and the investigation takes unexpected turns. ( )

This is the second Inspector Wexford mystery I've read. Apparently the reader is supposed to be familiar with the inspector, because he isn't really introduced or described. Perhaps these books need to be read in order.

The setting is your basic English country towns, and the disappearance of a five-year-old boy has reminded the residents of the unsolved disappearance of a twelve-year-old girl months earlier. A fair amount of the novel focuses on one of Wexford's detectives, Mike Burden, and his struggles after the recent death of his wife; his story is connected to the plot, but it proceeds separately from Wexford's investigation.

Wexford is not a agreeable character. he is brilliant in connecting stories and constructing a solution from clues, but if he were real I would have no interest in meeting him. He is persistently rude to virtually everyone he meets. It's difficult to follow along with his reasoning in solving the crime because he confides in noone. Thus a reader like me who wants to try to solve the crime along with the detective is frustrated.

Rendell has a wonderful reputation, so I suppose I should try another of these, perhaps the first, but I won't rush right out to do it. ( )

3778. No More Dying Then, by Ruth Rendell (read 30 July 2003) Awhile back I ran across a book called "Ten Women of Mystery" which discussed ten women mystery writers. One was Ruth Rendell, who apparently is quite famous but who I had never heard of. This title of hers is on a list I have of the 100 greatest mysteries of the 20th century (I had only read 15 of the 100) so I thought I would read it. It is the 10th book of hers using the same police investigators and locale, and while they are supposed to be freestanding I think I would have been better advised to read her first book. The literary allusions are kind of neat, but I thought the plot a bit hard to follow, though the ending was satisfactory. One could spend a lot of time reading mysteries. ( )