No Man's Nightingale by Ruth Rendell

There is a murder at the Vicarage. The Vicar is strangled to death. Sarah Hussain, the Vicar of Kigsmarkham, had faced lots of resentment and hatred because she is a single mother, a woman clergy and of mixed race. Who killed the Vicar and why? Retired Inspector Wexford acts as an adviser to Mike Burden in unpaid capacity. As he has no official standing no one has to answer his questions but suddenly everyone wants to confide in him. As Wexford looks into Sarah Hussain's murder, he also has to unearth the details about the father of Sarah Hussain's daughter Clarissa. Who is Clarissa's father? Is the answer to that question somehow related to Sarah's death? Is Sarah Hussain a victim of hate crime or is there more to her death?

Near the end of the book, Wexford ponders 'How does one make up names or aliases?' From the books they read, from celebrity names, in olden days one looked up the Directory or we google now. For example, Sarah's daughter gets her name Clarissa because Sarah was reading the book 'Clarissa' when she was pregnant. Maybe the authors use the same process to name their characters. In my opinion, however one gave names, one had to make sure the name is right for the character, for example you can't give a boy a girl's name or call a Hindu character Hussain, which as far as I know is a Muslim name. You can't call a man Kumari (a girl's name) that's what Ruth Rendell did in one of her earlier stories and in this one she calls the Hindu to Christian converted Vicar Sarah Hussain. What's in a name one may ponder? Does it really matter in a crime novel, whether the victim is called Hussain or Kumar? I wouldn't really had bothered if it had been a book by, say, James Rollins or Harlan Coben. But when the author's main storyline is about racism, brings in concepts like 'apologetic racism' and also discusses in detail about how one is named, how do people go about creating aliases one does get irritated and wonder if this is also a form of apologetic racism. How long would it take to check if Hussain is a Hindu name! 

The killer is quite obvious to me and also the other mystery about Clarissa's parentage is also quite clear though Ruth Rendell builds up some mystery over it. Whydunit of it is dismissed early on when the Burden and Wexford decide that why is not important. There are no big surprises and twists like in her other books. What really caught my attention is the small details, like Jeremy Klegg takes sips of alcohol from his hidden flask when he is nervous how this little thing builds up into something bigger. How Maxine talks and talks and thus discloses something to Wexford which she should not have, which results in something else. Jeremey Klegg and Maxine is what I would call typical Rendellian characters and the situation she builds around them creates anticipation. But this is a very small part of the story. I always loved the last minute surprises and twists Ruth Rendell throws into her book, sadly this books fails in that aspect. Having said all this I would also say reading Ruth Rendell is much more satisfying than many other crime novels more because of her characters and also the small interesting details she gives, if you ever wondered 'why' something happened, Ruth Rendell takes us into the situation and shows us how and why it happened.

P. S. Ruth Rendell is my favourite writer and I completely agree with Ian Rankin's quote on the back cover "Probably the greatest living crime writer in the world" 

The Child's Child by Barbara Vine

                                                                

The Child's Child by Barbara Vine uses the story within a story format. Grace and her brother Andrew inherit a house in London. As the terms between them are very good, they decide to share the six-bedroom house, three-bedrooms for each with a common kitchen. They do not think of the possibility that at some point one of them would like to bring their partner home to live with them and then all may not be well. Grace is working on her PhD on the portrayal of unmarried mothers in fiction. Andrew is working with the marketing department of a publishing house and suggests Grace read a manuscript of a novel based on true incidents about a single mother and homosexuality to see if it is fit for publication. This manuscript is The Child's Child. 

Meanwhile Andrew brings home his new boyfriend novelist James Derian. Grace finds him attractive and at the same time Grace does not like James views on her thesis. James believes that being a Single mother was hardly an issue in the society in past or in present whereas homosexuals were criminalised and they suffered a lot. He is not ready to listen to Grace's argument that unmarried mothers were sent off to mental institutions and their child taken away from them at birth. Grace suggests that it was probably in the 1960s both homosexuality and unmarried mothers were accepted by society- at least homosexuality was legalised in Britain. She also finds James insufferable. Grace is now tormented with thoughts that James may come to live with her brother, and make her life miserable. Turn of events make her take solace in the manuscript. 

The manuscript narrates the story of fifteen year old Maud and her older brother John set in between the two World wars era.  John decides to give up his relationship with Bert not only because it is a criminal offence and the society would never understand their relationship, but also because he feels it is a sin, and moves from London to a small village near Bristol. His fifteen year old sister finds herself pregnant and is unsure what to do. When the secrecy of her pregnancy explodes at home and her father is ready to send her away to a workhouse, and John comes up with a solution. A solution that haunts him for life, and makes his life miserable. 

The Child's Child is an interesting portrayal of how society treats those who break its norm, even one's own family, mother, father, may not be at one's side. While John accepts her and provide her a home, Maud cannot tolerate the fact that her brother is a homosexual and makes his life miserable. Is her intolerance because she is just a child? Though there is no usual hook that we find in Barabra Vine/ Ruth Rendell books here, I was interested. But half-way through I was wondering, 'Will there be a crime? Will somebody get killed?" And there is a crime and somebody dies. The events that follow lost my interest. 

I am a great fan of Ruth Rendell and books under the pseudonym Barbara Vine are more psychological and dark but they also contain an element of mystery and crime. For example, in 'A Dark-Adapted Eye', we know Vera is the killer from start, but who did she kill is not revealed for more than half of the story and there is  also another mystery  and the inevitable final twist. I like the way Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine drops hints and creates suspense and hooks us. 

There is no mystery or the final twists or the suspense hook, ' what is going to happen now' element in this book, which was very disappointing to me. As a study of taboos in society in the past and present, it is interesting but as a mystery novel, as a Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine fan, I find this book disappointing. 

The Lake of Darkness by Ruth Rendell

Martin wins a hundred thousand pounds in football pools. He decides to give away half the money to deserving needy people he knows and keep the other half for himself. He makes a list of people he could help and approaches them in person or by post. He mainly wants to help some of these people by paying money for buying a house preferably outside London. The story takes place in the late 1970s and and Martin feels that ten thousand pounds would get a house in country side. Martin's desire to see the visible effect of his charity creates some interesting situations. Sudden philanthropy makes people question so what is in it for him? Why does he want to giveaway the money? What should I do in return? Rendell plays quite well with this idea.

Martin's friend Tim had been responsible for Martin winning the pools. Tim gave him the winning combination. Martin decides not to give Tim a share of the winning money because he is sure that Tim would fritter it away. Martin meets Francesca and falls in love with her. Something is wrong with Francesca what exactly we don't know.

Finn is a hitman. He is a plumber, a handyman and a hitman. How many he may have murdered we don't know. We do know that at least two people he had definitely murdered. As in other Rendell stories, these two threads are going to intertwine and what would happen then? Martin would meet Finn at some point and something dangerous is going to happen then. Rendell slowly builds up the tension before the final dénouement.

Martin and Finn are typical Rendell characters. Martin, the successful accountant unsure about his sexuality, wanting to giveaway the money but not wanting to give some to his friend who actually gave him the combination, expert in accounts not seeing the obvious fault in his plan. There is something wrong with Finn and it is not spelt out except to say his mother had been over forty when he was born and she is schizophrenic. There is the talk of astral body, levitation, poltergeist activity, a little mystery about him. Finn is a recurring character in Ruth Rendell books, under different names with slightly different characteristics reminding me of characters in Sight for Sore Eyes, The Saint Zita Society and The Monster in the Box . Did I say that I love Rendell's standalones more than Wexford books as they are more intense?

Published in 1980 The Lake of Darkness is one of the few books by Ruth Rendell that I haven't read before. Looking forward to read Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine's The Child's Child-the darker the better.

The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey

Imagine, that on a Friday afternoon, as you are relaxing, you hear a knock on the door. You open the door and find a policeman with a young and innocent girl around 15 years of age. The girl claims that you have kidnapped her and had her confined in the attic of your home for a fortnight. You had given her severe beatings causing bruises all over her body. She describes your house in some detail. She describes your mother and you and definitely identifies you as the one who had whipped her. How would you prove your innocence? So, why did you kidnap her? Well, you need a maid to do household work. Can you believe this? This is the premise of The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey published in 1948.

Marion Sharpe and her mother are confronted with this situation. While Marion and her mother are eccentric and isolated enough to have done this, there is never even a shadow of doubt about their innocence in Robert Blair's eyes, the lawyer Marion calls for legal and friendly advice. The town condemns them without a trial. Will Blair prove their innocence? How will Blair unmask the feigned innocence and reveal the true nature of the girl? Where was she anyway?

My first thoughts while reading the book was, "Isn't this the story of some Ruth Rendell book? The one with the house with shingles." A little research shows that the book is Harm Done and looks like Rendell took the story to the next level taking up the alternative scenario. Who would kidnap young girls to do household work in modern times? Why would they kidnap? Ruth Rendell even mentions the uncanny resemblance to Wexford's favourite novel, The Franchise Affair. Kidnapping, confinement and forced to do household work, no Harm done , says Inspector Mike Burden.

Now to The Franchise Affair, there is not even a little bit of doubt that the Sharpe women could have done something like that. If there had been a doubt and there was more proof that they may have done something like that, it would have been interesting. So the story is more or less straightforward. Blair has to find out where the girl was when she claimed to have been locked up in the attic.

This is the third Tey book I am reading all featuring Alan Grant. Here Grant makes a brief appearance, this is mostly Blair's scene. Tey explores her favourite hobby here too. Not reading faces, but the colour of the eye. Do you know if your eyes are a particular colour, you are oversexed, and if it is of a different shade you are a liar, oh, maybe a murderer too? I can feel Tey laughing at the reader all along as I felt it in her other books. For the other alternative read Ruth Rendell. Oh! I love Ruth Rendell. Um! This is supposed to be my opinion on Tey's book, it's okay. I love the premise and wish there was some twist or surprise in the end.

R is for Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell is one of my favourite writers. If Agatha Christie is the Queen of Plots, Ruth Rendell is the Queen of characterisation for me. I am fascinated by her characters. Ruth Rendell books deal with real crimes in the real society. She has constantly dealt with the issues of racism, immigration, mental illness, domestic violence, obsessions, the problem of isolation and loneliness in modern society. I love reading Rendell because of her writing style, her characters, plot, her observations about society, and most of all she never fails to surprise me. There is always the twist in the end. Ruth Rendell along with P D James is credited with creating whydunit.

Rendell writes police procedurals featuring Inspector Reginald Wexford and his assistant Mike Burden. I like the contrast between Wexford and Burden. While Wexford is older, open minded, and liberal in his views, Burden is younger, closed and conservative in his views. You can easily shock Burden. Wexford is sensitive and ponders a lot about everything. Somehow, I like Burden more than Wexford. Inspector Wexford series mostly takes place in fictional town of Kingsmarkham. More recently I find Hannah Goldsmith interesting. Atheist feminist anti-racist Hannah Goldsmith has a difficult time trying to balance between her different -isms. She should be irritating, annoying trying to be politically correct, balancing her different ideologies, but it is interesting to see her deal with her issues.

Ruth Rendell also writes standalone thrillers. In many Ruth Rendell standalone there are just one or two main characters. She sets the scene, introduces her characters and we know what is going to happen is inevitable but not predictable. I like her London based books. I wonder if Ruth Rendell lived near Hampstead. So many of her books feature the protoganist taking a walk in Hampstead. Ruth Rendell also writes more darker psychological thrillers under the pen-name Barbara Vine.

I like the title of her books- A Sight for sore eyes, An Unkindness of Ravens, A Guilty thing surprised, Some lie and Some die, No more dying then, Harm Done, A new lease of death- to name a few.

I read four Rendell/Vine books this year.

The Vault by Ruth Rendell Retired Inspector Wexford

The Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell Inspector Wexford

The Saint Zita Society by Ruth Rendell standalone

Asta's Book by Barbara Vine


Here is the complete list of books from Wikipedia should I say I read most of them.

Novels
To Fear a Painted Devil (1965)
Vanity Dies Hard (1965)
The Secret House of Death (1968)
One Across, Two Down (1971)
The Face of Trespass (1974)
A Demon in My View (1976)
A Judgement in Stone (1977)
Make Death Love Me (1979)
The Lake of Darkness (1980)
Master of the Moor (1982)
The Killing Doll (1984)
The Tree of Hands (1984)
Live Flesh (1986)
Talking to Strange Men (1987)
The Bridesmaid (1989)
Going Wrong (1990)
The Crocodile Bird (1993)
The Keys to the Street (1996)
A Sight for Sore Eyes (1998)
Adam and Eve and Pinch Me (2001)
The Rottweiler (2003)
Thirteen Steps Down (2004)
The Water's Lovely (2006)
Portobello (2008)
Tigerlily's Orchids (2010)
The St Zita Society (2012)

Inspector Wexford series
From Doon with Death (1964)
A New Lease of Death (1967)
Wolf to the Slaughter (1967)
The Best Man to Die (1969)
A Guilty Thing Surprised (1970)
No More Dying Then (1971)
Murder Being Once Done (1972)
Some Lie and Some Die (1973)
Shake Hands Forever (1975)
A Sleeping Life (1979)
Put on by Cunning (1981)
The Speaker of Mandarin (1983)
An Unkindness of Ravens (1985)
The Veiled One (1988)
Kissing the Gunner's Daughter (1991)
Simisola (1994)
Road Rage (1997)
Harm Done (1999)
The Babes in the Wood (2002)
End in Tears (2005)
Not in the Flesh (2007)
The Monster in the Box (2009)
The Vault (2011)

Written as Barbara Vine
A Dark-Adapted Eye (1986)
A Fatal Inversion (1987)
The House of Stairs (1988)
Gallowglass (1990)
King Solomon's Carpet (1991)
Asta's Book (1993)
No Night Is Too Long (1994)
The Brimstone Wedding (1995)
The Chimney-sweeper's Boy (1998)
Grasshopper (2000)
The Blood Doctor (2002)
The Minotaur (2005)
The Birthday Present (2008)
The Child's Child (2012)

My post for Crime Fiction Alphabet R.

Asta's Book by Barbara Vine

Asta's Book by Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine is published in 1993 and tells the tale of a woman in search of identity, murder that happened eight decades ago and the quest for a lost child.

Asta moves to London from Denmark in 1905 with her family. Asta's husband Rasmus is away in Denmark to finish of some pending business. Asta lives with her two sons and servant Hansine and is pregnant. She wants a girl this time. Asta takes to writing her dairy regularly. She gives birth to a girl, Swanny. After Asta's death, nearly seventy years later, her diaries are published with great success.

Swanny, Asta's favourite daughter receives an anonymous letter, about her parentage. Who is Swanny? Is she adopted? Who are her real parents?

Asta makes a mention about Mrs. Roper in her dairy, who was brutally murdered in 1905. What did Asta know about the murder if she did know anything about it? Roper's 14 month old daughter Edith Roper had been missing from the day of murder. Was she murdered too? Was she kidnapped? What happened to her?

Asta's granddaughter Ann along with her friends are on a quest to find out who Swanny is and who killed Mrs. Roper.

I was almost disappointed at the reveal. It was something I worked it out. I love reading Vine/ Rendell because of her characters, plot, her observations about society, and most of all she never fails to surprise me. So if I have worked out the mystery it means Vine has failed to surprise me. Wait! I wasn't disappointed. She probably knows how my mind works and comes with a conclusion and then surprises me again.

Part of the story is Asta's Diary, part of it is narrated by Asta's granddaughter Ann and part of it consists of documents of the Roper trial.

The second chapter was confusing, I wonder whose funeral it is. Who is narrating the story and who are all these people. But that is also part of the mystery story telling Rendell/Vine adapts and slowly I got absorbed in the story.

We are familiar with stories of teens looking for their identity, in quest of who their real parents are. We have a twist here, Swanny is 58 years old when she receives the anonymous letter. How do you think a 58 year old would behave under such circumstance? Isn't it enough to be the favourite child of your mother and to have a loving devoted husband? Swanny is obsessed and keeps pestering 83 year old Asta for information. Asta is a real character, her anecdotes and the way she teases everybody is interesting. Roper case is interesting. Will Ann find out whodunit after nearly eighty years? Why didn't the police look at the obvious?Only it is not so obvious.

I have read The Grasshopper,The Birthday Present, No Night is too long, Fatal Inversion, The House of Stairs and Minotaur by Barabara Vine. To me this is one of Barbara Vine's best.

The Saint Zita Society by Ruth Rendell

The Saint Zita Society is Ruth Rendell's latest standalone released in July 2012. Ruth Rendell first introduces her characters. There is Dex, who sees evil spirits and get messages on his mobile from Peach- his God, Montserrat, the Still family au pair, who makes a point of knowing everything, who may even blackmail, Thea, who helps everybody not because she wants to but because cannot say no, Preston Still who is away all the time, Lucy Still who meets her lovers clandestine at home, Rabia, who lost her children and loves little Thomas Still as her own, Henry, Lord Studley's driver having an affair with both Lady Studley and Miss. Studley and a whole lot others. Next she establishes some facts, the banister is loose, Mrs. Grieves has a good view of Number 7, Dex wants to destroy evil spirits, Montserrat has a new boyfriend, Thea would date anybody as long as he is not ugly or gross. Then she sets the ball rolling, you do know how the ball will roll, or do you? We know something is going to happen, what will it be?

I was little disappointed with her last book The Vault because of rehashing her earlier story from A Sight for sore Eyes. The Vault wasn't bad, actually, it was quite good, she adds new story to the old one and brings in her trademark twists but it is still her old story. But Saint Zita Society is trademark Rendell. I like the way her stories deal with real situations, real characters and real issues. Her crime does not takes place in an isolated place, but in real society.
Wexford books among various things deal with racism and problems in a multi-cultural society. Many of her standalone stories deal with the issue of mental-illness, lonliness, isolation and security. This is a standalone and deals with these issues and also the differences between the Upper-Class and Lower-Class.

An exciting mystery that I enjoyed every word of it. I hope Peach will send me a message- ten free calls. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Friday Memes on Saturday

This week I am posting from The Saint Zita Society by Ruth Rendell

Friday Book Beginnings is a weekly meme where we share the opening line of our current read. Book Beginnings is hosted by the Rose City Reader.

Someone had told Dex that the Queen lived in Victoria. So did he, but she had a palace and he had one room in a street off Warwick Way.

Friday 56 hosted @ Freda's Voice is a weekly Meme where we share an interesting snippet from page 56 of our current book.

Montserrat asked her if she knew where the Yellow Pages were.

'No one uses phone directories any more,' said Lucy. 'This is the age of the cellphone or hadn't you noticed?'

R is for Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell is my favourite Crime fiction writer. I like both Inspector Wexford books and her standalones and also her more psychological books written under the pen-name Barbara Vine. If Agatha Christie is the Queen of Plots, Ruth Rendell is the Queen of characterisations. I am fascinated by her characters. Though a crime fiction writer, Ruth Rendell books deal with societal problems. The problem of isolation and loneliness had been a concurrent theme in her books. One of the reasons why I like Ruth Rendell books is that they never fail to surprise me. There is always the twist in the end.

Have you read any of her books? Which is your favourite Ruth Rendell book?

The Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell

In the Monster in the Box, Inspector Wexford reminicises about one of his early cases as a young detective. A woman was strangled to death in her home and the killer is still at large.

Wexford knows Eric Targo is the killer but has no evidence. If Wexford said that he knew Targo was the killer because of the way he looked at Wexford or because Targo stalked him would anybody believe him. Wexford never talked about this instinct to anybody. Well nearly after three decades his best buddy and side-kick Burden does not believe him. Wexford feels that Targo may have killed at least three people, he could have killed more. He has to find the evidence bring him to book. He can't let a psychopath run loose, can he?

Ruth Rendell presents a different kind of psychopath, animal lover but human hater here. Atheist feminist anti-racist pro-Muslim Detective Hannah Goldsmith has a difficult time trying to balance between her different -isms. There is the side story about young Tamima's forced marriage, imagined or otherwise. Ruth Rendell at her best. I loved it.
I borrowed this book from my local library.

Friday Memes

Friday Book Beginnings is a weekly Meme hosted at A Few More Pages.

This is from The Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell

He had never told anyone. The strange relationship, if it could be called that, had gone on for years, decades, and he had never breathed a word about it.


Friday 56 hosted @ Freda's Voice is a weekly Meme where we share an interesting snippet from page 56 of any book. This is also from Ruth Rendell's The Monster in the Box

He was a great believer in men and women having a 'type' they adhered to in changing partners.

The Vault by Ruth Rendell

I absolutely love Ruth Rendell. This is one book I was dying to read. I was lucky to find it my local library. Wexford is retired and enjoying(?) his leisure in London in a 'coachhouse' his famous actress daughter Sheila has given for his use. He spends time between his house in Kingsmarkham and London. He is taking long walks enjoying all that London has to offer and spending time with his grandchildren. But he is not fully happy, how can he be! He misses being a policeman and wants to investigate and when his old friend gives him a chance to work as an adviser, he leaps at it.

In a cellar, in a patio of Orcadia Cottage are found four dead bodies. Three buried at least 12 years before -a young man, an older man and an older woman -and another buried 2 years before- a young woman. Who are these people and how did they end up in 'the vault'?

At the domestic front, there is as usual some trouble with one of Wexford's daughters. This time it is Sylvia. And Sylvia is not a teen but a mother of a teen that doesn't mean her troubles are any smaller.

If you had read The Sight for the Sore Eyes, you already know who the first three in the Vault are. But Wexford doesn't. How does Wexford go about finding who these people are? The real mystery is about who the fourth body that of the young woman is, who was dumped there ten years after the initial crime. Who killed her and used the Vault as her grave?

I read The Sight for Sore Eyes some years ago and the only thing I remember about it is why the manhole in the patio was not closed. I don't remember who these people are. The mystery about the younger woman makes it reading worthwhile. Overall an interesting read.

This counts towards various challenges. For the Merely Mystery Reading Challenge I would rank this as a whodunit. For the European Reading Challenge the action takes place in London. This counts as the crime novel whose protagonist is the opposite gender of the author for the Criminal Plots II challenge.

Challenges: Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge 2012, A-Z Challenge 2012, Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks, Merely Mystery Reading Challenge, British Book Challenge, Bucket List Book Reading Challenge, European Reading Challenge, AZRC, Eclectic Reader Challenge, Criminal Plots II Challenge

Theme Thursday

Theme Thursday is a fun weekly Meme hosted at Reading Between the Pages .

This weeks theme is Know.

Here is mine from The Vault by Ruth Rendell

Knowing nothing about natural history and still less about gardening, he was well-informed about art and was familiar with the Alpheton painting.

One more

She saw through that; she knew him too well.

WWW: Wednesdays

I am playing WWW: Wednesdays hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading

To play along just answer the following three questions....

*What are you currently reading?
*What did you just recently finish reading?
*What do you think you'll read next?

What are you currently reading?
I just started The Rose Rent by Ellis Peters. It is Brother Cadfael's thirteenth chronicle. I read Ellis Peters Monk's-Hood which features herbologist detective Brother Cadfael before and I liked it. This story takes place in 1142.

What did you just recently finish reading?
I finished Blue Heaven by C. J. Box and the Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer. Blue Heaven is a thriller. Twelve year old Annie, and ten year old William watch an execution in the woods. The killers identify the kids and are watching their home. They have nowhere to go. How long will they survive in the woods? Where will they go? Will anybody help them? A roller coaster ride with bad cops and some good guys. A great thriller.

Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer is a mystery featuring French detective Gaston Max. A strange woman is killed in the apartment of writer Henry Leroux in London. There is a paper with the name Mr.King in her hand. Who is Mr. King? Who killed the woman? Why is Gaston Max a French detective investigating this case in London? Of Chinamen and opium dens. Didn't expect to be so caught up with the book. I even had a nightmare about a locked room and a golden dragon. A good thriller. Now I will have to read the next book in the series, Golden Scorpion.

What do you think you'll read next?
I am still planning to read Violets are Blue by James Patterson which is a sequel to Roses are Red. I am also planning to read Vault by Ruth Rendell. Vault is the latest book by Ruth Rendell featuring Inspector Wexford.

WWW: Wednesdays

I am playing WWW: Wednesdays hosted by MizB @ Should Be Reading

To play along just answer the following three questions....

*What are you currently reading?
*What did you just recently finish reading?
*What do you think you'll read next?

What are you currently reading?
I am still reading Blue Heaven by C. J. Box. Haven't made much progress. I am also reading Yellow Claw by Sax Rohmer.

What did you just recently finish reading?
I finished Roses are Red by James Patterson and Molly Brown's Freshman Year by Nell Speed.


What do you think you'll read next?
I am planning to read Violets are Blue by James Patterson which is a sequel to Roses are Red. I am also planning to read Vault by Ruth Rendell. Vault is the latest book by Ruth Rendell featuring Inspector Wexford.

The Birthday Present by Barbara Vine

Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine. It is not a Ruth Rendell story, so we know what to expect, something more dark.
The stroy is told in two narratives, one of Ivor Tesham’s brother-in-law some Delgado and Hebe Furnal’s friend Jane Atherton. The stroy is umm.. is the fall of Ivor Tesham conservative MP in the early nineties. Ivor Tesham is the handsome dashing politician who does not want to settle down in life. He wants to have fun. He embarks on an clandestine affair with married Hebe Furnal . Their simillar natures brings them together for sexual adventures. Tesham plans a “birthday Present” for Hebe, that goes wrong. While what Tesham had planned is not actually criminal, it could ruin his career and the press will have a field day at his expense. Jane Atherton, the not so good looking friend of the gorgeous Hebe tells her part of the story.
Ruth Rendell has always written about issues in contemporay soicety. Set in the early nineties this novel talks of the loneliness of modern life and how the scoiety plunges into depth those who are already in the edge. Like in many of her novels, we have a single girl who tries to find love and security unsuccessfully and slowly loses her sanity.
Ruth Rendell throws hint of things to come. So there is a constant sense of expectation of things to come that keeps one glued to the book. A very interesting read.