Harm Done: An Inspector Wexford Mystery

I've seen so many reader reviews who say they're bored with Wexford. I find him very refreshing and down-to-earth compared with the psychos he's dealing with. He's no saint; he's just a regular guy. Many of Rendell's characters are SO creepy that I need a little normality in there.This book, politically correct or not, was scarier than any of her others, because it's real and happens every day, everywhere. And it's practically invisible. Rendell gives this "P.C." novel her own Rendellesque twists, which makes it well worth reading.

Wexford and his elder daughter appear in one of the later Wexford mysteries. Although the plot is simple it is anything but easy to unravel as it moves toward the end. Displays Rendell's typical excellent development of characters (even if you haven't read the earlier Wexfords -- which I also recommend -- it's fun.

I really liked this book. Other reviewers have written that they thought there were too many unconnected stories. I think it just shows you what a mix of people there are in this small town in England. Crime touched all neigborhoods it seems. The explanation for two of the disappearing girls was touching. What would you do in Vicky's situation?I even liked the part about the lost raincoat. The author has a nice, typically English sense of humor.

Ruth Rendell is surely the best writer I have ever read. She is a magician a psychologist and a suspense master all rolled into one. Her insight and her spellbinding tales are second to none. This is another great Rendell foray into the inner life(s) of her fellow man and woman. Shes just spectacular. Read all her books, especially the middle ones from the 1970's. The next book you read after hers will seem tepid and shallow. I promise!

I have been reading Ruth Rendell since I was in high school, 30 years ago. I thought when I read "Judgement in Stone" then that mystery writing could not get any better than that. How wrong I was. At a rate of two or three books per year, Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine has honed her craft to a point where, I believe, no other mystery writer before or since has ever achieved such heights of excellence in brilliant prose, high-tension plotting, fascinating character study, as well as thought-provoking social commentary. Her body of work stands as a shining example of a writer's growth. I used to think heaven would be a warehouse full of undiscovered Dorothy Sayers manuscripts. Now I think heaven would be if Ruth Rendell goes on writing forever and that one can read her in the after-life.