The Monster in the Box

Inspector Wexford #22

by Ruth Rendell

The twenty-second book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford.Wexford had almost made up his mind that he would never again set eyes on Eric Targo's short, muscular figure. And yet there he was, back in Kingsmarkham, still with that cocky, strutting walk.Years earlier, when Wexford was a young police officer, a woman called Elsie Carroll had been found strangled in her bedroom. Although many still had their suspicions that her husband was guilty of her violent murder, no one was convicted.Another woman was strangled shortly afterwards, and every personal and professional instinct told Wexford that the killer was still at large. And that it was Eric Targo. A psychopathic murderer who would kill again...As the Chief Inspector investigates a new case, Ruth Rendell looks back to the beginning of Wexford's career as a detective, even to his courtship of the woman who would become his wife. The villainous Targo is not the only ghost from Wexford's past who has re-emerged to haunt him in the here and now...

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Detective, British Literature, Thriller, Mystery Thriller

287 pages, ebook

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

A.K.A. Barbara Vine

Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE, who also wrote under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, was an acclaimed English crime writer, known for her many psychological thrillers and murder mysteries and above all for Inspector Wexford.

Reviews

[Jan-Maat]

I picked this up in the hope of reading something silly.

Meh.

The reason to read this would be of you were reading the whole series and had an interest in the development of the characters, in this case a lot of space is given over to Wexford's girlfriends women from the dawn of time, not ones concurrent with his wife, nothing improper here! and search for a wife.

The actual policing and investigation side of the novel is a bit curious. From the first Wexford knows who the criminal is. The problem is, he can't link him to any crime. However since their eyes met across a not at all crowded street Wexford knows that the suspect is a criminal and that he knows that Wexford knows that he is. This isn't a spoiler - it's page one stuff and on the back cover. As it happens this meeting occurred in the past, the novel was published in 2007, was set in the 1990s with Wexford narrating or recalling incidents from the beginning of his career; possibly the early to mid 1960s. Since later we learn that Watford has a nephew in the Met (the Metropolitan police who cover London but not the City of London which has its own police force, and obviously excluding the public transport network which also has its own police) the question is why didn't Wexford just fabricate some evidence and get the guy put away? Then I recalled that Ruth Rendell sat in the House of Lords as a Labour Peer (as I was to do several times while reading) so perhaps she had some personal stake in projecting an image of the moral integrity of the state. Though a modern version of this story taking into account various recent and ongoing cases might well have developed a fabricated evidence strand of the plot. Instead she does something interesting and has Wexford believe that he is being stalled by the criminal. This kind of situation is generally coded as female and we have a notion of victim-hood and vulnerability attached to someone who would have been quite powerful and has authority in society. Perhaps this served simply to suggest that the powerful are also at risk? Or indeed that as a young policeman Wexford was not very confident and did not feel that he was much supported by his peers or superiors?

In the end everything is wrapped up in an unsatisfactory way but with decent foreshadowing so I can't complain too much.

In terms of filming for TV, a lot of the story consists of men sitting together drinking red wine which is cheap to film but not exactly visually engaging. Is this the author at war with her agent, trying to make it impossible to sell for TV rights? There is also a lion in the story dramatic, but expensive for TV , but surprisingly no trip to Sweden, not any of the staple of current police dramas -hours of searching cctv footage.

The question of whether there is anything homosexual in Wexford's obsession with this criminal whose powerful physique is stressed throughout is raised and then dismissed. No nothing homo-erotic here at all, writes the policeman in his notebook. To underline this Rendell inter-cuts the lingering glances of the two men with Wexford's chain of unsuccessful heterosexual relationships from which we learn that Wexford maybe isn't all that good at basic policework either .

In a delightful Gothic, if not medieval touch, the criminal is both short and has a literal mark of Cain in a distinctive birthmark on his neck - only the ugly man is capable of ugly deeds. Wexford here reminded me strongly of Terry Pratchett's Sam Vimes - obviously not in terms of diet and vices, but in the character of acceptance of all people as they are and not being shocked by other people's Romantic arrangements and neither prejudiced against nor overly correcting against prejudice towards people from outside Sussex. Who I wonder was reading who, or were both Rendell and Pratchett reading each other? A suspicious situation.

If this review reads strangely, it did come mostly to me while either asleep or in semi-slumber, though that is not to rule out the chance that the book itself is a bit odd.

[Mark]

Okay. what I did like...the narration by Nigel Anthony.

As to the rest, it was quite an enthralling story I suppose but it was based on a ridiculous premise. Wexford, when he was a young bobby on the beat, was involved in the investigation of the murder by strangulation of a woman whose husband became the chief suspect.

Wexford, however, was 100% convinced that the murderer was a muscular squat thug with a birthmark called Eric Targo.....(the man was called Targo not the birthmark) and he was certain of this on pure instinct. Targo had looked at him from under a lamp post whilst out walking his dog and from that moment his guilt was unassailable. Now i realize 'hunches' are an important part of policework but in the name of all that's Holy that does seem a tad far-fetched.

For the rest of the book the action flashes back and forth across the decades and we take in the early romance and otherwise of the ever growing Wexford. His total obsession, or rather Rendell's with times past. If she had him musing once she had him musing a thousand times about what society, the streets, the air , the music, the food etc etc was like 20, 30, 40 years ago. It became quite an annoying pulse to the narrative, funnily enough rather like your old Great Aunt/Uncle who relates the same story over and over again without realizing she/he has told you it 100 times before.

Running alongside Wexford's startlingly certain solution-from-a-hunch of past murders there is the story of a muslim family who are embroiled in the modern-day associative incidents. Here, Wexford's politically correct and right on assistant makes equally unsubstantiated assumptions about crimes or otherwise and yet whereas Wexford smarms and sneers his truth aloft against all the evidence or probability, he is 100% dismissive of her leaps in the dark.

The problem i therefore had throughout the book branched out in all kinds of areas. Wexford's arrogant cetainty against all evidence to the contrary seemed superhuman in its cocksureness, and yet his inability to recognize his police help might have the same superhuman insight appeared to confirm the arrogance and tying all this up was the fact that Rendell had written it in such a way that he was proved right though it was a ridiculous lack of evidence, a look for God's sake that is all it started from,a penetrating look from underneath a lamp post.

I found the story supremely unsatisfying. Sad really because I have enjoyed Rendell's stuff in the past. The ending was not exactly anti-climatic but a bit of a damp squib. It was an audiobook and i listened to it up and down the motorway to Cumbria so it passed a number of miles but i have heard so many better...though to end where I finished Nigel Anthony was a brilliant reader.

[Kasey Jueds · Rating 5 out of 5]

How could I not give Ruth Rendell five stars? She is my hero. I told Grace I realized, looking at the back flap of this book, that she's now 80; I'm hoping she lives to be at least 100, because I'm not sure what I'll do when there are No More Wexford Books. (Answer: probably start reading all of them again, which will be OK, because I've already forgotten most of the plots anyway.) (Which is my fault, and due to brain waste--not hers.) Anyway, this is another fabulous Wexford novel; as far as I'm concerned there's no such thing as a non-fabulous Wexford novel. One of my favorite things about The Monster in the Box is seeing Wexford as a young man; there's stuff in here about his early police career, and how he met and fell in love with his wife. And the writing is, as usual, beautiful, smart, and weirdly funny, often, for a book about murder. I didn't find this book as suspenseful as some of the other Wexford novels; partly, I think, because the murderer's identity is clear from the beginning, and also because I just never totally bought in to the subplot, which is about a young Pakistani girl who's suspected of being forced to marry against her will. I really appreciate, though, the way Ruth Rendell keeps so much of the classic mystery novel in her books, while at the same time making them totally contemporary, full of current issues (the forced-marriage plot is a good example) and characters. I also LOVE it that she's so funny (unusual for a mystery writer) and so concerned with relationships as well as who killed who, and why and how.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rendell's latest has a dreamy feel to it, and almost an elegiac tone for the lost village of the 50s and 60s, even though all was not perfect in that village. This is her most reflective Wexford so far, alternating the recent past with the 50s, and it's almost as if she is at last rounding out Wexford's character or at least filling in some blanks for all her steadfast fans, but not of course like the typical gimmicky prequel. Being the savvy social commentator she is, Rendell does a marvelous job of contrasting what we have lost with what replaced it, for better or for worse, e.g. losing close communities, and gaining technology and politically correct policing.

I have a feeling this book will appeal more to the aforesaid long-term, die-hard fans, which are legion. Being one of them myself, I really liked when Wexford would recall cases in his career, i.e.crimes which were part of earlier Rendell books. It became sort of an aha! feeling, almost as if I were reminiscing along with him. The whole book felt to me like a nod to her readers, almost an emotional gift to them on some levels, but also a good story.

Oh yeah, and there is a murderer, quite a creepy one which Wexford has failed to catch in the past. This is the frame story for all Wexford's reminiscing, and it works well. Of course every sentence is typically Rendell, elegant and stylish. She turns 80 in February, and we can only hope she keeps turning out mysteries!

[Alan (on December semi-hiatus) Teder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wexford’s First Case Returns
Review of the Doubleday Canada Kindle eBook edition (December 15, 2009) of the original Hutchinson (UK) hardcover (early 2009).

First put the monster in the box, he thought. Throw the box away – but he couldn’t do that, it was the monster he had to think about.

Chief Inspector Wexford re-encounters Erik Targo, a man from his past who has returned to Kingsmarkham after an absence of many years. Back when Wexford was a junior member of the police force, he had suspected Targo of being a murderer without having any proof. That obsession now returns and Wexford is advised to use a psychological trick to put that "monster into a box" in order to not think about it. But Wexford is determined to finally bring Targo to justice at last.

This case was more interesting for the look back at Wexford's early years and love affairs prior to his meeting his future wife Dora. The resolution of the Erik Targo case itself was rather unsatisfactory. The novel also has a rather tiresome subplot of Detective Constable Hannah Goldsmith & Inspector Burden's wife Jenny meddling in the affairs of a local Muslim family whom they suspect of a possible enforced marriage of their daughter.

Monster in a Box continues my 2023/24 binge read / re-read of Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford series and this is the 22nd out of a total 24 books. I had to skip over Wexford #15 to #18 as I haven’t been able to source them yet.


Cover image for the original Scribner (US) hardcover edition from 2009. Image sourced from Goodreads..

Wexford's Laws
There were no Wexford’s Laws in this book. Wexford’s Laws are occasional thoughts about quirky observations made by the Chief Inspector for which he assigns a number. But... teaser warning... there are 4 Wexford's Laws in the next book The Vault at which point either Wexford or perhaps author Rendell has lost count, saying it is now up to the 17th or the 18th Law.

Other Reviews
Is this policeman prescient or paranoid? by Robert A. Rood, WordPress, February 15, 2010.

Trivia and no Link
The Monster in the Box was not adapted for television as part of the Ruth Rendell / Inspector Wexford Mysteries TV series (1987-2000) as the novel was published after the series had ended.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell.

This particular Inspector Wexford novel had me from the moment the first sentence was spoken. A tale of obsession and murder.
The obsession lies with Wexford. This first murder case for Inspector Wexford, a bobby fresh off patrolling the streets, was a most baffling one. It was one that he was never able to bring to a final ending. The murder of a woman found in her own bedroom remained unsolved to this day. But...there was something or someone else that stayed with Wexford. He had observed a rather stocky man wearing a scarf and walking his dog just alongside that woman's home at the time of the murder. It was the intense glare that very man cast at Wexford that made it all the more impossible to forget.
Eric Targo had lived in Kingsmarkham years ago and now suddenly he was back.
This was in my opinion one of the best Inspector Wexford mysteries. It was indeed a tale of obsession and murder.

[Mizloo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Weird and far from wonderful. This is the worst Rendell book I've ever tried to read.

[Bettie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nigel Anthony 8 Hours 52 Mins

Description: '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. He had kept silent because he knew no one would believe him. None of it could be proved, not the stalking, not the stares or the conspiratorial smiles, not the killings, not any of the signs Targo had made because he knew Wexford knew and could do nothing about it.'
Wexford had almost made up his mind that he would never again set eyes on Eric Targo's short, muscular figure. And yet there he was, back in Kingsmarkham, still with that cocky, strutting walk. Years earlier, when Wexford was a young police officer, a woman called Elsie Carroll had been found strangled in her bedroom. Although many still had their suspicions that her husband was guilty, no one was convicted. Another woman was strangled shortly afterwards, and every personal and professional instinct told Wexford that the killer was still at large. And it was Eric Targo. A psychopath who would kill again...
As the Chief Inspector investigates a new case, Ruth Rendell looks back to the beginning of Wexford's career, even to his courtship of the woman who would become his wife. The past is a haunted place, with clues and passions that leave an indelible imprint on the here and now.

I'm almost pleased that the last disc was missing from the box as the storyline here was preposterous.

3* From Doon With Death (Inspector Wexford, #1)
3* A New Lease of Death (Inspector Wexford, #2)
3* Wolf to the Slaughter (Inspector Wexford, #3)
2* The Best Man to Die (Inspector Wexford, #4)
3* A Guilty Thing Suprised #5
3* No More Dying Then (Inspector Wexford, #6)
3* Murder Being Once Done (Inspector Wexford, #7)
3* Some Lie and Some Die (Inspector Wexford, #8)
3* Shake Hands Forever (Inspector Wexford, #9)
3* A Sleeping Life (Inspector Wexford, #10)
3* Put on by Cunning (Inspector Wexford #11)
1* Speaker of Mandarin (Inspector Wexford, #12)
3* An Unkindness of Ravens (Inspector Wexford, #13)
3* The Veiled One (Inspector Wexford, #14)
3* Kissing the Gunner's Daughter (Inspector Wexford, #15)
3* Road Rage (Inspector Wexford, #17)
3* Harm Done (Inspector Wexford, #18)
3* The Babes in the Wood (Inspector Wexford, #19)
3* End in Tears (Inspector Wexford, #20)
3* Not in the Flesh (Inspector Wexford, #21)
1* The Monster in the Box (Inspector Wexford #22)
2* The Vault (Inspector Wexford, #23)

[Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this one Inspector Wexford one day comes across Eric Targo, a man he hasn’t seen for years, a man who he’s convinced is a murderer by Wexford has not a shred of evidence beyond a few looks that Targo gave him and his being in certain places. But how does he prove it and how does he stop him. He has kept all his suspicions to himself all these years but now decides to tell his friend Mark Burden but Burden isn’t inclined to believe him either but things begin to occur in the present that start to show that Wexford’s suspicions may have something to them. Alongside, his DS Hannah Goldsmith, along with Jenny have their own suspicions about one of Jenny’s student’s Tamima, a sixteen-year-old, who seems to be discontinuing her studies despite being a fairly bright student.

This was only my second Wexford book (though it is no 22 in the series) and I quite enjoyed it. While it wasn’t a mystery proper, but more to do with Wexford having to prove something that happened in the past, there were still plenty of surprises towards the end that I certainly didn’t see coming. Since Wexford goes between past and present telling Mark Burden all that occurred with Targo in the past, we also get a peek into Wexford’s own life and career from when he first started working. In fact, though he doesn’t tell Mark everything, the reader gets to see how his own personal life played out as well. Going between past and present, there is a lot of reflection on how things were vis-à-vis how they are now―not only in how the police worked, differences in technology etc., media presence, as well as in society itself―mores, beliefs, attitudes. The book also deals with the “clashes”, if one can call them that, in a multicultural present, stereotyping, certain conclusions that people jump to despite trying to be sensitive to difference. Alongside, Targo’s love of animals means that we meet not only his various dogs, but even llamas and a lion and with them comes in a bit of craziness as well. All in all, I quite enjoyed the book and it might even be a good place to start despite being towards the end of the series. Would love to read more of the Wexford books sometime.

[Jaksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another in the long line of Inspector Wexford novels by Ruth Rendell. This is a good one.

Wexford suspects that a man he knew from long ago is a serial killer. He has no proof of it, just a minor suspicion, but one which is strong enough to last many years. In fact, Wexford has put the 'monster' Eric Targo into a box, one he will only infrequently open and study. Hence the title.

When a few new murders occur and Targo seems to have been nearby at the time, Wexford opens the box in the hopes of new clues, new statements from witness, a new lead, anything. He is stymied time and time again until a new set of circumstances occur involving a young Moslem girl whose family might be forcing her into marriage. The two stories - Targo's and the girl's - overlap and intertwine until arriving at a completely surprising and stunning conclusion.

There are the usual cast of characters here, Hannah, the PC-correct investigator on Wexford's staff, and of course, Mike Burden, Wexford's continuing and oft-irritating sidekick. Jenny Burden makes a small appearance and even Reg Wexford's wife, Dora. We also get a glimpse of the kind of police officer - and man - Wexford was when younger. I didn't figure this one out, not until Rendell spelled it out for me at the end.

All in all, a very satisfying, complex, and intriguing story. One of Rendell's best in this series.

[Alecia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I may not even attempt any more Ruth Rendell books. Having once been a fan, I found that lately I can barely finish her works. I find the Inspector Wexford novels especially wordy and non-suspensful. I know that her way is to build up to the ending with a a psychologically intense look at the characters. But I found this book exeptionally boring, and I was itching to be done with it.

[Hilary G · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know Ruth Rendell is a good writer. She must be because so many people enjoy her books. I read in a review somewhere or other that Reg Wexford was the most real of all the fictional detectives, and that's probably true. But he is so DULL. He doesn't have any bad habits except a desire to indulge in things that might not be good for him (red wine, nuts and snacks) which he dutifully tries to resist to please his dreary wife. Quirky detectives like Jackson Brodie, ones who sleep with unsuitable men (Jane Tennant) or drink too much (Morse?) may not be real, but they are interesting and sometimes fun. I don't see how anyone involved in solving crimes like murder can be boring, but Wexford is boring. It's probably apt then that the actor that played him on TV was also dull as ditchwater, so it's a shame that the person reading this book (Nigel Anthony) adopts a George Baker-like accent for Wexford. I would have liked to hear an alternative, it would have been a bit of an adventure.

The plot of this is competently enough handled, but there is far too much nostalgia for my liking. Wexford is constantly reminding us of what it was like in 'the old days' compared to what it is like at the time the novel is set in. It's all a bit of a cliché - no sex before marriage, no divorce, no internet etc - all harking back to a time that was even more dull than the present. Added to this is an endless retelling of Wexford's personal love life, an unexciting history of getting engaged to a girl he didn't like and being too decent to break it off (until he did), a brief entanglement with a woman and a rape scam, then meeting his wife-to-be, who was actually on holiday with her parents (and Wexford with his mother). This man has really lived!

As if Wexford's drab existence, banal personal history and stodgy personality weren't enough, he got no satisfaction from the resolution of this case.

Nor did I.

Of the two personae of this author, I much prefer the Barbara Vine novels, several of which I have really enjoyed. This particular Ruth Rendell novel passed the time, but so does watching paint dry.

[Carol Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this Inspector Wexford book. This book takes place in a more modern setting with mobile phones, computers and modern subject matter, with a throwback to earlier times in Inspector Wexford's life. The Inspector comes up against someone from his past and remembers incidents back when he was working on his first murder case. As always, his personal life and his work are intertwined.

Rendell accurately portrays the past and the present, although the characters seem to have aged slower than the passing years, but that is not really important. The present times with multicultural society and the past where class and manners mattered have been described well. The themes of being politically correct, preconceived ideas, and the older generation's reluctance to come to terms with technology are all things we can relate to which makes the plot extremely credible.

If you have never read an Inspector Wexford book, this would make an ideal start. But to the reader who has known him for a while, it will be interesting to see Wexford back in his single days with his mind on looking for the right wife. It will also be interesting to see how life has a funny way of turning round in circles and how his own monster in the box has finally been dealt with.

[Tim Orfanos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Από τα πιο πρωτότυπα αστυνομικά μυθιστορήματα της Ρέντελ, στο οποίο ξετυλίγονται δύο παράλληλες ιστορίες: η δράση ενός serial killer από τη δεκαετία του '60 μέχρι το 2009, η οποία αποτελεί και την εμμονή του επιθεωρητή Ουέξφορντ (διχάζεται συνεχώς για την ενοχή ενός γείτονά του, χωρίς ο αναγνώστης να καταλαβαίνει με σιγουριά μέχρι το τέλος, αν έχει δίκιο ο Ουέξφορντ), και η εξαφάνιση μιας Πακιστανής 16χρονης μαθήτριας, η οποία, ενδεχομένως, να έχει πέσει 'θύμα' των κοινωνικών προκαταλήψεων ή δολοφονίας.

Μέσα από συνεχόμενα flashbacks, η Ρέντελ παρουσιάζει με αποτελεσματικό τρόπο τις αλλαγές που έχει υποστεί η αγγλική κοινωνία τα τελευταία 40 με 50 χρόνια, ενώ με χιούμορ αντιμετωπίζει τις φυλετικές διακρίσεις που υπάρχουν, ακόμα, αν και σε μειωμένο βαθμό. Ο αναγνώστης δεν χάνει το ενδιαφέρον του μέχρι το τέλος, ενώ ένα από τα απροσδόκητα ερωτήματα που προκύπτει από το βιβλίο είναι αν, τελικά, η υπερβολική αγάπη στα ζώα κρύβει αισθήματα μισαλλοδοξίας και μισανθρωπισμού.

Βαθμολογία: 4,4/5 ή 8,8/10.

[scherzo♫ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor plotting, silly motive, too much police harassment of a Muslim family; no feeling of justice or of anyone doing anything needful.

[Peggy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Please, if this is the first Rendell and/or Wexford you've read, don't judge her by it. It isn't typical. Try Shake Hands For Ever, or From Doon with Death. Or A Demon in my View, or A Judgment In Stone. Or most of her earlier books.

This one is a major disappointment in a usually excellent series. The main plot, about a man whom Wexford has suspected of past murder and who becomes a prime suspect for a new murder, is flaccid, meanders all over the place, really has little suspense, and goes out with a whimper. (Even Wexford is disappointed!) The secondary plot, about a Muslim family in Kingsmarkham whose daughter may or may not be subjected to a forced marriage, is offensive, heavy-handed and ludicrous. I have no idea of Ruth Rendell's intent with the Tamima plot. A female detective sergeant and a respected schoolteacher basically harass a family because their daughter isn't going to a sixth form college after taking O levels. It seems Rendell is trying to make a point about misguided attempts to avoid being prejudiced, or about the racism that none of us can fully escape. But it is just not credible that any police officer would be allowed to proceed as Hannah proceeds, on zero evidence. At times Hannah and her teacher cohort are made to look so ridiculous that you think they must surely desist, author's point having been made, but no. Rendell in fact allows a kind of vindication late in the book.

Both plotlines are drawn out to the nth degree, with repetitive scenes of the police questioning people and/or talking amongst themselves. To make matters worse, there is a third plot of a sort, Wexford's reminiscences about his early career. These passages won't have much meaning for people who are new to the series, and for those who are not, they seem superfluous - tacked-on. Having read the books, I already know Wexford. In fact, the way his character has always been revealed through the storyline is one of the strengths of the series. To be given details about his early days on the beat, how he met Dora, and so on, is unnecessary and really not very interesting.

The book isn't very long, but it reads like a 600 pager. Again I suggest reading almost any of the rest of the series. This just isn't a good example.

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an avid reader of British mysteries, I place Ruth Rendell (and PD James) at the top of the list of current writers of that genre. I feel disloyal when I say that I did not particularly enjoy this novel. I have read most of the Wexford books and have loved them like old friends. But I could not garner much enthusiasm for this one.
The plot, such as it was, proceeded very slowly and revolved around a hunch/obsession which seemed far-fetched, at best. A secondary plot in which the actions of the police would not have been considered or tolerated, eventually meshed with the main theme but it was quite a stretch and too coincidental.
The backward look at Wexford's life as a young constable was interesting but it couldn't make up for the overall weakness of the story. I guess even the best authors make a misstep now and again.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros: I like Rendell, I like Wexford, I like the class and race awareness that she sprinkles throughout her books (often with considerable humor).

Cons: this book feels like coming in midway through conversation, not just because it's part of a series, but the way she introduces this apparently long-standing character in Wexford life. It took a bit of getting used to. The ending wasn't quite what I expected, and the Afterwards seems ill-conceived.

But - as always - I never seem to regret a Rendell read.

[Elaine Nickolan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Last book of 2022 is a dud. Hoping 2023 reading is a lot more entertaining. Enough said.

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did I really give a Ruth Rendell book two stars and list it as something other than mystery? Yes I did. THis is way along in the Wexford series and it shows. The premise is rather outlandish. Years ago when he was just starting with the detectives, Wexford is involved with a murder case, strangulation, of a house wife and he KNOWS it's a short, stocky birthmarked man named Targo by the way the man looked at him while walking his dog.

He's relating this story to his current partner, as a much older man, because Targo is back in the picture. The closest anything Wexford could have pinned on the man back in the day was stalking (of him) and all he really knows is this man goes through wives (divorced, not dead) and he loves dogs more than people. HIs partner doesn't believe him because who would based on a 'look he gave me.'

We have another non-case that Hannah is following of Tamima a Moslem girl who decided not to go on to her A levels in spite of her intelligence and her teacher (wife of Wexford's partner) is sure she's being forced to marry which is illegal in England. Hannah prides herself on being super anti-racist (and yet still comes off that way sometimes which Wexford cheerfully comments on) but it ends up reading like the police harrassing a Moslem family constantly for no real reason other than they can't find the girl (which naturally they now think there is an honor killing in play).

The storylines eventually dove tail (it takes a full half the book for Wexford to relay his story and Hannah to hound this family) but it's so predictable when it does. It really looks like a case of the police wearing blinders. There is never any other suspects. Wexford is 100% sure he's right. And that's why it's not a mystery. We don't follow clues. We sit around waiting for Wexford to find one shred of evidence to prove himself right. It was rather dull.

Also you can tell Rendell was older when she wrote this. We have endless comparisons between how things are now versus how they were when Wexford was young and his complete disdain for a lot of the modern culture. I have to wonder is it Rendell or Wexford who is really complaining about 'mealy mouthed political correctness.' If this had been my first Rendell book, I doubt I'd have read another.

[Barb H · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been so long since I read a Ruth Rendell novel, I cannot remember which I read. Recently, I have finished several Barbara Vine mysteries and had fallen under her spell. After reading "The Monster in the Box", I had the surprising sense that I was comparing two different authors!Perhaps it is not fair to do so with this one book. Vine's writing seems to have a more heightened tension throughout, with the constant mental question,"where are we going with this?" Each of her characters seem to possess some emotional baggage and quirkiness, adding to the mystifying aura of the tale.
In Rendell's "Monster", we see several people with more "normal" problems,the dilemmas of immigrant families and one odd, chilling, possible serial killer.The protagonist, Inspector Wexford, who is familiar to many readers after 22 books in this series, traces his history with this man through many years. This police procedural is certainly not an "edge of the seat", gripping mystery; but Rendell's intricate prose captures one's interest throughout. She has clearly defined her characters, imbuing them with behavioral traits which are
compelling, endearing or enigmatic. The English countryside and the urban areas are deftly and interestingly painted throughout.

Rendell has managed to sustain suspense to the very last page and has provided me with an enjoyable experience.

[Mary Overton]

"Some years before, when his daughter Sylvia had been taking a course in psychotherapeutic counselling, she had taught him about the 'box' as a means of dealing with anxieties.
"'If you've a problem weighing on your mind, Dad, you have to visualize a box - maybe quite small, the size of a matchbox. You open it and put your worry inside - now don't start laughing. It works. Close the box with the worry inside and put it away somewhere, inside a drawer, say.'
"'Why not throw it in the sea?'
"'That's a bit final. You may want to take it out again one day.'
"'And this is going to take all problems away?'
"'I don't say that, Dad, but it might help. If you find yourself thinking of the worry, you also think it's locked away in the box so you can't touch it.'
"He had scoffed. But still he tried it. Several times since then he had put Targo [the suspected serial killer] in a box, and sometimes it had worked well. He tried it again now, carefully placing Targo and the white van and ... his own fear into the box and hiding it in a drawer of the desk in his office. And the white van failed to reappear." pp.139-40

[Richard Blacklock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really try to like Ruth Rendell, but after having read "Road Rage" a few years ago, I was somewhat less than impressed. I thought I'd give it another go with "Monster in the Box". I couldn't help but wonder if some of the reviews on the sleeve were a bit, 'over the top', as you'd think she was the next Shakespeare.

This was somewhat better than "Road Rage", but still, as a mystery writer she is average, at best. I honestly can't help but wonder if her fans have ever read other authors. It would seem Inspector Wexford is no Sherlock Holmes, blindly following hunches. The plot is quite ridiculous, and much of it just doesn't make sense. Anything from the bizarre encounters between the police and the Muslim family to a murderer who offers his services for free but never gets reported by anyone.

To Rendell fans, I suggest you try other authors, you may be amazed. Ian Rankin or Peter Robinson are good popular authors, and Henning Mankell at his best is very good. Karin Fossum is certainly more gory and her books are more psychological but are in a different league than Rendell. Giles Blunt is also very good.

[judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would imagine fans of Inspector Wexford would appreciate this book far more than I. It does recount his early romances. Definitely a must-read for the die-hards who have read the previous 21 Wexfords. Rendell is legend in mystery circles and her writing proves the point. This is a classic English procedural but IMHO with some serious plot faults. Avoiding spoilers, I'll just say that far too much of the book proceeds without solid evidence. As for Wexford, who is new to me, I found him singularly unexciting. In fact, all the characters in this book were distinctly unmemorable and remote. English procedurals can be stiff but usually there is one or more characters who can bring a smile and are given large enough parts to inject some levity. I'm truly sorry I read this book. It has removed any desire I might have had to meet the good Inspector. I ignored my First Rule of Mysteries: Always start at the beginning of a series.

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent, albeit slightly nonconformist, plot. There are two stories here, and both will keep you reading if your experience is anything like mine.

Wexford is aging as this book opens, and he remembers earlier cases in which he knew the solution but couldn’t prove the solution. One such case involved the murder of Elsie Carroll when he was new on the force. He always hunched that Eric Targo killed Elsie, but he could never prove it. His persistent hunch was the only thing he had. Targo and Wexford seemed to become obsessed with each other until it almost feels unhealthy. Targo left Kingsmarkham not long after the Elsie Carroll murder, and the place was quiet. But he has moved back, and Wexford can’t help but take the monster out of the box where he compartmentalized the case years earlier.

Mike Burdon’s schoolteacher wife, Jenny, comes to Wexford with concerns that a teenage girl with Pakistani roots is about to marry against her will. The girl is 16, and Wexford isn’t big on poking the Islamic bear. Ah, but the oh-so-woke, shrill Hannah Goldsmith wants a crack at it. She is tiresome in her approach to life. I love it when her woke antiracism conflicts with her uber-feminism and emotionally ties her in knots. It couldn’t happen to a shriller more obnoxious person. Watching Policewoman Goldsmith deal with her emotions and the Moslem family is fascinating indeed.

Some of the value of this to those who have read the series for a long time is you get to see how Wexford met and married Dora. It was interesting to see the beginning of that relationship.

There isn’t a lot of suspense here, and you won’t get any hot bullets and hard fists flying. But you get an interesting look at Wexford’s beginnings and his present combined into one book.

[Christina McLain · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a writer, Ruth Rendell has always been hit or miss for me. I thought that at least two of her earlier novels, A Judgment in Stone and A Dark-Adapted Eye, were brilliant. But some of her later books, especially the ones focusing on really disturbing people and situations like Portobello left me cold. But I always liked her Wexford series, especially since Wexford is refreshingly free of the eccentricities or painful conundrums which infect the lives of other fictional crime-solvers like Rebus or Adam Dalgleish. Wexford likes his life. He is happily married and fond of his daughters, though one of them has been a source of worry to him for years. He even gets along with his prickly sidekick Mike Burden. This novel which is one of Rendell's last is good though I found it to be a bit rambling in parts. In her later years Rendell took to satirizing the foolishness of the postmodern era,especially the excessive political correctness she felt permeated British life. Not that she let the past off the hook..what good mystery writer would? In this story we get a lot of the backstory of Wexford's youth and again comparisons between the follies of the past and present. And we learn that Wexford like Sherlock Holmes has his own nemesis, a man who for years has been able to kill those he sees as
inconvenient, people who stand in the way of the happiness of others, and get away with it. A good read.

[David]

An odd one in the Rendell catalogue. The identity of the main killer is established from the start and the novel mostly traces Inspector Wexford's attempts to find any evidence at all to prove that identity. In the course of it, we get all kinds of reminiscences, including meeting young Wexford's first girlfriends (and meeting them again in the present). There is a second parallel story investigating all kinds of issues involving a Muslim family, the younger generation's responsibility to its elders, etc.. The family experiences racism in contemporary Great Britain--including the kind of racism that arises out of well-intentioned efforts to be completely nonjudgmental. There is a great plot reversal of expectations towards the very end. In the last moments, it seems Wexford is prepared to let an incorrect verdict stand just to have the monster who is at the centre of it all completely put to rest. One doubts, however, given the number of times this strategy for putting away and forgetting your worries fails to work during the course of the novel and it's reappearance in the final paragraph in relation to the monster of the title, that Wexford will be entirely successful with that action either.

[Patricia (Irishcharmer) Yarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always liked Ruth and her style of writing. She leads you on a path to give you that feeling of "I've got this all figured out by cracky" when actually -you don't!!
Her story telling is in a class of it's own. And this story is no exception! Detective Wexler will have you thinking he's after a murderer he's been tracking for years, only to lose him. Now he's in his sights, and again -poof-where has he escaped to this time!!?? This is Wexlars' monster and it must be put in the box and shelved!!
Ruth's writing will take you to villages of yesteryear,and how they too have changed to adapt to the new fangled gadgets,the new PC ways of doing things! Reminds me of
Midsomers Murder series!! (if you've not watched the program- it's on every Thurs 8pm on PBS)
This is #22 in her Wexlar series, and even if you've not read any of her earlier works, go ahead and read this one--you won't be disappointed!--P/

[Becky Loader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read quite a few of Rendell's mysteries, and I find that some are just not my cup of tea.

This one started out great with a creepily-drawn stalker. I liked the relationship among the police officers, too. The title refers to being able to mentally put something that is bothering you "into a box" and file it away so it no longer will bother you. Hmmm. That doesn't work when the monster is a murderer.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Does not age well, tho only written I think in 2009. Plot lacks suspense and narrative tension. There are also two incredibly annoying g and intrusive female characters who are preoccupied with the potential of an Islamic family arranging a marriage for 1 16 year old daughter. On of the women is her teacher, the other a cop; both of them basically stalk the family. I think "showing concern" for how Britain's police force deals with the customs of immigrants that are in opposition to British traditions is Rendell's point, but her approach is racist ,ham-handed and unbelievable.