Rendell's non-detective thrillers sometimes become a bit excessive in their layers of psychopathology; her Inspector Wexford cases are usually more restrained. This time, however, the shrewd, wry, near-elderly Inspector is drawn into a somewhat unconvincing tangle of obsession, hysteria, neurosis, and psychosis. Rodney Williams, a paint-company sales manager, disappears for three weeks, then turns up dead (eight stab wounds), half-buried in a local meadow. Whodunit? Well, Wexford has quite a few suspects to choose from—because Williams, it soon emerges, was a bold bigamist: he had a sour, middle-aged wife in one town and a somewhat younger spouse in a town not far away, with a teen-age daughter from each marriage! Furthermore, Williams had a reputation for extra-marital philandering, focused on Lolita types. And Wexford also has to wonder if the murder is connected to ARRIA, a local radical-feminist teen cult that's devoted to violent self-defense against sexual harassment. (Several would-be Casanovas have been knifed recently.) Juicy material? Yes, indeed. Unfortunately, however, Render overdoes just about everything here—from the contrived red herrings to the interweaving of often-dated feminist themes. (Wexford's sidekick, Inspector Burden, has major marital woes because prenatal tests predict that his wife will bear a daughter, not a son.) And the final psycho-revelations, though partly guessable from the start, will raise the eyebrows of even the firmest Freudians. By Rendell standards, then, this is a disappointment. On the other hand, the page-by-page storytelling—wry, superbly paced, full of arresting character-details—is still unsurpassed in the mystery field.
Pub Date: Sept. 3, 1985
ISBN: 0345327462
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: April 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1985
Period details and charm abound in a mystery that packs some real surprises.
Who killed the milkman?
Unlike other companies that keep cows in crowded and unhealthy conditions right in New York City and add things like chalk and plaster to make their milk look better, Clarence Pritchard’s milk processing firm delivers pasteurized, unadulterated milk from upstate farms. The Pritchards’ daughter, Theda, is married to Nelson Ellsworth, whose parents are neighbors of detectives Sarah and Frank Malloy (Murder on Union Square, 2018, etc.). Before they attend a dinner party at the Ellsworths’ home, the Malloys are warned that Pritchard is seriously nettled that the upcoming year of 1900 will not be celebrated as the turn of the century. When Pritchard’s body is found strangled on the first day of the new year (though not the first of the new century) after he’s spent the night pestering people about his theory, it’s clear that someone’s paid off the police to ignore the case. Theda demands an investigation by Malloy and his partner, Gino Donatelli, both of whom were New York police officers before Frank’s sudden wealth encouraged him to open a private investigation agency. Sarah, a former midwife from a society family, subsidizes a home for unwed mothers whose recent clients include Jocelyn Vane. Because Jocelyn’s wealthy parents won’t let her keep her child, Sarah hatches a plot to marry her to Black Jack Robinson, a handsome, wealthy, cultured criminal with aspirations to join society. Pritchard’s murder is still unsolved when his son, Harvey, is also strangled. Malloy discovers that Mrs. Pritchard had a longtime lover who poses as a family friend and that Harvey’s gambling addiction forced his father to allow someone to use their milk delivery wagons to move stolen goods. Since both deaths may be connected to deeper criminal enterprises, Malloy must be cautious in his investigation and rely on help from Robinson if he’s not to become the next victim.
Period details and charm abound in a mystery that packs some real surprises.Pub Date: April 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-399-58663-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
A budding romance and an age-old motive combine in a heartwarming cozy.
A small-town businesswoman’s sleuthing marks her for death.
Winona Mae Montgomery saved her Granny Smythe’s apple orchard from ruin by building a thriving cider and event business in Blossom Valley, West Virginia. She’s receiving praise, and a hefty check, for throwing together a fabulous wedding reception for Elsie Sawyer and Jack Warren when the party's happy mood turns sour. The bride seems angry, the groom tipsy, and Winnie’s heartbreaking ex-boyfriend Hank Donovan’s interested in making out with a bridesmaid. But these minor glitches pale when the groom is found dead under the truck with "Just Married" on the window after having had words with Hank. Winnie developed a relationship with Sheriff Colton Wise in her last brush with murder (Apple Cider Slaying, 2019). Although he’s willing to listen to her ideas, he warns her off the case, a warning she ignores since Hank is a prime suspect. The best man, Aaron, had the key to the truck, but even after it turns up in the visor, Winnie keeps him on her list of suspects, along with the bride and the bridesmaid, who’s made herself scarce. After Hank’s sister, Gina, begs Winnie for help, they discover a bunch of flirty emails from Sarah Bear Twenty-two, who turns out to be the elusive bridesmaid. When Colton tells Winnie that mud found in her house contains mushrooms, she realizes that it may have been left by Hank, who has an old cabin in the woods, and she enlists her best friend, park ranger Dot, to help her find it. Soon after they find camping gear inside the cabin that Hank probably took from Winnie’s house, someone starts shooting at them, and they must run for their lives. Winnie realizes that she must find out a lot more about the bride and groom before she can possibly understand who murdered Jack and is willing to kill again to keep a secret.
A budding romance and an age-old motive combine in a heartwarming cozy.Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4967-2349-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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