Simisola

Inspector Wexford #16

by Ruth Rendell

Simisola, the 16th Inspector Wexford novel by Ruth Rendell, is at once a gripping mystery and an emotionally charged exploration of racism, sexual violence, and the urban ills that are infecting small, traditionally peaceful communities.

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

327 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

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

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read by.................. Christopher Ravenscroft
Total Runtime......... 10 Hours 56 Mins

Description: Black residents are highly visible in a small English country town like Kingsmarkham. Yet Dr. and Mrs. Akande's daughter, Melanie, fresh from university but a disappointment to her career-driven parents, has disappeared into thin air. She was last seen at the Employment Centre, where she has just signed on for social assistance, when she inexplicably vanished. Now Inspector Wexford finds himself with an investigation complicated by Melanie's feckless boyfriend, his own eye for a too-pretty employment counsellor, and a bizarrely incompetent burglar...as well as a systematic adulterer, a vengeful wife, a treacly politician... and a perplexing corpse. The case will take Wexford from a sunny, soigne garden party to the greyness of unemployment in a derelict shack and finally onto the streets. Here his endless fascination with the peculiarities of human nature leads him from a volatile mix of motives and suspects straight into an explosion of snobbery, sexism, racism--and brutal murder in blood both hot and cold.

Social issues are to the fore here: feminism, race, unemployment, ageism and foriegn workers.

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* Simisola (Inspector Wexford, #16)

3* Not in the Flesh (Inspector Wexford, #21)
2* The Vault (Inspector Wexford, #23)

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

British mysteries are just so different from their U.S. counterparts, no? This one was quite interesting. An investigator thinking deeply about race and racism, confronting his own takn-for-granted racist thought patterns, trying to strike a balance between avoiding stereotype and ignoring race. Can't say more without spoiling things for others.

[Alan (the Lone Librarian rides again) Teder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Race Relations + Wexford’s Laws 4, 5 & 6
Review of the Audible Studios audiobook edition (May 15, 2009) narrated by Christopher Ravenscroft, of the original hardcover from Hutchinson (UK) (September 24, 1994)

‘I’m sorry to trouble you with this, Mr Wexford, but I hoped you might help me.’ Wexford waited. ‘It’s probably nothing.’
Those words, no matter how often he heard them, always caused a small shiver. In his experience, it was nearly always something and, if brought to his attention, something bad.

[A solid 4, but the narration performance kicks this up to a 5, see below for more on that]
Wexford takes a strong personal interest when his new family physician Dr. Raymond Akande and his wife report their teenage daughter as missing. The Akandes are among the few black residents of Kingsmarkham at the time and Wexford overcompensates in his efforts in providing police assistance for their distress. He blunders badly though when the body of a dead black girl is found, by assuming it must be the missing teenager. It turns out the teenager is still missing and there is now a separate murder case to deal with.

The investigation takes some very dark turns and discoveries before the answers to both mysteries are found. Several characters are portrayed as unsympathetic, leading to an increasing list of suspects and motives. The usual tiresome subplot of Wexford's daughters involved eldest daughter Sylvia and her husband Neil in financial difficulties. But Sylvia does provide Wexford with a clue that leads him to the solution to his case.


The front cover of the original Hutchinson (UK) 1994 hardcover. Image sourced from Wikipedia By http://pictures.abebooks.com/BOOKFEVER/6651360265.jpg, Fair use, Link.

This was Wexford #16 in the series of 24 novels. I had previously skipped over #15 to #18 as they were proving difficult to source. No convenient Kindle eBooks exist and the Toronto Public Library online search & hold system was struck down in October 2023 (which is still ongoing) by a ransomware attack (rumoured to be Russian based) which prevents you from locating and placing books on hold throughout the system (short of physically going around Toronto to each branch personally and searching the shelves by hand). I've decided to complete my Wexford/Rendell binge by sourcing the audiobooks which are not ideal as I am also trying to spot Wexford's personal Laws and Rules along the way. Listening on audio might cause me to miss them.

On the Berengaria Ease of Solving Scale® I found this to be a difficult solve, a 9 out of 10, due to some quite clever misdirection. The actual culprit(s) came out of left field for me after I thought I had it all figured out.

The narration by Christopher Ravenscroft (who played DI Mike Burden in the TV series) was excellent in all voices in this edition. He was especially good at mimicking the West Country burr of actor George Baker (who played Chief Inspector Wexford in the TV series), so that actually made it sound as if both actors were performing the narration.

Wexford's Laws
There were several Wexford's Laws mentioned in this book. Wexford's Laws are quirky thoughts or observations that Wexford makes. The previous book Kissing the Gunner's Daughter (Wexford #15, 1992) had none, the book before that The Veiled One (Wexford #14, 1988) contained Wexford's Third Law. So I’ve numbered these new ones accordingly as the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Laws.

She addressed Karen, to whom she seemed to have taken a fancy. ‘He’s ninety-two, you know.’ ‘Ninety-three,’ said Mr Hammond, thus confirming Wexford’s Law that it is only when under fifteen and over ninety that people wish to add years to their true age. [Wexford's Fourth Law by my count.]

Laurette Akande shrugged and looked away. Wexford thought he might make it one of his laws – he had a mental catalogue of Wexford’s first law, second law, and so on – that if after the first two or three expressions of regret you stop apologizing to someone you have offended, they will soon start apologizing to you. [Wexford's Fifth Law by my count]

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Another of Wexford’s laws was that no truthful person ever makes this remark. It is exclusively the province of liars. [Wexford's Sixth Law by my count]

Trivia and Links
Simisola was adapted for television as part of the Ruth Rendell / Inspector Wexford Mysteries TV series (1987-2000) as Season 9 Episodes 3 to 5 in 1996 with actor George Baker as Chief Inspector Wexford. I could not find a free posting of it on YouTube. Here in Canada it is available on the Britbox streaming service.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Wexford tackles the inherent and sometimes unconscious racism in white middle class Kingsmarkham. A black girl goes missing and the last person who saw her is murdered. A lot of the book is Rendell’s social commentary on society in the 1990s with Wexford her sounding board. The red herrings are plentiful in this story.


SPOILERS AHEAD

I enjoyed the twists and turns of this mystery with the final reveal not who I expected it to be. The existence of slavery and attitudes of the people who did it was shocking. Still someone called Swithun Riding and a doctor should have sent alarm bells ringing. His repellant son and wife who had her head in the sand spoke volumes. The question why Sophie the daughter didn’t go to the police earlier is odd. I have noticed in many mysteries that the any suspects must include the doctor.

The difference between the have’s and have nots is an indictment on English society with everything hidden from view. Every family in the story is dysfunctional including Wexford’s with his passive aggressive daughter Sylvia. Kimberly in her relationship to Zack the killer for hire and turning a blind eye to their change of fortunes. As for poor Annette with her affair with Snow it is so unbelievable it’s believable!

A great read.

[Deb Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simisola is the 16th book in author Ruth Rendell's Inspector Reginald Wexford series, published in 1994. This one is equal parts introspection on the part of Wexford and criminal investigation into crimes involving Black victims.

Some others who have reviewed this story were disappointed with the social commentary that the author made central to the plot. It is a diversion from her usual style in this series, but it made Wexford all the more human to show not only his own prejudices but also his willingness and ability to make changes in his thinking and actions once he comes to that realization.

First, a young woman goes missing from her parents' home; as the search for her continues, the body of another young woman is found, having been beaten to death. Both women are Black, living in a small community that has fewer than 20 Black individuals living there. It is after the discovery of the body that Wexford experiences some of his most egregious actions; actions that bring him self-discovery, regret and enlightenment.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

The one-star reviewers do not deign to share why. The two-star reviewers generally found it a bit long, dated and/or boring. The three-star reviewers are a mix of those who seem to love it but curiously gave it only three stars, and those who recognise some strengths but still feel the two-star weaknesses. The four-star reviewers have written the best reviews, critical but appreciative.

So why have I given Simisola five stars?

Well, something just felt right about it. It really was moving. And very, very timely, with its exploration of race, class, welfare, unemployment and more. Simisola is the first of the later, longer novels (nearly double the wordage of the early and middle period Wexfords like A Guilty Thing Surprised and Murder Being Once Done) and though it might therefore have dragged, it never actually did. Rendell moved us effortlessly from crime to crime, theme to theme, everything overlapping, doubling back and being cleverly resolved. There was some wonderful misdirection, too, as the climax approached. I was just beginning to congratulate myself on working it out, when…

This length meant there was adequate time for the deep exploration of the complex psychology of the detectives (Wexford in particular, of course) as they were forced to negotiate racial prejudice without and within, articulated and unarticulated, blatant and subtle. This was pretty uncomfortable at times — the quality dramatising of unconscious bias being so much more convincing and morally powerful than a hectoring polemic.

Sure, the novel might lack some of the immediacy of contemporary discourse on race, might use some of the wrong words, and obviously doesn’t in itself give direct voice to the marginalised (poor Ruth was white and privileged, after all), and, yes, it might be just another elaboration, no matter how subtle or finely observed, of a collection of obsolete liberal views… but in the first few pages (of something published in 1994, don’t forget) our hero insists, and not in a glib way, “We’re all racists, Mike”.

[Those apparent faults are actually strengths in my opinion, anyway. I’m no fan of political correctness.]

There are some colourful characters and lovely scenes, too. The interactions between the old man who habitually observes the street outside the scene of the first murder and his blind wife are a treat. The chapter that narrates the march of the unemployed is so well done it’s almost like a short story in the Chekhov tradition.

[Ok, roping in Wexford’s daughter’s latest woes was a bit artificial and tedious, and something in the solution owed a great debt to The Speaker of Mandarin (my other favourite, and also, perhaps not by coincidence, concerned with questions of racial or ethnic bias, albeit more simply) but I’m still giving this top marks. Having been everso slightly mean with my stars for Rendell’s oeuvre so far I’m going to set parsimony aside for today.]

[rabbitprincess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5

This book was intended for my Mystery Fiction class, but the professor was unable to find an easy way to procure copies for us; most publishers did not have it in print at the time. Much later, I found a copy at a used-book sale, and so I bought it on the strength of our professor's recommendation.

Thinking back on the course, this book would have been a perfect fit, and its replacement, The Laughing Policeman, touches on similar themes. This book's main story arc is that of Melanie Akande, a young woman who is part of one of the few black families in Kingsmarkham. She disappears one day, but the search for her proves to be a difficult one. Chief Inspector Wexford is called in to solve the case, not only because it is on his turf but also because Melanie's father is his GP.

Over the course of the story, Rendell touches on themes of race and class. Wexford and others on the force deal with their own attitudes to race as they solve the case -- one twist in particular, which I shall not give away, really opens Wexford's eyes on that front. Class and employment are two other important threads to the story: Melanie is the daughter of upper-middle-class parents, but she has resorted to the Job Centre to find work in her chosen field of performing arts, which her parents feel is not good enough for her. All roads lead to the Job Centre, actually, so it plays a major part in the case. It ties to Wexford's personal life, too; his daughter and son-in-law are forced to go on the dole temporarily.

The book was well written, more reminiscent of A Judgement in Stone, which is the only other Rendell novel I've read. I did read one of her books that she wrote as Barbara Vine and found it difficult to get through (I left it unfinished)... fortunately, this book is not like that. It unfolds at a decent pace, and the solution is fair, and there are several twists that I did not see coming. Also, the explanation for the title, which comes right at the end of the book, is very bittersweet. But still, this isn't one of my favourites. Perhaps having it studied in Mystery Fiction would have made it more interesting.

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like I mentioned before, that book on women crime writers made me want to read more crime and so I did. Simisola was one of the books analysed, and it sounded really interesting so I picked it up. It's an Inspector Wexford mystery (to be specific it's a police procedural) but I think it can be read as a standalone. As for the plot, that's a bit harder to describe but here goes:

The daughter of Inspector Wexford's GP, Melanie Akande, has gone missing. As Wexford investigates, the body of Annette Bystock, who was probably the last person to see her. And then another body turns up.

This is a police procedural with an intricate plot and an overarching theme. Wexford is a decent man who is struggling in a world that has changed without him knowing. The change being that England is no longer 99% white.

This investigation leads him to recognise and confront his hidden prejudices while painting a bleak picture of England right now. Life isn't easy for anyone, and a lot of people clearly aren't coping well. At times, it felt like Ruth Rendell hammered in the "England is racist" message a bit too strongly and made it very obvious, but for the most part, she let the characters and the story indict themselves. For example (possible spoilers if you didn't read the blurb) when the second body is found, Inspector Wexford immediately assumed it was Melanie because the victim was black, even going as far as to break the news to her parents. When they realise it's not her, their anger is heartbreaking and a huge moment of realisation of how unconsciously racist he is for Wexford.

The only weak point of the book (apart from veering dangerously close to preachy occasionally) is that it'a really, really complicated. Perhaps my brain isn't just working but despite reading most of the book in one sitting (woohoo for free days with no plans), when the murderer was revealed my first reaction was "who?" Wexford does do a recap, which I was grateful for, but unlike most mysteries, the reveal was more confusing than de-mystifying.

If you want a mystery that makes the problem of racism a part of the story, you'll want to pick this book up. It is a grim, bleak read, but it is a worthwhile one because we always need to be confronted with our hidden prejudices.

This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

When Wexford's doctor's daughter goes missing, Wexford is fast on the case. The "twist" is that his doctor happens to be one of the few black people in the British town of Kingsmarkham. While looking for the missing woman, the bodies of two other women turn up murdered and Wexford is confronted with his own racism, as well as those of the witnesses he encounters. I found the writing in this book fine - better than most mysteries that I read - but in terms of plot, it wasn't particularly suspenseful and I found some of the investigation a bit tedious.

[Lucy Barnhouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be an impressive, compelling entry in the Wexford series. The plot is intricate, but its details are in some ways made secondary to a probing exploration of societal and internalized racism. I appreciate that Rendell doesn't shy away from having Wexford interrogate his own racism, as well as the changes (and lack thereof) in economic opportunity and social attitudes that the '90s are bringing to Kingsmarkham.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Wexford book from RR . Wexford is confronted with his own racism and shuttered opinion, despite considering himself fairly enlightened. His reflections on race, the changing 'face' of Britain and racism make for thought provoking reading and sadly in many ways it's all too relevant still. Contrasting to this is a commentary on what has been seen as an increasing welfare state, particularly with relevance to small (affluent and predominantly white) rural communities.
Some weighty themes and a lot of time is spent on them making for a complex read. There's also some further character development especially around Reg and the relationships he has with his daughters.

The mystery itself is intriguing and has a fairly unexpected denouement (so much so that I couldn't actually recall the guilty party at first - thankfully Wexford provides a recap). A lot goes on and I have to admit that my audiobook listening may have been distracted at times. Still, the audiobook version I read was narrated by Christopher Ravenscroft - Burden himself! He does an excellent job and I wish he narrated more of them as he's far more natural and expressive than the usual guy.

Maybe one I'll come back to one day when I'm less distracted to pick apart the details.

[Ginnz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a good Wexford. I know you are not meant to be able to spot the killer in the story until the end but it all fell in to place in the last 30 and felt a little rushed.
As a commentary of a small English town with regard to people of other races, it felt very real. I liked that for the some people in the town, to get the answers to the questions they needed to ask sometimes they had to be less that PC. While it caused tension and embarrassment in the book it also felt real and that is a plus.

[Carole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is well-written, i like Ruth Rendell, Inspector Wexford is an interesting character but I just found this book lacking. I didn't care about the characters, found the mystery less than intriguing and was glad when it was over. Some of it may be due to my reading it in a chopped up way -a chapter today, nothing for a few days etc. I did finish it and it will not deter me from other Rendell books. So I am willing to take at least one star worth of the blame for the low rating.

[Catherine Letendre · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un livre très lent où l'on nous ressasse les mêmes indices sur plus de 100 pages avant de nous en révéler un autre. On suit des pistes qui ne sont étayées par rien d'autre que par l' "instint" de Wexford. C'est un peu maigre à suivre sur une longue période du roman. Surtout que cette fameuse piste ne débouche même par sur un crime et que la piste réelle était ailleurs depuis le début.
Sans compter que l'abondance de personnages, que l'on nomme parfois par leur prénom, parfois par leur nom, parfois par leur surnom, m'a complètement perdue. Je découvrais des indices sur des gens dont franchement je ne me souvenais même plus.
Cette première lecture de Ruth Rendell pour moi m'a laissé froide d'indifférence.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are several mysteries going on at the same time. Are they connected? Is the body of a dead girl the same one as the one who has gone missing? And who killed the social worker? And why? It gets pretty complicated. The book also deals with some very serious issues such as human trafficking and racism.

[*Stani* · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t have a clue who was the Jane Doe, where was the missing girl, who killed the unemployment office girl and why and it wasn’t clear all the way til the end.

Rather a prolonged story but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

[Christopher Madsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Rendell has written a superb mystery this one about Wexford trying to determine what has become of his doctor's daughter who has gone missing. Rendell also takes on very eloquently race, racism, and social class in this book. Not much has changed apparently in the nearly 25 years since it was published.

[Linda Louch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real Ruth Rendell mystery with the story starting with a missing girl which develops into a murder investigation of another girl, with the only link The Benefit Office. Chief Inspector Wexford is in charge of the case which is filled with mystery and tension. Kept me engaged and stimulated trying to link all the clues to solve the murder mystery with surprises along the way.

[Grada (BoekenTrol) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A typical British crime book.
I wasn't very fond of inspector Wexford when the series were aired here on tv. And unfortunately the book was in the same style. I'm still not very fond of Inspector Wexford.

Apart from that: a very readable detective, that touches on the sensitive subjects of race, unemployment, class differences. Wexford makes a big mistake. What bothered me, was that he didn't really seem to be bothered by it.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

"An hour later, if he had been asked to give a resume of what she had said, he couldn't have recalled a word of it. And at the time he was aware that she had that great gift, on which so many politicians have founded their success, of being able to say nothing at length and in a flowing sequence of polysyllabic fashionable words, of talking meaningless nonsense in fine mellifluous phrases with absolute self-confidence. From time to time she paused for no apparent reason. Occasionally she smiled. Once she shook her head and once she raised her voice on an impassioned note. Just when he thought she would go on for half an hour, that nothing but physical force would stop her, she ceased..." I couldn’t resist copying this quote from Chief Inspector Wexford about the candidate in a local election who is introducing him to speak at a gathering on women’s safety, being, as I am, pretty fed up with the rhetoric of this year’s election campaigns. Beyond that – and isn’t it lovely prose, by the way? – this is probably THE best Rendell book I have read, and I haven’t read a bad one. I am in awe of how well she has taken the period detective novel, which we know so well from Agatha Christie, and moved the story into the modern world. There is so much that people of my age can recognize in the growth of a small town, the changing political and social mores, and the different issues that affect the people. And yet murder is still murder, and Wexford and Burden and company are still there to solve the case. The heart of this book is racial relations, and in particular, people of color in the town of Kingsmarkham and its neighboring villages. Wexford has to confront his own racism, of which he was genuinely unaware. The murder victims are connected to a young woman who was brought into the country as a servant, and who was raped and beaten by the men of the household she worked in. The daughter of a local doctor, who is black, like the dead servant girl, is also missing, and the confusion over which girl is which goes to the heart of Wexford’s assumptions about race, causing him to think deeply about his own prejudices, and those of his town.

[Jaksen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely complex, even for a mystery. Plots and characters keep piling on all the way through the book and really, one needs a cue card to keep them all straight. (I sometimes do make an index card of names and what each person 'does' to keep them straight. Didn't do it for this book, really should have.) Rendell must have kept copious notes while writing this one.

Also, there are so many twists and turns in which characters interact - and all with each other - that unless one keeps in mind that this is all happening in one small area, a village sort of area, it becomes a case of too many coincidences. It's an everyone knows everyone else' sort of thing. Every time a new character appears, he or she has some sort of acquaintance, interaction, romantic affiliation, or is related to an earlier character. This can only happen in a fairly small social group, like in a small town, part of a city, or neighborhood. Otherwise it strains credibility.

But I got past all that. I accepted things as they came. Interlocking relationships. The fact so many characters meet at or use a local 'benefits' or welfare office. The fact that there are only so many black families in this particular area. I read 'Simosola' as a standard mystery and was intrigued by all the references to immigration and the 'problems' it was causing at the time. (This book was written in the 1990's.) However I figured out a main, key clue early in the book, wondering: is this what it's all about? Turned out I was right.

The story itself involves a missing girl, two dead bodies, and who is who and why did two girls end up dead, and another one missing. Wexford has to sort through multiple, tangled threads, always treading carefully lest he upset anyone's sensibilities when it comes to racial profiling and stereotyping. (Timely topics today, twenty years after the time period in the book.)

Anyhow, I figured out the answer early on. (Rendell always leaves clues lying about, along with a lot of red herrings.) But because of the sheer over-complexity of the book, I give it only three stars.

[Adam Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very confronting imagery and a stark reminder of the recession of the early nineties. Wexford coming to terms with his attitudes regarding race are really powerful, as are the looks at institutional and societal racism. I tried to do this as an audiobook for some sections, but I balked at the "African voice" the very British narrator decided to adopt for some of the characters. I desperately wanted to know what was happening, and ended up ploughing through most of this book in a weekend. Although I had guessed the part of the story involving the missing daughter, the other crimes were both a surprise, and very shocking. There are parts of this book that I am still uncomfortable with, given how much has changed in the intervening decades, but it shows Ruth Rendell as a writer who is comfortable with her shortcomings (given how close she has said Wexford is to her own internal life), and I feel sure she would do things differently if writing this story now - something that makes her loss even keener. I think Rendell would have had a very razor-sharp take on the world we now live in. I love the thematic elements in Rendell's Wexford books, and in this one racism and recession serve to both further and obfuscate the procedural plot.

[Mark Dudley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am reading the Wexford novels, mostly for the first time, in order of publication. Simisola seems to mark the completion of a change in style visible in the last few books. Where the early sixties and seventies based books were short, rarely above 75-80 thousand words, we are in full length novel territory here. Ruth Rendell can be heavy handed with her contemporary colour, and that is the case here. I know little about her own life, but can imagine that someone in her circle was forced to sign on. Research into the benefit system, casual racism in a country town and power and relationships within families are all stirred heavily into the plot.

I enjoyed this offering more than the last one, Kissing the Gunner's Daughter, which I found to be confused in its plotting. I have to confess I bought the misdirection completely and was surprised by the resolution.

A good read, and starting to deserve the accolade I saw recently 'One of the greatest novelists presently at work in our language... a writer whose work should be read by anyone who either enjoys a brilliant mystery - or distinguished literature.' (Scott Turow)

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspector Wexford looks into the disappearance of his doctor's daughter, Melanie, fearing the worst and not offering false hope. His investigation takes him into the world of "benefits" - unemployment and otherwise - doled out by the Benefits Office, where Melanie was last seen. When a young woman is found dead, and later, another woman associated with the Benefits Office, Wexford seizes on the idea that their deaths may have happened because of something Melanie overheard.

As he and his team go deeper, they find other connections. Because of some early experiences, Wexford finds himself questioning his attitudes about race and recognizing the racism in himself and others. It is this awareness that starts to bring the story together for him.

I enjoyed the plotting, the characters, the additional coaching on racism, as well as the details that add realism and pull it all together.

[Daniella · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good as police procedure novels go and Rendell's excavation of our motives and attitudes behind racism were well done and honest but the ending was almost unbelievable to me. Even allowing for class and race prejudices I just can't see a 20th century Western European harboring those kind of ideas about keeping servants. The novel was written in 1995 but the Riding's attitude was more like 1795. Perhaps I'm just an overly idealistic American thought.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a rest from the heavy stuff I'd been reading of late. It certainly filled the bill, with lots of interesting observations on racism, and how we can inadvertently fall into this trap despite our best intentions, as well as plenty to say about the British social security/employment bureau system. So I guess I enjoyed the journey more than I did the destination which was a bit left field, but not in a believable way. Worth a read for the lead up to the ending rather than because of it.

[Thejelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes, Rendell can lack subtlety; here she gets fixated on race and unemployment, all of course from a middle class liberal perspective. Also, she has a tendency to one-dimensionalise some of the characters she doesn't like, without giving them redeeming features, which can grate occasionally.

[Laila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this and looked forward to reading it each time I picked it up again. As usual, the characters of Inspector Wexford and Mike Burden were thoughtful and charming. They're the real reasons I keep returning to this series. The mystery itself took some unexpected turns and there was some thoughtful social commentary about race and class. But I do think it felt a bit long.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rough and twisty little mystery about black and white that's anything but. I thought I'd nailed it about a quarter of the way in, but I'd only nailed it by a about quarter. The characters are a little flat, but hey...

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice mystery (as usual), but for some reason this one dragged a bit for me. I guessed a lot of what was happening, so I may have read this before in the distant past and forgotten about it. It did have interesting insights about prejudice scattered throughout the story.