Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsWexford continues to be a delight!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 August 2013
It was a sigh of relief, to see that Ruth Rendell has published one more Inspector (now retired) Wexford mystery. After the last episode, "The Vault, " the first following his retirement from the Kingsmarkham constabulary, I was under the impression that we might not see any more Reg Wexford, that he truly was retired.
Now, just released, is Rendell's "No Man's Nightingale" and is it a winner! This is the 24th Wexford and, quite frankly, one of my favorites.
Wexford is enjoying his retirement, for sure. He's now able to catch up on some of his over-due reading of the classics--this time, he's enjoying a longtime reading companion, Edward Gibbons' "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." Who could ask for anything more.
Alas, as this is a crime mystery novel, there's got to be a body. Dame Rendell, not one to skirt socially significant issues, continues to address sexism, racism, un-humanism. Wexford's cleaning lady, Maxine, who never seems to stop chattering, is the one who actually discovers the body. She's also the cleaning lady for the local vicar--the vicar, Sarah Hussein, being the victim. She's found strangled. Sarah was born of mixed parentage (Irish mother and Indian Hindu father). The fact that St. Peter's Church had not only a woman as vicar, but one who drew opposition because of her racial make up brought out some hatred from some of the traditionalists (or neo-conservatives. Or racists--take your pick.) Not all was peace and quiet in the halls of the Lord, it seems.
Few clues are there and Mike Burden, Wexford's former assistant and now the current detective inspector, suggests that Wexford come along, for old time's sake. Wexford assumes the role of Crime Solutions Adviser (unpaid). Burden has not forgotten the genius of this man, who is also a good friend. During the preliminary investigation of the vicar's quarters, Wexford discovers a letter in a book the vicar had been reading and, without thinking, removes it and puts it in his pocket. He later is horrified at what he's done--removing evidence from the crime scene. (This causes great anxiety when he remembers he's done just that, too.)
Thus, the stage is set for another Rendell thriller and Wexford and Burden find themselves slowed down by a number of factors, some directly relating to the murder and some seemingly so, the human condition--and frailty--being what it is.
Along the way to solving the murder, Rendell's characters and her well-developed plot outline keep the reader fully involved--and she's never been afraid to address social injustices. Rendell, called by Ian Rankin as "probably the greatest living crime writer in the world," gives us another well-written, well-contrived novel that won't disappoint. Born in 1930, her writing is quite prolific (she also writes under the name of Barbara Vine). The Wexford series doesn't have to be read in order, but probably it's better to, beginning with her first book "From Doon with Death" in 1964. Rendell is not one to be missed.