- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd; New edition edition (21 April 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0099235005
- ISBN-13: 978-0099235002
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 642,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
A Guilty Thing Surprised
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Product Description
Review
One of the best novelists writing today --P.D. James
Ruth Rendell has quite simply transformed the genre of crime writing. She displays her peerless skill in blending the mundane, commonplace aspects of life with the potent murky impulses of desire and greed, obsession and fear --Sunday Times
Rendell never fails to come up trumps, and her millions of admirers will eagerly consume this offering as they have all the others. --Irish Times
A firm grasp of social concerns ensure that her novels are reflective of our own times, as well as hugely absorbing. --Louise Welsh, The Times
This is Rendell on cracking form, with the entire accoutrements one expects from her. --The Good Book Guide --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Ruth Rendell has quite simply transformed the genre of crime writing. She displays her peerless skill in blending the mundane, commonplace aspects of life with the potent murky impulses of desire and greed, obsession and fear --Sunday Times
Rendell never fails to come up trumps, and her millions of admirers will eagerly consume this offering as they have all the others. --Irish Times
A firm grasp of social concerns ensure that her novels are reflective of our own times, as well as hugely absorbing. --Louise Welsh, The Times
This is Rendell on cracking form, with the entire accoutrements one expects from her. --The Good Book Guide --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Book Description
The fifth in the Chief Inspector Wexford series.
Even the dead have something to hide . . .
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an early Detective Chief Inspector Wexford book - published in 1970. The fascination for me, was to discover the start of that strong relationship he has with Detective Inspector Mike Burden - his now long-time sidekick. The story now appears slightly old-fashioned, in it's concept of 'Rich man in the castle, poor man at the gate', but is nonetheless a good, strong mystery.
Elizabeth Nightingale - the rich man's wife - is found murdered - the usual suspects abound - the seemingly uxurious husband, the disgruntled gardener - but we are in Ruth Rendell country, and nothing is ever quite what it seems!
The author seems to be able to ally the normal problems that the main protagonists deal with and the same sort of problem, spiraling out of control in the hands of the deeply disturbed. Vintage Ruth Rendell!
Elizabeth Nightingale - the rich man's wife - is found murdered - the usual suspects abound - the seemingly uxurious husband, the disgruntled gardener - but we are in Ruth Rendell country, and nothing is ever quite what it seems!
The author seems to be able to ally the normal problems that the main protagonists deal with and the same sort of problem, spiraling out of control in the hands of the deeply disturbed. Vintage Ruth Rendell!
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I don’t think this is one of Rendell’s best Wexford novels but it does have a good plot, a diverse cast of characters and some thought-provoking material. If you enjoy Wexford novels then you’ll be missing out if you don’t read this one eventually, but it isn’t one of my favourites. The best part of the book was the ending, which I found to be very surprising and shocking.
This time Wexford is investigating the murder of Elizabeth Nightingale, living a dull, well-off life in the country with her husband Quentin. Their marriage is completely passionless and sexless, but someone reacts violently enough to Elizabeth to murder her on one of her evening walks in the forest. Then along come Detectives Wexford and Burden to crack the case and drag up the psychology behind the characters.
Perhaps one of the reasons why I’m not raving about this novel is because the type of characters shown in it are my least favourite – a wealthy upper class couple, their servants and wealthy, upper class friends. I much prefer a detective novel that focuses on normal people rather than the Master and Mistress of the house and their stereotypical rough and uneducated working class servants. This certainly isn’t a side of England that I recognise anymore and Rendell’s newer Wexford novels reflect this, tending to focus on all different kinds of people in the social scale without being stereotypical. One of my favourite characters was Sean Lovell, whose thwarted ambitions to become a singer were strangely touching, particularly when Wexford overhears him pretending to be a popstar in his shed (we’ve all done it, haven’t we? :-) )
The novel also looks at what it means to be a woman in 1970s Britain. Unfortunately, the females in this novel are probably the weakest characters, such as a housewife who has given up her job to devote herself to her husband who doesn’t really seem to like her anyway and a rather silly Swedish au pair. One of the themes of the book seems to be ‘what makes a good woman?’. What strikes me is that in this book the men act pretty much as they like without anybody commenting on their behaviour, but every aspect of each woman is judged and examined. It made interesting, if frustrating, reading.
Overall, a good book with a brilliant ending. Due to the publication date of this novel (early 70s) it is rather old-fashioned, but the psychology is still relevant.
JoAnne
Format:Kindle Edition
The characters of Wexford and Burden took some time to develop, with earlier books having Wexford almost as a shadow character and Burden as the main protagonist. This book really forms a bridge to the characterization and relationship that is to follow. For that reason it holds some interest, but the plot line is incredibly weak, and the supporting cast stereo-typed in the worst possible way. Early Rendell works tend to fall between wanting to be classic who-dunnits and the psychological examination of crime (a la P D James). In the latter Rendell falls far short of James' skill (even if she herself grew tiresome with her later works) and does not provide enough detail to 'confuse' the reader to warrant any sort of comparison with a Sayers or a Christie. On both counts the book fails, but we know she can do better, so if this is your introduction andyouvare as disappointed as I, then try one of the later stories.
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