A FATAL INVERSION

by Barbara Vine ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1987

Very much like last year's Edgar-winning A Dark-Adapted Eye, this second ""Barbara Vine"" novel (a Ruth Rendell pseudonym) deals with a bygone crime remembered, guiltily stewed over, and revealed bit by bit to the reader: a what-happened? rather than a whodunit. And again, though Rendell's rich, ironic narration and splendidly detailed characterization provide absorbing reading, the story that ultimately emerges is only half-convincing--and hardly worthy of the long, coy buildup. Two unidentified skeletons--belonging to a young woman and a baby girl--have just been found in a pet cemetery at Wyvis Hall, a Suffolk estate. And news of this discovery unhinges three Londoners who have not spoken to each other for a decade, not since that fatal summer of 1976, when 19-year-old Adam Verne-Smith--heir to Wyvis Hail--decided to turn the place into a secret mini-commune. Adam is now married, the doting father of a baby girl. His pal Rufus Fletcher, who was a hedonistic medical student back in '76, is now a respectable, married gynecologist. Shiva Manjusri, who was a promising student with hopes of upward mobility when he came to the commune with idealistic girlfriend Vivien Goldman, is now content with his shabby, ghetto-ized life. So all three, terrified to being linked to those skeletons, indulge in regretful, defensive, bitter flashbacks to What Happened that summer--when Adam picked up a new girlfriend, unstable Zosie, a recent unwed mother (forced to give up her baby) and teen runaway. Involved in the sad story that followed: ""post-natal psychosis,"" baby-kidnap (cf. Rendell's The Tree of Hands), SIDS, Adam's immaturity, Rufus' selfishness, Shiva's greed, and Vivien's self-righteousness. The low-key, somber crime-reconstruction is marred by implausibilities--especially in the final chapters, when Rendell resorts to melodramatic coincidence to tie up loose ends. And, to an even greater degree than in A Dark-Adapted Eye, the teased-out revelation of the facts seems annoyingly contrived. Still, though the central characters are more pathetic than appealing, Rendell's control of the revolving, past/present viewpoints is commanding--with enough on-target psychology and evocative atmosphere to hold a fair portion of the psycho-crime (English style) audience.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1987

ISBN: 1408451603

Page Count: -

Publisher: Bantam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987

Categories: FICTION