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Inspector Wexford #18
Harm Done
The search for the body commenced. Then the victim walked into town.
Behind the picture-postcard façade of Kingsmarkham lies a community rife with violence, betrayal, and a taste for vengeance. When sixteen-year-old Lizzie Cromwell reappears no one knows where she has been, including Lizzie herself. Inspector Wexford thinks she was with a boyfriend. But the disappearance of a three-year-old girl casts a more ominous light on events. And when the public's outrage turns toward a recently released pederast and another suspect turns up stabbed to death, Wexford must try to unravel the mystery before any more bodies appear, and before a mob of local vigilantes metes out a rough justice to their least favorite suspect. In Harm Done, the violence is near at hand, and evil lies just a few doors down the block.
Behind the picture-postcard façade of Kingsmarkham lies a community rife with violence, betrayal, and a taste for vengeance. When sixteen-year-old Lizzie Cromwell reappears no one knows where she has been, including Lizzie herself. Inspector Wexford thinks she was with a boyfriend. But the disappearance of a three-year-old girl casts a more ominous light on events. And when the public's outrage turns toward a recently released pederast and another suspect turns up stabbed to death, Wexford must try to unravel the mystery before any more bodies appear, and before a mob of local vigilantes metes out a rough justice to their least favorite suspect. In Harm Done, the violence is near at hand, and evil lies just a few doors down the block.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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About the author
Ruth Rendell
457 books1,631 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 - 30 of 252 reviews
February 26, 2015
NO HARM DONE
For me Ruth Rendell is Britain’s #1 psychological mystery author – the likes of The Bridesmaid and The Crocodile Bird I’ve found almost impossible to put down.
With Wexford, however, I have occasionally toiled. And never more so than with Harm Done which – reluctantly – I have put down, permanently, despite labouring to page 50 (of a mountainous 467).
So why give up the struggle?
Story, subject and style. These are my 3 measures – core elements, any one of which can please me with a thrill of anticipation when I reach for my reading.
From a STORY perspective, there is a germ of interest.
In 50 pages I have learned that a teenager went missing for 3 days, has reappeared, and refuses to disclose what befell her. And now another girl, slightly older, tenuously connected, has vanished under similar circumstances. Wexford smells a rat, and his colleagues are wondering why.
The SUBJECT, or underlying theme, concerns social workers and battered wives.
I recall studying a Sociology module for my business degree – agonising over essays that were so short of facts that I must surely score zero. Ruth Rendell’s waffle reminds me of my own woolly efforts – rendering the subject matter so superficial and ridden with platitudes that it strangles the budding story.
And this failure to convince or compel has tainted the author’s normally incisive STYLE.
The text is infested with clichés, naïve plays on words, irrelevant fillers, and gratuitous inventions in place of plausible constructions: for example a pub called the Rat and Carrot that locals rename the ‘Rotten Carrot’ (is this seriously an allusion to the real Rat and Parrot chain?); a kids’ TV show about dinosaurs called Jurassic Larks; and the Heaven Spent Shopping Mall.
I also felt overwhelmed by characters (I counted 29 in the first two chapters) and uncertain of their future importance – and there were lots of street addresses: including one called PUCK ROAD that delinquents deface on a regular basis (and not as funny or as practical as CLINT HILL DRIVE where a friend of mine really lives).
This won’t put me off reading Ruth Rendell – hence my adapted title ‘No Harm Done’ – but I think next time I’ll do the Amazon thing and ‘Look Inside’ before I buy.
For me Ruth Rendell is Britain’s #1 psychological mystery author – the likes of The Bridesmaid and The Crocodile Bird I’ve found almost impossible to put down.
With Wexford, however, I have occasionally toiled. And never more so than with Harm Done which – reluctantly – I have put down, permanently, despite labouring to page 50 (of a mountainous 467).
So why give up the struggle?
Story, subject and style. These are my 3 measures – core elements, any one of which can please me with a thrill of anticipation when I reach for my reading.
From a STORY perspective, there is a germ of interest.
In 50 pages I have learned that a teenager went missing for 3 days, has reappeared, and refuses to disclose what befell her. And now another girl, slightly older, tenuously connected, has vanished under similar circumstances. Wexford smells a rat, and his colleagues are wondering why.
The SUBJECT, or underlying theme, concerns social workers and battered wives.
I recall studying a Sociology module for my business degree – agonising over essays that were so short of facts that I must surely score zero. Ruth Rendell’s waffle reminds me of my own woolly efforts – rendering the subject matter so superficial and ridden with platitudes that it strangles the budding story.
And this failure to convince or compel has tainted the author’s normally incisive STYLE.
The text is infested with clichés, naïve plays on words, irrelevant fillers, and gratuitous inventions in place of plausible constructions: for example a pub called the Rat and Carrot that locals rename the ‘Rotten Carrot’ (is this seriously an allusion to the real Rat and Parrot chain?); a kids’ TV show about dinosaurs called Jurassic Larks; and the Heaven Spent Shopping Mall.
I also felt overwhelmed by characters (I counted 29 in the first two chapters) and uncertain of their future importance – and there were lots of street addresses: including one called PUCK ROAD that delinquents deface on a regular basis (and not as funny or as practical as CLINT HILL DRIVE where a friend of mine really lives).
This won’t put me off reading Ruth Rendell – hence my adapted title ‘No Harm Done’ – but I think next time I’ll do the Amazon thing and ‘Look Inside’ before I buy.
September 22, 2015
Read by.................. Nigel Anthony
Total Runtime........ 14 Hours 29 Mins
Description: The search for the body commenced. Then the victim walked into town.
Behind the picture-postcard facade of Kingsmarkham lies a community rife with violence, betrayal, and a taste for vengeance. When sixteen-year-old Lizzie Cromwell reappears no one knows where she has been, including Lizzie herself. Inspector Wexford thinks she was with a boyfriend. But the disappearance of a three-year-old girl casts a more ominous light on events. And when the public's outrage turns toward a recently released pederast and another suspect turns up stabbed to death, Wexford must try to unravel the mystery before any more bodies appear, and before a mob of local vigilantes metes out a rough justice to their least favorite suspect. In Harm Done, the violence is near at hand, and evil lies just a few doors down the block.
Rendell tackles a different social issue, namely, abuse in all shapes and sizes but mostly domestic.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* Not in the Flesh (Inspector Wexford, #21)
2* The Vault (Inspector Wexford, #23)
September 9, 2017
These days Harm Done would probably have to carry a warning, “contains material that some readers may find troubling”—not murder (we all flock to that, of course, and, besides, the body count stays comparatively low), but domestic violence. So the book is best avoided by those who flinch in the face of that sort of “unpleasantness” (though the moral is well worth hearing and heeding). There’s a sort of double-barreled plot (no. 1: mysterious abductions of young women in decidedly curious circumstances and no. 2: a death resulting from domestic abuse). Rendell works these out suspensefully amidst particularly rich sub-plots (e.g., the wages of fake news or of a society that goes ballistic at any rumor of child abuse but greets spousal abuse with incredulity, indifference, or animosity toward the victims). It takes so long for bodies to start piling up that the reader begins to imagine murder might not be the only crime in crime fiction. That does eventually change, however, when the live-in boyfriend of the mother of an unwed, pregnant teenager dismembers the girl’s dedactic, virtual, robobaby named Jodi in the middle of a teaching moment (a murder of sorts). There’s also the stabbing of someone in an extremely abusive marriage, and, finally, a dead policeman, collateral damage resulting from fake news’s pernicious power over a madding crowd of true believers. Rendell’s understated sense of irony warms the narrative, which is chilled, nevertheless, by similarities to present-day realities. There’s a very nicely managed bit of suspense for readers to look forward to toward the end, as Detective Wexford tiptoes around the fact that murder carries a mandatory life sentence in the UK for those convicted (no American 1st and 2nd degrees). Better that than the UK’s former reality (perhaps unknown to Wexford): until about 1800 British wives who murdered their husbands were burned, whereas husbands who killed their wives were merely hanged.
January 13, 2022
COMMENTO PRE LETTURA:
Ho già letto due libri di Ruth Rendell a cui ho dato 3☆. Perchè ho questo libro? Perchè l'ho comprato prima di leggere il primo di questa autrice. Questo è uscito il 9 marzo 2015 e io ho letto il primo libro 20gg dopo. L'altro l'ho letto nel 2019 e mi è stato regalato da mia zia preso a una delle Feste dell'Unità. Ovviamente lei non sapeva che è un autrice che non mi piace. Erano comunque libri solitari. Questo è anche il primo con una serie.
Ora non compro più Ruth Rendell (ha anche un altro alias). Ne nei mercatini ne nei nuovi Gialli a ripartire da quest'anno. Non so se ne ho altri nei pochi rimasti in quel magazzino che è la mia camera ma dopo il 2015 non ce ne sono altri a meno che non mi vengano regalati.
COMMENTO POST LETTURA:
I temi sono interessanti ma mi dispiace dirlo non è capace di intrecciare le cose. Ci prova ma con scarso successo. Non come Angela Marsons che per me è l'attuale maestra dell'intreccio. Certo due epoche diverse ma l'intreccio dei temi è sempre quello. Il problema è anche che ci sono troppi temi (o casi) importanti e non riserva il giusto spazio a tutti arrivando a delle conclusioni per me frettolose. Tira per le lunghe in maniera straziante e poi arriva la conclusione così come se niente fosse.
L'ispettore poi è insopportabile e straziante anche lui. Sempre a commentare commentare e commentare ogni cosa. E quanto a indagare io non ne vedo nemmeno l'ombra. Giusto un po' visto che le conclusioni saltano fuori così.
Libro piatto, noioso e moscio. Dopo due 3☆ perchè sono stata gentile purtroppo non posso che mettere 2☆ qui. Mi veniva proprio sonno ogni volta che leggevo un capitolo. Comunque su tre libri non ne ho apprezzato nessuno e vorrà ben dire qualcosa no?
Ho già letto due libri di Ruth Rendell a cui ho dato 3☆. Perchè ho questo libro? Perchè l'ho comprato prima di leggere il primo di questa autrice. Questo è uscito il 9 marzo 2015 e io ho letto il primo libro 20gg dopo. L'altro l'ho letto nel 2019 e mi è stato regalato da mia zia preso a una delle Feste dell'Unità. Ovviamente lei non sapeva che è un autrice che non mi piace. Erano comunque libri solitari. Questo è anche il primo con una serie.
Ora non compro più Ruth Rendell (ha anche un altro alias). Ne nei mercatini ne nei nuovi Gialli a ripartire da quest'anno. Non so se ne ho altri nei pochi rimasti in quel magazzino che è la mia camera ma dopo il 2015 non ce ne sono altri a meno che non mi vengano regalati.
COMMENTO POST LETTURA:
I temi sono interessanti ma mi dispiace dirlo non è capace di intrecciare le cose. Ci prova ma con scarso successo. Non come Angela Marsons che per me è l'attuale maestra dell'intreccio. Certo due epoche diverse ma l'intreccio dei temi è sempre quello. Il problema è anche che ci sono troppi temi (o casi) importanti e non riserva il giusto spazio a tutti arrivando a delle conclusioni per me frettolose. Tira per le lunghe in maniera straziante e poi arriva la conclusione così come se niente fosse.
L'ispettore poi è insopportabile e straziante anche lui. Sempre a commentare commentare e commentare ogni cosa. E quanto a indagare io non ne vedo nemmeno l'ombra. Giusto un po' visto che le conclusioni saltano fuori così.
Libro piatto, noioso e moscio. Dopo due 3☆ perchè sono stata gentile purtroppo non posso che mettere 2☆ qui. Mi veniva proprio sonno ogni volta che leggevo un capitolo. Comunque su tre libri non ne ho apprezzato nessuno e vorrà ben dire qualcosa no?
September 2, 2018
It's Rendell, so it's well written. It gives a lot of food for thought about relationships. She keeps a person guessing and second guessing and doubting about who dunnit.
My complaint is that there were so many characters, all interrelated and involved with each other in assorted ways. It was difficult to keep the people on the council estate straight. I think they're all either married to each other or part of some vast family, or both. I spent much time trying to work it out and kept losing the thread of the tale in the process. I wonder if that happens to real police.
My complaint is that there were so many characters, all interrelated and involved with each other in assorted ways. It was difficult to keep the people on the council estate straight. I think they're all either married to each other or part of some vast family, or both. I spent much time trying to work it out and kept losing the thread of the tale in the process. I wonder if that happens to real police.
December 19, 2025
Harm Done by Ruth Rendell is a gripping psychological crime novel featuring Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford of Kingsmarkham as he wrestles with a series of disturbing events that reveal the uneasy underbelly of what looks like an ordinary English town. When a teenage girl disappears and then inexplicably returns without a credible explanation, followed by the vanishing of another young woman and then a three‑year‑old, Wexford finds himself confronting not only puzzling crimes but also the fear, prejudice, and violence simmering beneath daily life.
A recently released pedophile fuels outrage in the community, spurring vigilante action and a tragic incident that claims a policeman’s life, while Wexford must untangle how these seemingly disparate cases might be connected and what justice truly means in each situation. Rendell uses her classic Inspector Wexford framework to probe dark, realistic themes of violence, abuse, justice, and community tension, making this both a mystery and a thought‑provoking social exploration.
What struck me most about Harm Done was how Rendell takes the familiar procedural form and infuses it with real emotional and ethical complexity, making the crimes feel closer to human experience rather than distant puzzles. Wexford himself feels deeply human and thoughtful, a detective who not only seeks answers but reflects on the moral ambiguities of law, punishment, and compassion in a world where characters are shaped by pain, fear, and conflicting loyalties.
The interplay between a community’s urge for rough justice and the measured, patient work of investigation kept me turning pages, especially as secrets and motives emerged from unexpected corners. It’s not merely the “whodunit” that resonates, but rather the why and how people hurt and protect each other, and how justice can be both elusive and essential. Rendell also weaves in strong supporting elements, her depiction of Sylvia Wexford’s work with abused women, the layers of familial tension, and the town’s simmering prejudices to enrich the narrative and echo wider social concerns about violence and retribution.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars. I’m giving Harm Done four stars because it blends secure detective work with real social mindfulness, giving you not only suspense and mystery but a meaningful look at the shadows cast by everyday lives. The pacing sometimes leans into contemplative territory rather than high‑octane thrills, yet that slower build allows for more nuanced character insight and thematic depth, making it a thoughtful crime story that stays with you after the final page.
A recently released pedophile fuels outrage in the community, spurring vigilante action and a tragic incident that claims a policeman’s life, while Wexford must untangle how these seemingly disparate cases might be connected and what justice truly means in each situation. Rendell uses her classic Inspector Wexford framework to probe dark, realistic themes of violence, abuse, justice, and community tension, making this both a mystery and a thought‑provoking social exploration.
What struck me most about Harm Done was how Rendell takes the familiar procedural form and infuses it with real emotional and ethical complexity, making the crimes feel closer to human experience rather than distant puzzles. Wexford himself feels deeply human and thoughtful, a detective who not only seeks answers but reflects on the moral ambiguities of law, punishment, and compassion in a world where characters are shaped by pain, fear, and conflicting loyalties.
The interplay between a community’s urge for rough justice and the measured, patient work of investigation kept me turning pages, especially as secrets and motives emerged from unexpected corners. It’s not merely the “whodunit” that resonates, but rather the why and how people hurt and protect each other, and how justice can be both elusive and essential. Rendell also weaves in strong supporting elements, her depiction of Sylvia Wexford’s work with abused women, the layers of familial tension, and the town’s simmering prejudices to enrich the narrative and echo wider social concerns about violence and retribution.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars. I’m giving Harm Done four stars because it blends secure detective work with real social mindfulness, giving you not only suspense and mystery but a meaningful look at the shadows cast by everyday lives. The pacing sometimes leans into contemplative territory rather than high‑octane thrills, yet that slower build allows for more nuanced character insight and thematic depth, making it a thoughtful crime story that stays with you after the final page.
June 27, 2016
Actual rating should be 3.5 stars. I know Ruth Rendell is a celebrated crime novelist. But I had tried to read one of her award-winning novels prior to this and it wasn't a great experience. I was bored and dropped it after some 40% into it but that one wasn't a detective story. This one had "#8 Wexford" tag attached to its name and so I bought this with a lot of expectations, I mean, the thing that it is a great (?)writer + a detective story excited me. Coming to the novel, it wasn't bad. It was more of a bumpy ride - great start, getting boring, suddenly very interesting, moments of brilliance, moments of dullness and somewhat a satisfying ending. One thing I should say is that none of what happened felt far-fetched or contrived. I tried to pre-guess a few things and those possibilities were discussed in the novel and I kind of knew the ending. one funny thing, but that annoyed the hell out of me, was they have an eye witness to a murder and there are 2 possible suspects and they all live in the same town. what a detective or even a person with a normal IQ will do: ask the witness to fact check if it was one of the suspects and clear them off. But they do everything except this. And there was an initial main plot, sub-plots, and it all happens in a single town kind of thing, so I thought it would be a single case and it will all come together in the end and that I was in for an amazing ride. But they were really 4 different cases !. And too many names (characters) 4 cases, half a dozen police officers and many suspects and half-suspects, other ppl...guess you got it. But I guess this is how real investigations happen. Recommended for mystery lovers.
October 15, 2021
This is a brilliant police drama/mystery in the Inspector Wexford series.
My only problem with it is that it feels more dated than it should (published 2000) and it's a lot longer than I thought it should be!
I do love books from the Inspector Wexford series but I also need to prepare myself for the time change...even though it's actually not that long ago! Wow, times are changing so quickly!
Still an excellent read :)
My only problem with it is that it feels more dated than it should (published 2000) and it's a lot longer than I thought it should be!
I do love books from the Inspector Wexford series but I also need to prepare myself for the time change...even though it's actually not that long ago! Wow, times are changing so quickly!
Still an excellent read :)
May 24, 2023
A longer Wexford book than usual covers a couple of girls missing and abducted and released, release from prison of a paedophile back to his daughter’s housing estate, and serious domestic abuse. Several threads running at the same time do not affect the momentum of the book - the Wexford character is superbly drawn
September 1, 2023
I have submitted this review after listening to the audiobook of this title. (Audible Membership)
A series of events related to abuse of women, interlocked by the lives of the people concerned.
A series of events related to abuse of women, interlocked by the lives of the people concerned.
January 31, 2023
Vejam a minha opinião em vídeo, AQUI.
March 12, 2020
3 stars or 6/10. I liked it.
Although Ruth Rendell is one of my favourite authors, and I enjoy the Wexford series, this was probably the weakest offering so far (it's no.18 in this series).
The story suffered from somewhat flat characters (and too many of them), with the trademark Rendell insight into human behaviour a little lacking. Also, there wasn't really a plot or a murder mystery - when a murder eventually happens, it is obvious who the perpetrator is.
Still, Rendell deserves plaudits for putting domestic violence at the centre of her novel, a good 20 years or so before it has become so topical in the here and now.
Although I don't think you can compare authors (Rendell is far superior), Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies I thought did a better job with a book on domestic violence.
Still, it was overall an enjoyable read, with enough trademark Rendell writing for me to come back for more - both Wexford, non-Wexford and Barbara Vine's!
Although Ruth Rendell is one of my favourite authors, and I enjoy the Wexford series, this was probably the weakest offering so far (it's no.18 in this series).
The story suffered from somewhat flat characters (and too many of them), with the trademark Rendell insight into human behaviour a little lacking. Also, there wasn't really a plot or a murder mystery - when a murder eventually happens, it is obvious who the perpetrator is.
Still, Rendell deserves plaudits for putting domestic violence at the centre of her novel, a good 20 years or so before it has become so topical in the here and now.
Although I don't think you can compare authors (Rendell is far superior), Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies I thought did a better job with a book on domestic violence.
Still, it was overall an enjoyable read, with enough trademark Rendell writing for me to come back for more - both Wexford, non-Wexford and Barbara Vine's!
January 2, 2014
Rendell never seems to deplete her source of mystifying topics. It amazes me that she has written so very many books with fine detail and freshness. It seems to me that most prolific authors tend to adhere to a formula in some measure. Nevertheless, she has served my appetite well. Although I prefer Rendell/Vine stand-alone novels, Inspector Wexford has become endearing to me.
In brief, this book deals with mysterious kidnappings, pedophiles and spousal abuse. My biggest criticism was the difficulty in recalling the numerous people involved in these cases. Despite this, Rendell continued to offer clear and interesting insight into her characters and their actions and behavior. Very few other authors of this genre seem to be able to consistently write with her elegance of language.
In brief, this book deals with mysterious kidnappings, pedophiles and spousal abuse. My biggest criticism was the difficulty in recalling the numerous people involved in these cases. Despite this, Rendell continued to offer clear and interesting insight into her characters and their actions and behavior. Very few other authors of this genre seem to be able to consistently write with her elegance of language.
June 9, 2015
Another masterpiece of crime fiction written by the unforgettable Ruth Rendell.
4* Going Wrong
4* The Keys to the Street
3* The Fever Tree and Other Stories
4* A Judgement in Stone
3* Fall of the Coin
4* People Don't Do Such Things
3* The Girl Next Door
Inspector Wexford series
3* Shake Hands Forever (Inspector Wexford, #9)
3* The Veiled One (Inspector Wexford, #14)
4* Harm Done (Inspector Wexford, #18)
4* Going Wrong
4* The Keys to the Street
3* The Fever Tree and Other Stories
4* A Judgement in Stone
3* Fall of the Coin
4* People Don't Do Such Things
3* The Girl Next Door
Inspector Wexford series
3* Shake Hands Forever (Inspector Wexford, #9)
3* The Veiled One (Inspector Wexford, #14)
4* Harm Done (Inspector Wexford, #18)
March 14, 2020
Rendell truly knows how to write characters. In a few sentences even minor ones are highly visible from down the street.
This one is about domestic abuse—physical and mental—and the toll it takes on all around it. And, it’s got a crowd mob scene that is worthy of any action movie. The final sentence made me go “oh yeah!!”
I very much appreciate that I don’t have to know Wexford to read any book in the series, and frankly forget whatever I know from book to book (so just as well).
This one is about domestic abuse—physical and mental—and the toll it takes on all around it. And, it’s got a crowd mob scene that is worthy of any action movie. The final sentence made me go “oh yeah!!”
I very much appreciate that I don’t have to know Wexford to read any book in the series, and frankly forget whatever I know from book to book (so just as well).
November 3, 2010
This entry in Rendell's Inspector Wexford series, from 1999, is typical of these mysteries. It interweaves several related contemporary social themes--missing children, the return to the neighborhood of a convicted child molester and the reaction of residents, spousal abuse--along with several lesser mysteries and one larger, more serious one. Rendell is a very experienced craftsperson and the book goes down smoothly. She's a fine stylist, she draws excellent portraits of the major and many of the subsidiary characters, she doesn't pad the story with extraneous detail in order to make it longer, and the mysteries retain the reader's interest over the course of the book.
However, throughout my reading of the novel, I had the nagging feeling that I had read this book before. I kept waiting for the one detail to trigger a more certain recollection, but it never came. By the end, I was fairly sure that I had not, in fact, read it before. But this suggests to me that there is an unfortunate sameness to Harm Done and the other Inspector Wexford novels. To some extent, this is inevitable, given that all of these books are located in the same geographic setting. This blurring of books just doesn't happen with P.D. James, in large part because each mystery is located in a very different place and group of people.
Rendell recently announced that her most recent Wexford novel would be her last. Much as I have enjoyed these, and would have been happy to read the next one, I think her timing is just right.
However, throughout my reading of the novel, I had the nagging feeling that I had read this book before. I kept waiting for the one detail to trigger a more certain recollection, but it never came. By the end, I was fairly sure that I had not, in fact, read it before. But this suggests to me that there is an unfortunate sameness to Harm Done and the other Inspector Wexford novels. To some extent, this is inevitable, given that all of these books are located in the same geographic setting. This blurring of books just doesn't happen with P.D. James, in large part because each mystery is located in a very different place and group of people.
Rendell recently announced that her most recent Wexford novel would be her last. Much as I have enjoyed these, and would have been happy to read the next one, I think her timing is just right.
September 24, 2022
A surprisingly expansive and loosely focussed story, covering many months and multiple story strands--life in a domestic abuse shelter, a couple of kidnapped girls who reappear and refuse to say what happened to them, a missing baby, an upper-class family hiding secrets of abuse and sadism, chaos and anger erupting into violence among residents of a council estate protesting the release of a violent pedophile back into the community. It isn't a typical crime novel with a central mystery and the detective work required to solve it; it's a kind of loose portrait of larger communities and ugliness below the social surface. I was a little surprised by how resistant the characters are to any notion of abused women needing or deserving help. Surely by the very late 1990s somewhat fewer people still thought domestic abuse was a purely private matter, something to dismiss or even laugh at, and the woman must have done something to deserve her abuse. In a story set in the 1960s or 1970s, I would absolutely have believed that loving middle-class parents would simply refuse to acknowledge that their daughter was enduring years of sadistic abuse, insist on a husband's rights to do whatever he pleased as long as he was a good provider, or make jokes about "rule of thumb." But in the late 1990s? Would a solid majority believe unproblematically that helping abused women get away from their abusers was an attack on the family and on husbands and that only radical feminists would trouble about such things?
February 12, 2024
More Kidnapping, but with no Wexford Laws
Review of the Audible Studios audiobook edition (May 4, 2009) narrated by Nigel Anthony, of the original hardcover from Hutchinson (UK) (1999)
Harm Done contains further kidnappings, as did the previous Wexford novel Road Rage (1997) in which Dora Wexford was one of the kidnapped. As opposed to the activists involved in the earlier book, the motives are more obscure this time out. It becomes even more bizarre when two of the victims reappear, mostly unharmed, but refuse to say where they've been or give confusing answers. Then a much younger child disappears and the motive may be something completely different. Eventually there are murders as well, but the main mystery of the book involves the abductions.
The front cover of the original Hutchinson (UK) 1999 hardcover. Image sourced from Goodreads.
I wasn't very engaged with this novel. There weren't even any quotable passages that struck my attention. When the reasons for the earlier abductions becomes clear, it just seems too bizarre and rather sad. The motive for the child abduction is more disturbing but is resolved in a manner that doesn't quite satisfy.
This was Wexford #18 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, but the latest update is that they hope to restore online holds in February 2024) 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.
The narration by Nigel Anthony was excellent in all voices in this edition. Anthony was excellent at mimicking the deep-voice gravitas and the West Country burr of actor George Baker (who played Chief Inspector Wexford in the TV series).
Wexford's Laws
There were no Wexford's Laws mentioned in this book.
Trivia and Links
Harm Done was adapted for television as part of the Ruth Rendell / Inspector Wexford Mysteries TV series (1987-2000) as Season 12 Episode 1 in 2000 with actor George Baker as Chief Inspector Wexford. It was the final episode of the TV series. I could not find a free posting of it online. Here in Canada it is available on the Britbox streaming service.
Review of the Audible Studios audiobook edition (May 4, 2009) narrated by Nigel Anthony, of the original hardcover from Hutchinson (UK) (1999)
Harm Done contains further kidnappings, as did the previous Wexford novel Road Rage (1997) in which Dora Wexford was one of the kidnapped. As opposed to the activists involved in the earlier book, the motives are more obscure this time out. It becomes even more bizarre when two of the victims reappear, mostly unharmed, but refuse to say where they've been or give confusing answers. Then a much younger child disappears and the motive may be something completely different. Eventually there are murders as well, but the main mystery of the book involves the abductions.
The front cover of the original Hutchinson (UK) 1999 hardcover. Image sourced from Goodreads.
I wasn't very engaged with this novel. There weren't even any quotable passages that struck my attention. When the reasons for the earlier abductions becomes clear, it just seems too bizarre and rather sad. The motive for the child abduction is more disturbing but is resolved in a manner that doesn't quite satisfy.
This was Wexford #18 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, but the latest update is that they hope to restore online holds in February 2024) 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.
The narration by Nigel Anthony was excellent in all voices in this edition. Anthony was excellent at mimicking the deep-voice gravitas and the West Country burr of actor George Baker (who played Chief Inspector Wexford in the TV series).
Wexford's Laws
There were no Wexford's Laws mentioned in this book.
Trivia and Links
Harm Done was adapted for television as part of the Ruth Rendell / Inspector Wexford Mysteries TV series (1987-2000) as Season 12 Episode 1 in 2000 with actor George Baker as Chief Inspector Wexford. It was the final episode of the TV series. I could not find a free posting of it online. Here in Canada it is available on the Britbox streaming service.
January 1, 2016
Another first read for an established author; I'm not sure if the series needs to be read in order (somehow I doubt it) but luckily I'm not that compulsive! There are several mysteries here, with one or two fading in importance as others come to the forefront during the year or so the book covers. The question of what to do with released pedophiles is covered, but not answered fully, as I suspect there is no real answer to this (can they be rehabilitated? can they truly pay their debt to society?). I'm now going to have to look for other Rendells and see whether they work as well for me.
August 9, 2021
I've only read one other Ruth Rendell, the first Wexford, and I liked it fine, but this is number 18, normally I wouldn't jump so far ahead in a series but the plot sounded pretty interesting. And it started out fine. But what seems like one case becomes two, and the first one ends early and found it all a bit icky and unpleasant. Then the second case involved truly dreadful domestic abuse, which I find very disturbing to read. I ended up pretty much not liking this at all, but judging from the reviews it doesn't seem to be a favorite in the series
July 24, 2022
Too much going on for me and too much characters to keep track of. Was bored with 2/3 threads and lost track of who’s who because I just didn’t care by the last 3rd of the book. Wish it was focused on just the murder. Still I enjoy Ruth Rendell’s writing and will keep going with the Wexford series.
March 10, 2020
Although I enjoy Rendell’s books, I must admit I was a bit dubious about this having not enjoyed the one Wexford book I’d read. At first I thought this was going to be a similar grim read with the subject matter being one of abuse, both domestic & of children, with some paedophilia thrown in, yet I found myself reasonably gripped & warming to Wexford.
There are two crimes to solve here: the abduction of two teenage girls, who are later returned unharmed - physically at least - & the abduction of a three year old-girl. Are the crimes related? Well that’s up to Wexford & co to discover…
As always Rendell weaves a twisted tale, however many of the complexities here are keeping track of all the minor characters & their relationships rather than the two storylines themselves. Not a particularly nice bunch of folks but some of their actions made me smile & I thought them well written & quite credible. The initial plotline of the two teenagers disappearances is solved (a bit abruptly!) just a bit over the halfway point of the book. This leaves 150-odd pages to solve the remaining crime which while admittedly kept me entertained could have done with condensing down. This leads me to my two issues with the book:
Firstly, it was a bit overlong with too much repetition as Wexford yet again mulled the same things over…& over….
Secondly, I was surprised…& shocked…at how misogynistic things were! Written just over 20 years ago (first published 1999) it’s hard to credit that, at this time, some men still felt it perfectly acceptable to hit their wives.
On top of that there’s one of two derogatory comments about women that rankled me:
"The marriage was an instance, Wexford could see at once, of that not uncommon phenomenon in which a tall, strikingly handsome man has married, & established a successful marriage, with a plain & insignificant woman"
and
"…his wife was one of those grossly fat women until recently rarely seen in British communities"
A good read overall & while I won’t discount reading more in this series, I prefer Rendell’s stand-alone thrillers.
3.5 stars from me
There are two crimes to solve here: the abduction of two teenage girls, who are later returned unharmed - physically at least - & the abduction of a three year old-girl. Are the crimes related? Well that’s up to Wexford & co to discover…
As always Rendell weaves a twisted tale, however many of the complexities here are keeping track of all the minor characters & their relationships rather than the two storylines themselves. Not a particularly nice bunch of folks but some of their actions made me smile & I thought them well written & quite credible. The initial plotline of the two teenagers disappearances is solved (a bit abruptly!) just a bit over the halfway point of the book. This leaves 150-odd pages to solve the remaining crime which while admittedly kept me entertained could have done with condensing down. This leads me to my two issues with the book:
Firstly, it was a bit overlong with too much repetition as Wexford yet again mulled the same things over…& over….
Secondly, I was surprised…& shocked…at how misogynistic things were! Written just over 20 years ago (first published 1999) it’s hard to credit that, at this time, some men still felt it perfectly acceptable to hit their wives.
On top of that there’s one of two derogatory comments about women that rankled me:
"The marriage was an instance, Wexford could see at once, of that not uncommon phenomenon in which a tall, strikingly handsome man has married, & established a successful marriage, with a plain & insignificant woman"
and
"…his wife was one of those grossly fat women until recently rarely seen in British communities"
A good read overall & while I won’t discount reading more in this series, I prefer Rendell’s stand-alone thrillers.
3.5 stars from me
Read
June 14, 2024I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I find that Ruth Rendell does not conform to many stereotypes of crime fiction. The reader can be many pages into a novel before the murder that is so often the centre even happens. The overwhelming note in this one is the note of sadness surrounding people feeling themselves pushed beyond their limits by circumstances of illness, or by feeling unable to escape from abusive situations. There are some seriously nasty people in this book, but there is also some serious optimism. I'll keep exploring Ruth Rendell.
September 7, 2022
I have always liked the television series Ruth Rendell Mysteries based from the Wexford novels .
This is the first Wexford series book I have read , and as always Ruth Rendell’s books are enjoyable , gritty stories. I found it full of suspense and good characters in Wexford and his daughter , which gave a nice human touch to the storyline.
This is the first Wexford series book I have read , and as always Ruth Rendell’s books are enjoyable , gritty stories. I found it full of suspense and good characters in Wexford and his daughter , which gave a nice human touch to the storyline.
January 18, 2018
Another great Rendell mystery. This weaves together domestic violence, a schizophrenic family and the craziness surrounding the release of a pedophile from prison. Wexford’s daughter Sylvia figures prominently.
December 6, 2020
A complex story with more than one mystery in the mix, plus a host of characters - you have to keep your wits about you to remember who some of them are. But immensely readable, and some brilliantly written crowd scenes.
March 25, 2023
I have just finished this book and really like it, though it disturbed me in so many ways. The themes of spousal abuse and the sick power of the media were quite upsetting throughout!
July 16, 2023
Horrifying, sad, impeccably written, this is one of the best entries in the series.
November 3, 2018
At times a bit tedious... with too many characters and subplots. To my mind, overwritten...nonetheless, some memorable scenes and characters. In general, I prefer her novels to the Wexford series; she's a brilliant writer.
January 12, 2021
One of Rendell's more complex plots, that in some ways seem simple. Actually, there are overlapping investigations, which serve to complicate the lives of our investigators significantly.
The first case is of the missing girl. A young girl is abducted, gone for three days, and then suddenly returned unharmed. She is reluctant to disclose much of what happened to her. Then it happens again, to another girl, who ultimately reveals some of her experience, and the two cases are linked.
Chief Inspector Wexford is consumed by these cases, while his stalwart associate, Mike Burden, is not. Burden would just as soon move on to other cases, given that the girls were unharmed. But then a three-year-old is abducted.
Wexford and Burden meet the parents: Stephen Devenish, the CEO of an airline company and his submissive wife, Fay. They live in a large house on a large piece of land, where they are effectively insulated from prying eyes. This may be in part why the big secret of their marriage is not well known.
Meanwhile, a sex offender is released from prison and returns home, to a small community where the residents take up the cause of getting rid of him.
All of these situations meld together, with the help of the local weekly, and harm is done. Wexford, Burden, and others on the team track down the answers, but they do not come easily. It's a bit like a mixed drink- shaken AND stirred.
The first case is of the missing girl. A young girl is abducted, gone for three days, and then suddenly returned unharmed. She is reluctant to disclose much of what happened to her. Then it happens again, to another girl, who ultimately reveals some of her experience, and the two cases are linked.
Chief Inspector Wexford is consumed by these cases, while his stalwart associate, Mike Burden, is not. Burden would just as soon move on to other cases, given that the girls were unharmed. But then a three-year-old is abducted.
Wexford and Burden meet the parents: Stephen Devenish, the CEO of an airline company and his submissive wife, Fay. They live in a large house on a large piece of land, where they are effectively insulated from prying eyes. This may be in part why the big secret of their marriage is not well known.
Meanwhile, a sex offender is released from prison and returns home, to a small community where the residents take up the cause of getting rid of him.
All of these situations meld together, with the help of the local weekly, and harm is done. Wexford, Burden, and others on the team track down the answers, but they do not come easily. It's a bit like a mixed drink- shaken AND stirred.
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