Put On By Cunning

(57) The 11th or so Inspector Wexford novel. In this one Wexford inadvertently gets drawn into the possibility that a new heiress is a fraud and the recent accidental death of her father, a famous flutist, was not an accident at all. It is a bit of a convoluted story taking Wexford to California and the South of France. Unlike other novels, there seems to be no side story involving the recurring characters, unless you want to count his daughter Shelia, the actress, who gets married in this one - but its not really much of a plot line.

Of course, once again - I didn't suss things out correctly. Though the so-called 'simple' explanation was just as convoluted as the path Rendell initially led us down. I don't know if I am just dull-witted show more or whether these mysteries are just not written to be guessed by the reader but I never quite get it right. But that is a good thing. This book on the whole was about the same caliber as the others in the series. Entertaining - but ultimately forgettable.

I am now hooked on the series and will continue reading them. They are fairly well written albeit dated engaging reads. show less

Another month, another Wexford. And a good one it is!

It pays off when reading this series to pay attention to detail. Rendell wastes few words, even when it seems she's simply adding a bit of local color or building out a personality. These places or people might not be important to the plot, but they very well could be. And in a book like this, where the plot is deliciously complicated, we are given plenty of diversions to lure us away from those incidentals. When they re-emerge and are pulled together at the end we have no choice but to say, "Well done again, Ms. Rendell! You hid nothing from us, and yet the conclusion is not what we'd expected."

Of course, for most of the book Wexford didn't put it together either, so I suppose we are show more to be forgiven.

One comment: the audiobook version I listened to (from Audible) was narrated by Charles Kay. Sadly, Mr. Kay's American accents are appalling. It would seem that at times he was trying to do something regional, but since they didn't even really sound American to begin with, that didn't work. I noticed that there is another version narrated by Davina Porter, who is always excellent. I recommend that you pick that one if you have the choice. show less

Wexford's The Return Of*
Review of the Arrow Books paperback edition (2010) of the original Hutchinson (UK) hardcover (1981).

So shall you hear
[Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts,
Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters,]
Of deaths put on by cunning and forc'd cause,
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
Fall’n on th’ inventors’ heads. All this can I
Truly deliver. - excerpt from Shakespeare's Hamlet Act 5 Scene 2, the source of the title and used as the epigraph for 'Put On By Cunning', except that Rendell drops the part in [square brackets].

This book continued my 2023 binge read / re-read of Ruth Rendell and this is the 11th of the Inspector Wexford series. I’m trying to read the Wexfords in chronological order but finished show more #12 and had to backtrack for #11, as it had been difficult to source until a single library copy arrived.

A famous local musician, Sir Manuel Camargue, dies by apparent accidental causes on the grounds of his estate in Kingsmarkham. The elderly Camargue was about to remarry a devoted fan and would have changed his will accordingly, but he died before the wedding could occur. His estranged daughter suddenly reappears to claim the inheritance. But according to the fiancée, Camargue had met the daughter just before his death and realized she was not whom she said she was, and that she even admitted it!

Wexford and his assistant Burden have to unravel the truth of the identity of the daughter and also determine whether Camargue's death was really an accident or was it murder?

See cover image at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/Putonbycunning.jpg
Cover image for the original Hutchinson (UK) hardcover edition from 1981. Image sourced from Wikipedia. By May be found at the following website: https://bookfever.com/book/71118/Rendell-Ruth-PUT-ON-BY-CUNNING-signed-first-edi...., Fair use, Link.

This was a superb Wexford and the only thing that kept it out of solid 5 star territory was that it was perhaps a bit too convoluted and that it relied on at least one very bizarre occurrence / coincidence.

Favourite Quote

Getting at last into their car, he remarked to Burden – apropos of what the inspector had no idea – that sometimes these cogitations still amazed the troubled midnight and the noon's repose. - Wexford quotes from T.S. Eliot's La Figlia che Piange (The Weeping Daughter) from Prufrock and Other Observations (1917).

Footnote
* I was going to title this 'Wexford's Return of Martin Guerre', but then wondered how well the classic 16th century historical case of imposture is known. You can read about it at Wikipedia. Note: The historical case is not a spoiler for the Rendell book as the fates are completely different.

Trivia and Links
Put On By Cunning was adapted for television as part of the Ruth Rendell / Inspector Wexford Mysteries TV series (1987-2000) as Season 4 Episode 9 in 1990 with actor George Baker as Inspector Wexford. You can watch the entire episode on YouTube here. show less

Got to remember that Wexford novels are not for binge reading. This was a solid one, with a nice solution that I didn't see coming, but reading two in a row like this really brings to light the flaws in this series. Very much in the vein of what Chandler decried about detective fiction (I'm mentioned this before, I think?), and Wexford is particularly obvious in his withholding from the audience all he knows. Too often the mystery is finally solved for the reader in an extended conversation between Wexford and Burden. Interesting, but tired.

Sir Manuel Camargue, retired flautist, is found drowned in a lake on his property, in the middle of winter. The death is immediately classified as an accident. That would have been the end of it except for some additional incidents that awoke Inspector Wexford's interest.

With or without official sanction, Wexford follows the clues: the very young fiancee, and the daughter who has been away so many years but who suddenly showed up. Nothing, as it happens, is straightforward, and everything, nevertheless, can be explained. But don't try to figure it out.

Another complex Wexford investigation that engages both our detecting skills and our interest in Wexford's personal life.

This made excellent listening. Charles Kay does a very good job of narration and particularly allows you to savour Ruth Rendell's wonderful writing. There are little bits of particularly British humour that come over very well.

The central story focuses on trying to prove whether the young woman who claims to be Sir Manuel Carmargue's only daughter, estranged from her father for 19 years, is who she is. Following threads from what is really an unofficial investigation, Wexford takes wife Dora to Los Angeles where he attempts to mix work with pleasure, and he and his offsider Burdon take a work trip to Paris to apprehend a murderer before he strikes again.

Highly recommendable.

Rendell at her best. Another mystery with tons of twists and turns, wonderfully drawn characters, and lots of surprises. How much work does she need to put into these books to make them this good?