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Review
Ruth Rendell is a marvel, and in the latest Inspector Wexford mystery she's on cracking form . . . The book's pacing is perfect. It starts gently as we, like Wexford, enjoy his new life of leisure. But once he puts his formidable brain to work, the violence kicks in. The result is a total page-turner - and one of Rendell's very, very best novels. --A.N. Wilson, Reader's Digest
The Vault sees Rendell for the first time marry the two genres she is master of: the psychological thriller and the police whodunit . . . With 60 novels put to page and still counting, Rendell will soon match the prolific output of Agatha Christie - who penned 66 works. It's hard to imagine where the inspiration comes from, but find it she does - and there's not a clue out of place or a shoehorned plotline in sight. --Time Out
Everything that is brilliant about Rendell's writing is present in abundance in this novel: the vivid scene-setting, the knife-sharp social observations, the tiny telling details that contribute so powerfully to characterisation . . . Wexford's status as a semi-outsider in relation to the case works brilliantly, adding a welcome new note while being just similar enough to previous Wexford novels to delight fans. Equally powerful is the subplot involving Wexford's daughter Sylvia.
All in all, The Vault is an excellent addition to an incredibly impressive series. --Sunday Express
Ruth Rendell is bidding fair to join Defoe and Dickens in creating one of the great criminal cities of literature. Her view of London is a similar murderous topography, less squalid, but with the same tentacles reaching out between rich and poor . . . This mystery is also an enormously enjoyable panorama of London and a hymn of love to its Georgian houses . . . She, and Wexford are the sharpest modern observers of the "Great Wen" --Independent
The Vault, as a sort-of-sequel is a bold attempt to combine Rendell's two chosen specialties: the police procedural and the psychological thriller. No one hides the clues better than her; no one else creates such a pervasive atmosphere of almost comic disgust and dread. The act of cross pollination proves most fruitful and triumphantly demonstrates that a vault, in addition to being an underground chamber, can also be a leap of imagination.
--Evening Standard
Now Wexford has retired, Rendell has spotted an opportunity to bring her two strands together in a superb novel called The Vault . . . the author's sheer technical skill is evident as she effortlessly brings the original story up to date. Only a novelist whose characters feel intensely real to her could pull off such a coup, and Rendell's relish in calling in Wexford to investigate suggests she hasn't enjoyed herself so much for ages. --Sunday Times
Sharp, astringent and humane
--Spectator
The Vault sees Rendell for the first time marry the two genres she is master of: the psychological thriller and the police whodunit . . . With 60 novels put to page and still counting, Rendell will soon match the prolific output of Agatha Christie - who penned 66 works. It's hard to imagine where the inspiration comes from, but find it she does - and there's not a clue out of place or a shoehorned plotline in sight. --Time Out
Everything that is brilliant about Rendell's writing is present in abundance in this novel: the vivid scene-setting, the knife-sharp social observations, the tiny telling details that contribute so powerfully to characterisation . . . Wexford's status as a semi-outsider in relation to the case works brilliantly, adding a welcome new note while being just similar enough to previous Wexford novels to delight fans. Equally powerful is the subplot involving Wexford's daughter Sylvia.
All in all, The Vault is an excellent addition to an incredibly impressive series. --Sunday Express
Ruth Rendell is bidding fair to join Defoe and Dickens in creating one of the great criminal cities of literature. Her view of London is a similar murderous topography, less squalid, but with the same tentacles reaching out between rich and poor . . . This mystery is also an enormously enjoyable panorama of London and a hymn of love to its Georgian houses . . . She, and Wexford are the sharpest modern observers of the "Great Wen" --Independent
The Vault, as a sort-of-sequel is a bold attempt to combine Rendell's two chosen specialties: the police procedural and the psychological thriller. No one hides the clues better than her; no one else creates such a pervasive atmosphere of almost comic disgust and dread. The act of cross pollination proves most fruitful and triumphantly demonstrates that a vault, in addition to being an underground chamber, can also be a leap of imagination.
--Evening Standard
Now Wexford has retired, Rendell has spotted an opportunity to bring her two strands together in a superb novel called The Vault . . . the author's sheer technical skill is evident as she effortlessly brings the original story up to date. Only a novelist whose characters feel intensely real to her could pull off such a coup, and Rendell's relish in calling in Wexford to investigate suggests she hasn't enjoyed herself so much for ages. --Sunday Times
Sharp, astringent and humane
--Spectator
Review
"Easily outshines most of the competition on either side of the Atlantic."
--"Publisher's Weekly
"
"An undoubted tour de force likely to offer enjoyment both to readers with long memories and to those approaching it as a stand-alone."
--"Kirkus Reviews"
Praise for Ruth Rendell:
"Ruth Rendell is, unequivocally, the most brilliant mystery novelist of our time. Her stories are a lesson in human nature as capable of the most exotic love as it is of the cruelest murder."
--Patricia Cornwell --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
--"Publisher's Weekly
"
"An undoubted tour de force likely to offer enjoyment both to readers with long memories and to those approaching it as a stand-alone."
--"Kirkus Reviews"
Praise for Ruth Rendell:
"Ruth Rendell is, unequivocally, the most brilliant mystery novelist of our time. Her stories are a lesson in human nature as capable of the most exotic love as it is of the cruelest murder."
--Patricia Cornwell --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
While I have enjoyed Ruth Rendell's work for many years, the Inspector Wexford series has always held less interest for me than her standalone and Barbara Vine novels, and in recent years the quality of these stories in particular seems to have dropped off alarmingly. The most recent, 2009's 'The Monster In The Box', was a chore to read: a central villain with an absurdly unconvincing excuse for a motive, a less than thrilling plot about a possible forced marriage, and worst of all, a poor attempt at retelling Wexford's personal history, which not only contradicted her earlier novels but was full of the most risible coincidences - how could anyone take seriously the proposition that a young Wexford fell for two similar-looking women, both called Dora and both encountered in Cornwall within the space of a few months?
Needless to say, I wasn't looking forward to 'The Vault' with any great enthusiasm...which made it all the more pleasant a surprise. Wexford has been given a new lease of life by his retirement and relocation to London. Here we find him meeting a policeman he worked with on an earlier case ('Murder Being Once Done') and being asked to assist in a new investigation involving a number of bodies discovered under a patio.
This book is a semi-sequel to the 1998 standalone novel 'A Sight For Sore Eyes' - it isn't absolutely necessary to have read that book first, but it does add to the enjoyment (and it's very good in it's own right). I was concerned that, knowing the story from that book, there would be no new mystery here. However, another body has been left under the patio of Orcadia Cottage since the end of 'A Sight For Sore Eyes', and this gradually becomes the focus of Wexford's investigation.
I'm not sure whether the change in Wexford's status or location has inspired Ms Rendell, but even the writing seemed to flow better here than in some of her recent work. 'The Vault' certainly isn't among her best books - it's not even up to the best of the Wexford series - but it's a huge improvement on his previous outing and a reminder that Ruth Rendell can still deliver the goods in a way few other crime writers can match.
Needless to say, I wasn't looking forward to 'The Vault' with any great enthusiasm...which made it all the more pleasant a surprise. Wexford has been given a new lease of life by his retirement and relocation to London. Here we find him meeting a policeman he worked with on an earlier case ('Murder Being Once Done') and being asked to assist in a new investigation involving a number of bodies discovered under a patio.
This book is a semi-sequel to the 1998 standalone novel 'A Sight For Sore Eyes' - it isn't absolutely necessary to have read that book first, but it does add to the enjoyment (and it's very good in it's own right). I was concerned that, knowing the story from that book, there would be no new mystery here. However, another body has been left under the patio of Orcadia Cottage since the end of 'A Sight For Sore Eyes', and this gradually becomes the focus of Wexford's investigation.
I'm not sure whether the change in Wexford's status or location has inspired Ms Rendell, but even the writing seemed to flow better here than in some of her recent work. 'The Vault' certainly isn't among her best books - it's not even up to the best of the Wexford series - but it's a huge improvement on his previous outing and a reminder that Ruth Rendell can still deliver the goods in a way few other crime writers can match.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I have to admit that I have never read any of the Chief Inspector Rex Wexford books but I have a certain knowledge about him because of his popularity.
He has now retired and is asked, after a chance meeting with Detective Superintendent Tom Ede in the street, if he was interested in working on a case as an adviser. Ede was having difficulties and knowing about the reputation of Wexford, he feels that he would be a great help. Wexford takes little time to accept the opportunity - he is missing his work.
He and his wife spend part of their time in London living in a coach house owned by his daughter (who is an actor) and the rest of the time at his own home. The case will be in London and much to his surprise, he soon discovers how much he enjoys walking particularly now he no longer has a police car to take him places.
Tom Ede explains that the bodies of two women and one man have been found in the coal hole in an house in St John's Woods. The house has had several owners and one of the women might have lived there. The man has expensive jewellery in his pocket possibly belonging to one of the former owners. But none of the bodies carry any identification.
Wexford is excited and pleased to have been asked to help. The story continues with the investigations but it also includes references to his family life - how his wife is coping with the fact that he is now no longer employed but is happily working as an adviser to the police; what happens to one of his daughters when she finishes a love affair and Wexford's relationship with a former colleague.
Nigel Anthony reads the unabridged story and an excellent job he makes of it too. One talks about books and says they can't be put done and in this case the CDs are quickly replaced until one hears the end of the story. Something to listen to on a long car journey or long winter evening.
Review by Shirleyanne Seel.
He has now retired and is asked, after a chance meeting with Detective Superintendent Tom Ede in the street, if he was interested in working on a case as an adviser. Ede was having difficulties and knowing about the reputation of Wexford, he feels that he would be a great help. Wexford takes little time to accept the opportunity - he is missing his work.
He and his wife spend part of their time in London living in a coach house owned by his daughter (who is an actor) and the rest of the time at his own home. The case will be in London and much to his surprise, he soon discovers how much he enjoys walking particularly now he no longer has a police car to take him places.
Tom Ede explains that the bodies of two women and one man have been found in the coal hole in an house in St John's Woods. The house has had several owners and one of the women might have lived there. The man has expensive jewellery in his pocket possibly belonging to one of the former owners. But none of the bodies carry any identification.
Wexford is excited and pleased to have been asked to help. The story continues with the investigations but it also includes references to his family life - how his wife is coping with the fact that he is now no longer employed but is happily working as an adviser to the police; what happens to one of his daughters when she finishes a love affair and Wexford's relationship with a former colleague.
Nigel Anthony reads the unabridged story and an excellent job he makes of it too. One talks about books and says they can't be put done and in this case the CDs are quickly replaced until one hears the end of the story. Something to listen to on a long car journey or long winter evening.
Review by Shirleyanne Seel.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Great story and well read, intriguing from the begining to the end. The story has you reeled in from the very beginning. My spouse who is not very keen on Ruth Rendell was throughly engrossed, and now wants to listen to others.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
What was the ending?
When I started to read the book I was hopeful if would be another good dective book. However the charactors where completely unlikeable and unrealistic and Wexford was sterotyped... Read more
Published 9 days ago by Zebedee
Excellent, Vintage Rendell
I kept putting off listening to this audio book because I was disturbed by some of the reviews I'd seen. When I did listen, I was absolutely hooked from the very beginning. Read more
Published 1 month ago by J. Pittam
Good light read.
Enjoyable book although I read some or Ruth Rendell's books out of order. Never the less I will keep on with the Ruth Rendell novels as they are light easy to pick up at any time... Read more
Published 1 month ago by PJW
Comforting Wexford
read this in bed with cold/flu... I wanted a book that was comfortable, not so clever it made my head hurt, preferably populated with the 'lucozade' equivalent of characters. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Soulie61
very poor
I really looked forward to this book but was very disappointed with it and felt it fell well below the usual standard of Wexford books. Read more
Published 2 months ago by sherlock
Wexford's lost his way
I quite enjoyed this and was interested that the story is a follow-up to the events of "A Sight for Sore Eyes". Read more
Published 2 months ago by T. Crane
Superb, Brilliant
Having had the priviledge to read many of the Wexford books and thoroughly enjoying them I was a little uncertain, after seeing some of the reviews. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mark Twain
It's all about class
First, I'd like to say that I enjoyed this book and will read it again, because Ruth Rendell always writes so well.
But it has major weaknesses. Read more
But it has major weaknesses. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Merryn Williams
Good, but not great...
Wexford is one of Ruth Rendell's better known creations, apparently, but I came to this audio book edition without any exposure to the rest of the series. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Christopher Meadows
al's review
Excellent - vintage Rendell. This kept me and my wife going for the whole of a very long drive from Calais to the south of France.
Published 4 months ago by boatman
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