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Inspector Wexford #13-14
The Veiled One and An Unkindness of Ravens
The Veiled One: “Why on earth?” wonders London’s chief inspector Reginald Wexford when a sixtyish housewife is found garroted in a shopping mall garage, her body concealed under a velvet shroud. Before he can find the answer, he’s nearly killed himself—by a politically motivated car bombing targeting his activist daughter. With the inspector in the hospital, the case falls to his partner, Mike Burden. But when a strange mother and son are suspected, Burdon’s trail leads him down a very twisted road.
An Unkindness of Ravens: When a neighbor’s husband vanishes, Chief Inspector Wexford suspects the cad most likely ran off with one of his girlfriends. However, there are a few nagging concerns, like the man’s suspicious letter of resignation and his abandoned car. And is it just a fluke that his disappearance coincides with a rash of stabbings—all straight through the heart, all with male victims? Behind the seemingly placid domesticity of Wexford’s Sussex neighbors, there’s a growing web of tangling secrets, double lives, and triple-crosses.
An Unkindness of Ravens: When a neighbor’s husband vanishes, Chief Inspector Wexford suspects the cad most likely ran off with one of his girlfriends. However, there are a few nagging concerns, like the man’s suspicious letter of resignation and his abandoned car. And is it just a fluke that his disappearance coincides with a rash of stabbings—all straight through the heart, all with male victims? Behind the seemingly placid domesticity of Wexford’s Sussex neighbors, there’s a growing web of tangling secrets, double lives, and triple-crosses.
- GenresMystery
591 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1988
304 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
About the author
Ruth Rendell
457 books1,626 followersA.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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 23, 2021
The Pleasure of reading Ruth Rendell
Ruth Rendell’s Inspector Wexford mysteries are always entertaining and complex enough to keep you guessing. I had not read one of her books for a few years so these two were double pleasure. Her character descriptions make you feel like you know the people and create pictures in your mind of their charms and flaws.
Ruth Rendell’s Inspector Wexford mysteries are always entertaining and complex enough to keep you guessing. I had not read one of her books for a few years so these two were double pleasure. Her character descriptions make you feel like you know the people and create pictures in your mind of their charms and flaws.
May 27, 2022
This is a two-for-one Kindle edition, and well worth it. These are both extremely well done mysteries, with a number of surprises. The first one works mostly on personal and individual dynamics, while the second adds to that a layer of complex sociopolitical elements. Both books take quite surprising and believable turns. Ravens is perhaps a bit more outrageous in its characterizations, but I still was fascinated all the way, and I agree with some reviewers that at a certain point a number of the characters in that book become hard to distinguish.
I find that I like Rendell's Wexford series books better than the P.D. James Dalgleish books in some ways (tightness of presentation among them), but both authors really belong at the top of British mystery writing lists and are especially impressive at adding significant layers of realism to an often overly fanciful genre.
I find that I like Rendell's Wexford series books better than the P.D. James Dalgleish books in some ways (tightness of presentation among them), but both authors really belong at the top of British mystery writing lists and are especially impressive at adding significant layers of realism to an often overly fanciful genre.
July 19, 2020
My second and final Ruth Rendall
I’ve heard of this author and her fine reputation and was excited to try her books on Kindle Unlimited. Her psychology is excellent and her wrapups at the ends of her books enjoyable. Unfortunately, her female characters are so unpleasant, and her male characters so...dull? Bland? Unassuming? I don’t know what word to use, but I simply don’t want to spend any more precious reading time on a Ruth Rendall when I could read Agatha Christie, Charlotte MacLeod, or even Mary Rhinehart Roberts.
I’ve heard of this author and her fine reputation and was excited to try her books on Kindle Unlimited. Her psychology is excellent and her wrapups at the ends of her books enjoyable. Unfortunately, her female characters are so unpleasant, and her male characters so...dull? Bland? Unassuming? I don’t know what word to use, but I simply don’t want to spend any more precious reading time on a Ruth Rendall when I could read Agatha Christie, Charlotte MacLeod, or even Mary Rhinehart Roberts.
December 24, 2019
Good stuff
Classic British whodunit by a masterful writer. Well worth the minimal price for the two book set. Inspector Wexford is a great character, the plot is complex and the end surprising.
Classic British whodunit by a masterful writer. Well worth the minimal price for the two book set. Inspector Wexford is a great character, the plot is complex and the end surprising.
May 23, 2025
Up to the usual high, Rendell offering
Great, complex mystery. Dark, convoluted, contorted. Unexpected ending with twists and turns. Several affairs happening. And, oh yes, a bigamist.
Great, complex mystery. Dark, convoluted, contorted. Unexpected ending with twists and turns. Several affairs happening. And, oh yes, a bigamist.
July 30, 2018
Good Summer Reads
Enjoyed both books. Good story lines. Lots of twisted and turns. Believable characters. Easy to pick up and not so easy to put down.
Enjoyed both books. Good story lines. Lots of twisted and turns. Believable characters. Easy to pick up and not so easy to put down.
July 10, 2021
Read all 14 books and just loved every book.
January 27, 2022
Two of Rendell's best at a bargain price.
Ordinarily, I don't buy Kindle editions of several books combined. However, Rendell's books keep going up in price and this is a chance to get two wonderful mysteries for less than they would cost separately. If you're an avid reader, that matters.
Rendell was a prolific author, starting in 1964 right up to her death in 2015. She's best known for her mysteries featuring Chief Inspector Reg Wexford of Kingsmarkam, Sussex, but in the 1980's she produced only three Wexford books, preferring to concentrate on non-series novels. These two appeared in 1985 and 1988 and I prefer them to her later books in the series. I've reviewed "The Veiled One" elsewhere, so I'll concentrate on "An Unkindness of Ravens."
"The Veiled One" concerns two elderly woman and how their lives cross, but "Ravens" is all about young girls. Reg Wexford has two grown daughters and his colleague Inspector Mike Burden has a grown son and daughter, so they have some personal background as well as professional experience. But times are changing and what they uncover shocks even two battled-scarred cops.
Most of the Wexford mysteries open with the discovery of a murdered body, but this one starts with the not-too-exciting disappearance of one of Wexford's neighbors. Rodney Williams is a traveling salesman for a large paint company, so his family is accustomed to his absence. But when he fails to return from a week on the road and sends no word, even his lethargic wife begins to wonder. Joy Williams is slovenly in dress and house-keeping. She appears disinterested in her husband and loathes her teenage daughter Sara. She watches television constantly and waits for calls from her adored son, who's away at college.
Wexford dismisses it as a simple case of a man who's left his wife for a more attractive woman, but inquiries at Rodney's employer show that he's been lying to a lot of people about a lot of things. Eventually, Rodney shows up, but not at a girlfriend's house. He's in a shallow grave with gaping knife wounds in his neck. This skirt-chaser will chase no more. Of course, suspicion centers on his wife, but then a second Mrs. Williams appears. Rodney's life was a bit complicated, which makes investigating his murder more than at bit complicated.
Wexford and Burden are surprised to learn of a local organization aimed at arming young women to fight against male oppression. As with any group, some members take it more seriously than others and some take it very seriously indeed. We read of young people who commit violent crimes and scientists explain that the parts of their brains that control impulses are not yet developed. Naturally, we think of young males, committing violent crimes singly or in gangs. Girls shoplift, right?
Then there are the two Mrs. Williams, who are as unlike as night and day. Neither is a feminist, but any woman is likely to become perturbed to discover that her "husband" has another family. Did Rodney's harem turn on him or was it his mysterious new girlfriend? Was he just a guy who liked them young or did he have a quirk that broke a taboo as old as time?
The private lives of Wexford and Burden are always interwoven in the cases they investigate. For once, neither of Wexford's daughters is acting up, but Burden has domestic problems. His second wife is expecting a much-wanted baby, but when she learns the sex of the child, she has a violent, unexpected reaction.
Even in her Wexford series, Rendell was never content to let a police investigation take over the book. She examined the people behind the crimes - both victims and murderers - and she tried to show how their lives were shaped by class, education, money, and gender. Rendell's early pictures show that she was a very lovely woman. Did her own experiences with unwanted attention influence the plot of this book? It made waves when it was published and it's still a fascinating, disturbing read. Rendell's writing was exceptional, but it's her eccentric characters and her willingness to talk about unspeakable subjects that sets her books apart from the herd.
Ordinarily, I don't buy Kindle editions of several books combined. However, Rendell's books keep going up in price and this is a chance to get two wonderful mysteries for less than they would cost separately. If you're an avid reader, that matters.
Rendell was a prolific author, starting in 1964 right up to her death in 2015. She's best known for her mysteries featuring Chief Inspector Reg Wexford of Kingsmarkam, Sussex, but in the 1980's she produced only three Wexford books, preferring to concentrate on non-series novels. These two appeared in 1985 and 1988 and I prefer them to her later books in the series. I've reviewed "The Veiled One" elsewhere, so I'll concentrate on "An Unkindness of Ravens."
"The Veiled One" concerns two elderly woman and how their lives cross, but "Ravens" is all about young girls. Reg Wexford has two grown daughters and his colleague Inspector Mike Burden has a grown son and daughter, so they have some personal background as well as professional experience. But times are changing and what they uncover shocks even two battled-scarred cops.
Most of the Wexford mysteries open with the discovery of a murdered body, but this one starts with the not-too-exciting disappearance of one of Wexford's neighbors. Rodney Williams is a traveling salesman for a large paint company, so his family is accustomed to his absence. But when he fails to return from a week on the road and sends no word, even his lethargic wife begins to wonder. Joy Williams is slovenly in dress and house-keeping. She appears disinterested in her husband and loathes her teenage daughter Sara. She watches television constantly and waits for calls from her adored son, who's away at college.
Wexford dismisses it as a simple case of a man who's left his wife for a more attractive woman, but inquiries at Rodney's employer show that he's been lying to a lot of people about a lot of things. Eventually, Rodney shows up, but not at a girlfriend's house. He's in a shallow grave with gaping knife wounds in his neck. This skirt-chaser will chase no more. Of course, suspicion centers on his wife, but then a second Mrs. Williams appears. Rodney's life was a bit complicated, which makes investigating his murder more than at bit complicated.
Wexford and Burden are surprised to learn of a local organization aimed at arming young women to fight against male oppression. As with any group, some members take it more seriously than others and some take it very seriously indeed. We read of young people who commit violent crimes and scientists explain that the parts of their brains that control impulses are not yet developed. Naturally, we think of young males, committing violent crimes singly or in gangs. Girls shoplift, right?
Then there are the two Mrs. Williams, who are as unlike as night and day. Neither is a feminist, but any woman is likely to become perturbed to discover that her "husband" has another family. Did Rodney's harem turn on him or was it his mysterious new girlfriend? Was he just a guy who liked them young or did he have a quirk that broke a taboo as old as time?
The private lives of Wexford and Burden are always interwoven in the cases they investigate. For once, neither of Wexford's daughters is acting up, but Burden has domestic problems. His second wife is expecting a much-wanted baby, but when she learns the sex of the child, she has a violent, unexpected reaction.
Even in her Wexford series, Rendell was never content to let a police investigation take over the book. She examined the people behind the crimes - both victims and murderers - and she tried to show how their lives were shaped by class, education, money, and gender. Rendell's early pictures show that she was a very lovely woman. Did her own experiences with unwanted attention influence the plot of this book? It made waves when it was published and it's still a fascinating, disturbing read. Rendell's writing was exceptional, but it's her eccentric characters and her willingness to talk about unspeakable subjects that sets her books apart from the herd.
March 14, 2024
Ruth Rendell writes very good stories, very complex, involved mysteries. Both of these books were like that and very good.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews