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Title: No More Dying Then! (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) by Ruth Rendell ISBN: 0-375-70489-2 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Great Absorbing Mystery, focused on Detective Burden
Comment: ~ ~ - ~ ~
~ ~ This was my absolute favorite Ruth Rendell mystery in the Inspector Wexford series. It takes place in about the middle of the Inspector Wexford/ Detective Burden series. But it is not necessary to be familiar with the detectives, as they are briefly introduced to the reader in each book.
~ ~ Detective Mike Burden's wife has just died, and his sister-in-law is staying at his house to help take care of his two children. He is so utterly miserable, and grief stricken, that he can't see how much they all need him to focus himself on his home life. Partially because of his inability to deal with his personal life, when a 5-year-old boy disappears, he throws himself whole-heartedly into the investigation. He becomes over involved with the boy's mother. The recent disappearance of a 12-year-old girl makes the case more worrisome.
~ ~ Ruth Rendell is a master of plot twists and turns that keep us guessing. The book was very strong in the characterizations of the principal players, not just Burden and Wexford, but also the boy's mother, who clings to hope when it looks grim. Grace, Burden's sister-in-law is also very believable and understandable, as she suffers through the pain of Burden's family, who need his focus back at home.
~ ~ "No More Dying, Then!" is absorbing and captivating. It is a great way to start reading the Inspector Wexford mysteries. "
Rating: 4
Summary: A worthy addition to the Wexford series
Comment: No More Dying Then is worth reading. It stands on it's own, and it is a worthy addition to the Wexford series. I've been reading Rendell for a couple of years now, primarily because Elizabeth George's work is so often compared to hers. I find the comparison complimentary to both authors. Rendell's early work, including No More Dying Then, is less complex in plot and character development than both her later work and all of George's work. Regardless, Rendell's stories are interesting, and her characters are believable. No More Dying Then is generally a satisfying work. The relationships and thought-processes are well-crafted and authentic. The red herrings are fun, and the ending is a bit of a suprise. Plus, there is enough bizarre and deviant behavior to entertain a second milennium audience without excruciating detail, for those of us who prefer not to know too much...
I have been reading Rendell's work in order of publication (a personal preference when authors are as prolific as she), and I have thoroughly enjoyed the development of both Wexford and Burden. I get the feeling that Rendell likes her main characters and cares about their lives. As a result I care about them, and want to know more about them.
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent writing, and gloomy, gloomy, gloomy
Comment: This is a typical Ruth Rendell product. If you have read her books before and liked them then you will like this one. 'No More Dying Then' deals with the disappearance of a small boy. Six months earlier, a twelve-year-old girl disappeared in the same vicinity, and was never found. So the two events terrify the community and galvanize Chief Wexford and his deputy Burden into action. At the same time, Burden is having a very hard time dealing with the loss of his wife to cancer about nine months earlier. In fact, the secondary plot of Burden's emotional struggles almost overshadows the mystery itself. Rendell handles both sides of her story with smooth professional polish. The plotting is believable and skillful, the writing is excellent, the characterizations are insightful.
So why four stars and not five? Well, because almost no 200-page mystery novel can explore personalities or ideas to the depth that would be required for 5 stars, IMHO. Secondly, is Ruth Rendell herself as unhappy as her characters always seem to be? Whether they are cops, criminals, or innocent bystanders, even the happiest of Rendell's characters seem to look at life with a world-weary resignation. Sheer joy is close to unheard of in her work, and this book is no exception.
In a mystery magazine article I read a few years ago, someone took Rendell to task for criticizing Agatha Christie (whom Rendell could never begin to approach, IMHO). The writer said, "Whom would you prefer to have dinner with: Hercule Poirot or Inspector Wexford?" The answer is obvious. After a dinner with Wexford, you would wonder what's the point in going on with life.
I'm probably spending too much time on the negatives here, because this is a fine book. But I don't believe that Rendell is at the very top level of living literary mystery writers - a level which is reserved for P D James and Elizabeth George. Then comes Anne Perry, and then Rendell. However, that still puts Rendell above an awful lot of writers!
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Title: Murder Being Once Done (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) by RUTH RENDELL ISBN: 0375704884 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 30 March, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: A Sleeping Life by RUTH RENDELL ISBN: 0375704930 Publisher: Vintage Books Pub. Date: 11 July, 2000 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: Some Lie and Some Die (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) by Ruth Rendell ISBN: 0375704906 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Shake Hands Forever by Ruth Rendell ISBN: 0375704957 Publisher: Random House~trade Pub. Date: July, 2000 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: From Doon With Death by Ruth Rendell ISBN: 0345348176 Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 1990 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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