Road Rage

I thoroughly enjoyed this book mostly since it reassured me of my own. Robert E. Milliken author of, Stupid In Montana As America

Rendell has done it again! This is a masterful mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end. Wexford's beloved Kingsmarkham is a village divided. A new bypass is scheduled to be constructed, and protesters descend on the quiet little town, causing havoc everywhere. Dora Wexford is kidnapped on the way to the train station. Within hours, it becomes apparent that four other people have been kidnapped as well, and what seemed like innocent protests take on a sinister cast. Despite his personal involvement, Wexford is placed in charge of the investigation. Seemingly stymied, he still manages to pull off a grand unveiling of perpetrators in true Rendell style. Endless plot twists and larger-than-life characters have definitely made this my favourite of the Wexford novels. Fans of Rendell's style of writing will be thrilled with this relatively recent effort, and if you're not yet a fan, this wouldn't be a bad place to start. I totally lost myself in this one, and I'm sorry it's over.

If you've read this book, you might recall what my subject line refers to. I just loved this book. The characterizations and plot line were just so wonderful. I've been following Wexford and Co. since the books first came out and like how the characters have changed and developed over the years. And it's nice to see Dora Wexford have such a major role in this book. If you like Ruth Rendell's "Wexford" series, read this book and it should make you happy too.

"Road Rage" by Ruth Rendell. Subtitled: "An Inspector Wexford Mystery". Audio Book Version read by Christopher Ravenscroft. Random House Audiobooks, 1997. I chose this audiobook because I thought it would be about the typical Californian or New York road rage where one person is yelling at or even shooting at another driver. The rage in this book, however, is anger against the building of a road through Markham Wood. At first it appeared that this might be the usual plot where an environmental group protests the construction of highway by kidnapping hostages. But, then, there are many plot twists.The hostages were "randomly" selected by their unfortunate calling for a taxicab from a particular car for hire company. One of the hostages thus selected is Dora Wexford, wife of Inspector Wexford, which places a personal twist on the efforts of "Sacred Globe", the kidnapping environmental group, to enforce their position on the authorities. But there are even more twists than just this one, as Inspector Wexford pieces together all the clues and determines the location where the hostages are being kept, and where a hostage was killed. The ending is surprising! I enjoyed the audiotape version of this book, performed by Christopher Ravenscroft, as I drove I-495, the ring road around Boston. To American ears, Mr. Ravenscroft did a credible job in providing "Cockney" accents, British police accents and, of course, the educated "Oxford" accent. He has a wide ranging repertoire of accents, for both male and female characters.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ ~ * ~ This wasn't my abspolute favorite Ruth Rendell, but it is still a very good Inspector Wexford mystery. It is not necessary to be familiar with Wexford and his assistant, Burden... this book may be a good introduction to the series for many.~ * ~ This book is more interesting and suspenseful, because Wexford's own wife is kidnapped. Naturally his worries about her safety make it difficult to head up the investigation. Without giving away the plot, it's ok to say that he will need to rely on his wife as a witness, and her memory of small details becomes critical. ~ * ~ As always, the ending is surprising. Ruth Rendell is a master of plot twists and turns that keep us guessing.~ * ~ My personal favorite of the Wexford and Burden series is " No More Dying Then", which focuses more on Mike Burden's problems after the death of his wife. ~ * ~However "Road Rage" is definitely an enjoyable and suspenseful read, and a great sample of Inspector Wexford. I recommend it highly for mystery lovers.