A Demon in My View

This book won Rendell the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award for 1976 (the most important crime fiction awards in Great Britain.) And I can see why. Extremely well crafted, this book stays with you long after reading it. And you'll read it pretty quickly, because this is a tough one to put down. As a longtime Hercule Poirot/Miss Marple/Agatha Christie fan, I was so happy to discover the Inspector Wexford mysteries, and have read most of these. But this is no Wexford mystery. I was so disturbed by the subject matter, that after I read it, I put it out of sight for a while, but it never went out of mind, so be prepared. This is Rendell, one of the best mystery writers out there today, at her best.

Ruth Rendell is unquestionably the best novelist in this, or any generation. Her stories of psychological suspense and downright sheer chillingness will, and deserve to, go down in history as some of the most artful novels ever written. And this, is one of her very very best. The atmosphere is chilly and hostile, the plot and characters are disturbing and strange. She mixes the normal everyday tpicalities of life with the quirks in the mind of the mentally...different, brilliantly, so that the consequences are amazingly cathartic. Disturbing, compelling, utterly absorbing, with a shock ending that is a masterpiece of irony, this is an amazing novel.

A Demon in My View is 25 years old. It's a mark of Ms Rendell's talent that it can still easily hold its own against the current popular mystery writers. Ruth Rendell has a superb grasp of human nature - her characterizations are the best in the business. You'd recognise these people if you met them, though some of them you really wouldn't want to meet! Fat, avaricious landlord Stanley represents his type exactly and meek, righteous, houseproud Arthur, the book's main character, is one of the very creepiest people I've ever read about - repressed, obsessed and cunning. You can't help wondering how many men like him there are out there, 'men with his problem' - a problem that Arthur is proud that he can keep under control. He never lets himself go out after dark, to keep well away from temptation, and what he does in the basement instead is really sick. Far more intriguing than the usual whodunnit, this book is more of a 'will he do it?' After a new neighbour moves into his sheltered environment - handsome, confident, friendly and all the things Arthur recognizes he himself isn't - Arthur's basement refuge is no more, and his frustration, paranoia and weirdness increase. There's lots more plot and lots of interesting minor characters, and Ms Rendell makes it seem easy. It isn't - read and recognize a master author.

This was one of the first Rendell books that I read, and it absolutely knocked me out. I was recovering from a cold, lying in bed and enjoying it nicely, when it took a turn that made me sit up straight and go, "SAY WHAT? " I forgot the cold, forgot everything but following this hypnotic tale to its strange end. I've now read it three times, and each time it got more impressive. By present standards of sex and violence, it may seem understated. Somehow, in these days of excess, that just makes it more powerful. Rendell is the empress of the accidental, the queen of chaos theory. Something tiny happens, and something else tiny happens, and somehow, inevitably, chance becomes destiny or whatever passes for it. Oh, her books are lovely, dark, and deep. Open this one up, and you'll have miles to go before you sleep.

This book will not disappoint Ruth Rendell fans. The story is creepy, suspenseful, and ultimately satisfying. The main character is a disturbed Norman Bates type who is compelled to visit his basement every so often to fulfill a disturbing fantasy. What happens after circumstances beyond his control prevent him from carrying out his fantasies will keep you reading until the very last page. This is Ruth Rendell at her scary best.