The Minotaur

Though not my favorite of Rendell's books written as Barbara Vine (her best are the first three she published as Vine - "A Dark Adapted Eye", "Fatal Inversion" and "House of Stairs") this was still an excellent psychological thriller and much better than her last "The Blood Doctor". I really felt her depiction of John's autism "rang true" and found it interesting that all of the true Cosway sisters had quicks that could be considered "soft" signs of autism or Aspberger's Syndrome. Like most Rendell/Vine stories the characters are far more interesting than the ultimate crime.

Barbara Vine (a.k.a. Ruth Rendell) is back with yet another fascinating psychological portrait of what could be called the ultimate dysfunctional family. A young Swedish caretaker (Kersten, pronounced "Shastin") is sent to work for the Cosway family, four unmarried daughters and a disturbed son who are ruled by the apathetic 80 year old Ida Cosway. They live in a rambling ivy covered mansion which features a mysterious maze inside a locked library. Kersten soon finds that the family members pretty much hate each other and their lives are governed by sexual jealousies, secrets and lies. Fascinating and compulsively readable, this is the author at her best. Vine knows how to provide just enough minimal information to hook the reader and a wry sense of humor pervades. For mystery and suspense fans who want more than just a whodunnit. Excellent!

This haunting tale of an autistic savant is the latest to be written by that master of psychological suspense - Ruth Rendell writing as Barbara Vine. This book is a masterpiece that only could have been imagined and written by her! The book is set in the late 1960's set in the Essex countryside. It is charmingly told by a young Swedish nurse who was hired to help with John Cosway. Everyone said that he was hopelessly insane and they kept him drugged up from dawn to dark. Kersten begins to suspect that perhaps John isn't insane, and she tries to help him. His very dysfunctional family is revealed to us in bits and pieces as we read the story that Kerstin writes in her diary. And as we read, we know that inevitably this family is on a track to destruction and we read in awed fascination as it happens. John lives with his mother and his three unmarried sisters. There is also a widowed sister that appears regularly throughout the story. What a wonderful depiction of some truly horrific ladies.

This is a very compelling read narrated by the story's protagonist, Kerstin Kvist who is working in England. The story takes place in rural England in the 60s, a village that has not been touched the 'revolution' sweeping other parts of the country. Kerstin is employed by a dysfunctional and sinister family made up of the tyrannical mother, four sisters and one brother who is supposedly mad. Family secrets threaten to spill over onto everyone that knows them, including Kerstin, making for a very dramatic ending. Barbara Vine has carefully constructed a tale that absorbs, twists, entangles and finally leaves you wishing for more. Her characters are psychologically profiled and one can almost feel the goosebumps, not knowing what to expect. More please, Barbara (aka Ruth Rendell)!