End in Tears (2005)

Inspector Wexford - a psychological mystery thriller set in Britain.
Rendell is a favorite author and Wexford a favorite character.
Enjoyable.
Read in 2011. ( )

20th in the Inspector Wexford series. A man lies awake worrying about his daughter who's out late. She's often out late, but that doesn't stop him worrying, and this time he's right. When he goes out at first light to look for her, what he finds is her murdered body.

Wexford's worrying about his own daughter, who has announced that she's going to be a surrogate mother for her ex-husband and his new partner. The murder of a teenage single mother is a little too close to home for him. And that's before there is a second murder of a young woman. The murders are clearly linked, but how?

The plot's good, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as I have some of the earlier Wexfords. A major part of this is that Wexford's sidekick is such a cardboard stereotype of a humourless politically correct social justice activist who can't see her own prejudices that I felt I was being lectured. I nearly abandoned the book because I found it so irritating. I don't regret sticking with it, but it's not one I'm inclined to re-read. ( )

Ruth Rendell's ability to maintain the quality of her Inspector Wexford series is really impressive. So is her ability to move with the times -- the Inspector ages, but adapts (with some bemusement) to the changing mores around him. This one, number twenty in the series, starts with the murder of a young woman, and proceeds through a web of characters and events -- including another murder. Along the way, we spend considerable time with the Inspector's politically-correct but endearing Sargent Hannah, and with other police characters. Meanwhile, there is drama in the Wexford family: what kind of drama I will leave to the reader, except to note that yes, it involves Sylvia. Altogether a very good read. I am so sad that I am nearing the end of the series, but there does lie before me the prospect of all the non-Wexford Ruth Rendells. ( )

I liked this mystery featuring Chief Inspector Wexford. I liked how he and the rest of the Kingsmarkham team figure out the cause of the murders and catch the actual killer. I look forward to reading the first book in the series, From Doon with Death. ( )

Good mystery, dealing with surrogacy, both legal and criminal. Several related plots kept me interested. Have always loved Wexford and his family. Ruth Rendell writes so well, adding food for thought to the mystery itself. ( )