The Best Man to Die

This is the 4th book in the Inspector Wexford series by author Ruth Rendell. I never manage to read this series in the order they were written but I don't feel that it deflects at all from my overall enjoyment. I have now read about 5 books in this series and although I have given them all a moderate......more

I'm slowly making my way through the Inspector Wexford books, and each one is an old-fashioned but not too old-fashioned pleasure: Rendell continues to use these as a showcase for the comfort-reading delight of blending Agatha Christie-style puzzle mysteries with a more real, textured world. The sty......more

This 1969 Inspector Wexford mystery has compelling characters, plot and setting. It’s interesting to hear the author’s sociological comments from the 60’s point of view. The more things change, etc. Also notable – Fantastic Dog Description!!! Won’t give away spoilers but is almost a must read for th......more

This is book 4, and this one has the complex plot that one thinks of when Rendell is mentioned. Jack and Charlie are best friends, have been since they were schoolboys together. They are working class; Jack an electrician, Charlie a lorry driver. Jack and Charlie would do absolutely anything for eac......more

I was enjoying this until about two-thirds of the way through when this giant plot hole opened up that was never resolved. It essentially destroyed the story. Recall that in the beginning the aunt misidentified the dead girl from the car wreck because she was hideously burnt in the crash and, it is i......more