Plots that catch and hold like a noose. Rendell's England is less than quai. I read, now, for deeper glimpses into Rendell's craft, and I'm not disappointed. Powered by. Whims and Fancies Of An Ethereal Childhood, How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market, The Room On The Roof And Vagrants in the Valley. This is the first book by Ruth Rendell I've read (I know, shame on me). Absolutely. Title : Famous Five : Five Have Plenty Of Fun Author : Enid Blyton Main Characters : Jo, Anne, Dick, Julian, George, Timmy, Mr. El... All content belongs to Sandhya Varadharajan. Thank you. Razor-sharp dialogue. I have also heard that her best novels came later in her career, and I can't wait to get to them. It seemed like it was time to get acquainted. Her characters--even the good-guy cops--are conflicted, flawed, stubborn, and utterly human, and her genre fiction is the best of its kind. Revamped: A Fresh Look For Fresher Perspective! I was about 2/3 through, thinking it was well written, interesting, but not yet sensing it was truly special. From what I can tell, this is not only the first book in Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford series, but also her first published novel. Written in 1964, this was Ruth Rendell's debut novel of Inspector Westford, and he appears in her books she she wrote later in the same series. I've been listening to the Currently Reading podcast quite a bit these days. You are free to quote from the blog with a link-back. This one wasn't marvelous but I could see a lot of potential for her to develop the inspector into a great character. Start by marking “From Doon With Death (Inspector Wexford, #1)” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Kate Atkinson is still my favorite mystery writer but Rendell is a very close second. Her characters are great and apparently in her newer stories she takes on lots of social change issues. Welcome back. From Doon With Death has a solid plot through the novel, and a blissful twist in the end, which I haven't even gone near to make sure I don't give any spoilers. Is it REN-dyl or Ren-DELL? There were various phrases and words that left me baffled, perhaps due to the time period which was the 1950s. The best part of a crime mystery is when you try to solve it too, and that is what exactly happened with me while reading. [Mostly because of the time when it was published. However, no one would accuse a career as prolific as Rendell's as lazy and there is something very appealing about her work. I dislike detective series, I find it to be lazy writing more often than not and generally stay away from them. When I learned that Ruth Rendell had passed away recently, I was reminded that I have been wanting to give her mysteries a try for some time and immediately requested this book, the first featuring Inspector Wexford, and her first stand-alone mystery, To Fear a Painted Devil, from the library. There's an art to writing a police procedural that is also a village mystery, and Rendell is the consummate artist. I'm back with a post a day for a grand entry into 2020! It must have taken fifteen years to obtain the series volume I needed and get started. I think this book was a terrific example of it. For a story published in 1964 it must have been quite shocking to readers. However, no one would accuse a career as prolific as Rendell's as lazy and there is something very appealing about her work. The novel introduced her popular recurring character Inspector Wexford, who went on to feature in 24 of her novels. When Margaret is found murdered, it is up to Wexford and Burdon to unravel Margaret's past and discover what led to the death of a quiet, suburban housewife. I think this book was a terrific example of it. It’s all, you know, fine. I wished I could say I like it but truth is it was a boring read. From Doon with Death was the debut novel of British writer Ruth Rendell, first published in 1964. Cover via Amazon Title: Three Men In A Boat Author: Jerome.K.Jerome Main Characters: Harris, George, Montmorency Description Of One Of... Malgudi is a fictitious town in India created by R.K. Narayan in his novels and short stories. The prose and epigraphs were good, which is why I’m giving this book a second star. There is nothing extraordinary about Margaret P Dazzling psychological suspense. Though having read a lot of Patricia Highsmith, it shouldn't have surprised me that much. He claims it is totally out of character for his wife, Margaret, to disappear without word. Get an email every time a new post is up, and read comfortably in your inbox! From Doon with Death, now in a striking new paperback edition, is her classic debut novel -- and the book that introduced one of the most popular sleuths of the twentieth century. I found it extremely tedious and dull. Every now and then I had to re-read a few sentences to try and understand the British words. Ronald Parsons almost prides himself on his dull and respectable life. Margaret Parsons leads the life of a timid housewife with her daily monotonoty of gardening and taking care of her husband in the small, quiet town of Kingsmarkham. The characters in FDWD certainly weren’t immune to the effects of the conclusion.