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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780307277237
ISBN number: 0307277232
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: June 26, 2007
Publishing house: Vintage
Release Date: June 26, 2007
Sale Popularity Level: 78149
Studio: Vintage
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Product Description:
The very first death could have been an accident.
When Mavis Ambrose is killed by a falling chunk of concrete, the police have no reason to suspect mischief. However, the bludgeoning of the young and gorgeous Amber Marshalson that follows is clearly murder. In the midst of the hottest summer on record, Inspector Wexford is called in to investigate. He discovers the two cases may be linked, and that Amber was at the scene of Mavis’s death. When a third body is found, the case takes a disturbing and unexpected turn. The deeper Wexford digs, the darker the realities become, and what he finds leaves him feeling lost in a world absent of morals.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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Generally I enjoy Ruth Rendell's mysteries. I have read a good many. This one is a bit too philosophical and moralizing. Not usually her style. It also makes this book too long...longer than most of her stories. A good yarn however but I could live without the extra verbiage
Rated by buyers -
First sentence: When he lifted it off the seat the backpack felt heavier than when he had very first put it into the car.
Chief Inspector Wexford and team are investigating the bludgeoning death of 17-year-old Amber Marshalson. The case takes on an extra dimension when they realize Amber was the actual intended victim when a piece of concrete had been dropped from an overpass onto the very first two grey/silver Hondas a short time before. Who wants Amber dead so badly when they failed the very first time, they tried again...and succeeded.
I found this a bit of a slow-go. I liked C.I. Wexford but really didn't care much for any of the other characters, of which there were many with very little dimension. DS Hannah Goldsmith is interesting in her compulsive PC-ness, but annoying for the very same reason. Way too much time was spent on her relationship with another officer for the narrative result.
The story was over plotted; I identified the instigator of the deaths quite early. Most annoying to me was the number of women who became pregnant after one encounter. In my life, I've only known one person for whom that was true and certainly not several within a short period of time. It was much too contrived.
So much of the book was involved in dealing with the various relationships and following blue herrings in the investigation, the ending, when it finally came, was very abrupt with only a modicum of suspense. I found it a very slow read; not bad enough to make me want to quit, but not good enough to race through the pages. The best I can say is, "I read it."
Rated by buyers 
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Another Wexford winner. Ruth Rendell is indeed the Queen of Mystery. Wexford solves a complex double murder and turns up yet another dark motive in an unlikely murderer.
Rated by buyers -
Since other reviewers give very well written summaries of the plot, I'll skip that part. I'm a big fan of this author but I do think that the ending is too convoluted. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.
Rated by buyers 
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Slow, methodical detective work, rendering the content of this book a bit too slow itself, therefore not entirely to my taste. However, this is my very first mystery by Ruth Rendell and I was not acquainted with its main characters and their personal history, which I understand follow a long succession of books. `Knowing' them beforehand may have been useful to appreciate this book a little more, but I have the feeling that my opinion after turning the last page would have been unaltered whether I did or not.
A BIT OF A *SPOILER* FOLLOWS UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE AMAZON DESCRIPTION ABOVE AND SOME OF THE REVIEWS
In any case, their previous acquaintance would not have mattered with reference to the central theme in this book, which explores the murder of eighteen-year-old Amber in a quiet village in Sussex. Soon after, another young lady, Megan, disappears and is later found murdered. Although coming from very different social backgrounds, the police find out that the two girls knew each other and they had two things in common: youth -it goes without saying- and a child each. What could have led someone to kill them?
END OF *SPOILER*
Hard to pinpoint the facts as they are elusive up until the very last page of the book. They are also, along with the characters, quite muddled up and a bit hard to follow. Wexford's personal life and the one of some of his co-workers provide for a bit of a diversion, even though they all sooner or later connect with the central theme in a plausible juxtaposition.
All in all, it was not the best mystery novel I've read -and I read many-. What lacked here was a certain compactness within the characters which rendered the story less consistent than it should have been, considering the disturbing motive lurking behind the murders (which the reader picks up only toward the middle of the book).
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