'The most brilliant mystery writer of our time" (Patricia Cornwell's estimation) passed away this year. British author Ruth Rendell published her first best-seller in 1964 and penned a thriller yearly ever since. She was the narrator, her characters having their say.
What stands out in her works was her understanding of human nature, a psychologist not by professional training but by personal observation and experience. Readers recognise their hidden feelings and dark thoughts. It's uncanny and unpleasant.
One of Rendell's literary creations was Detective Inspector Reginald Wexford, who delivered her insight. But there were stories -- homicides -- without him. If the law doesn't stop perpetrators in their tracks, it is divine justice. And there are times lives are taken with some justification.
The Girl Next Door is about murders and the people they effect, directly and indirectly. It begins shortly before WWII and ends right about now. John Wormwood is the handsome son of a family barely making ends meet in Essex.
Dropping out of school at the age of 14, he finds work in a business concern in London.
The boss's daughter is infatuated and they wed. With no skills, John is useless. When daddy dies, Anna inherits his money. John expects to push his hands into the trove, but she slaps them away. Learning that she's unfaithful, he kills her and her lover and buries the bodies. With new clothes, he passes himself off as a gentleman.
The author extends the story to include relatives, Anna's classmates, his neighbours, their husbands, wives, lovers. The war creates widows. They marry, spouses tend to be unfaithful, divorce, go abroad. John marries a succession of wealthy women, murdering at least one.
With the bodies of Anna and her lover found decades later, suspicion falls on John, nearing 100, with a heart murmur. What punishment can befall him?
The blurb tells us that Ruth Rendell's swansong Dark Corners will be on bookstands before the end of this year. Whether her publishers and estate have a substitute for her in mind remains to be seen.
Adieu, dear lady. You will be sorely missed.
NYPD Red 3 by James Patterson and Marshall Karp 419pp 2015 Arrow paperback Available at Asia Books and leading bookshops 325 baht
Wall Street murders
From day one the lower social and economic class has been convinced that those at the totem-pole came to their fame and fortune dishonestly. Luck, too, but only in the sense that they made their own luck. They appear to work, but what keeps them busy is their underhanded dealings.
The poor don't respect the rich, but envy them. In their novels, authors reinforce this mindset. To a degree, they are right. In a dog-eat-dog world, there's a scramble to achieve power and wealth. The weaker rivals fall -- indeed are kicked -- to the roadside. Even at the top, the rich strive to get richer.
Millionaires are determined to become billionaires. It makes no sense, really. They can't take it with them, yet are reluctant to leave it behind. Their families inherit it and proceed to acquire more. Alas, possessing more than they could possibly need doesn't make them honest. Certainly, more ruthless. James Patterson and Marshall Karp focus on this in NYPD Red 3. It's set in the Big Apple, the financial capital of the world. Is it any wonder that it was the target of Sept 9, 2001, referred to several times in this story? A serial killer is on the loose, as in many crime thrillers. This one targets the moguls of Wall Street.
His MO is to kidnap, decapitate and leave their headless bodies in a public place. The finest of New York's finest, Zach Jordan and Kylie MacDonald, are handed the case. Both are married, but not to each other. His wife strays from his bed and board. Divorce seems to be in the offing.
Mega-rich Hunter Alden recovered from the loss of his first wife in the Twin Towers outrage to wed beautiful Miss Alabama, but he has a wandering eye. The distaff mayor seems fair game. Not surprisingly, the people he walked over on the way up hate him. Clearly a motive for murder.
The Alden family is dysfunctional. Daddy and Hunter can hardly stand each other. Another son, Tripp, is gay with a Haitian boyfriend. There's a flash-drive floating around which is said will put 9/11 in a new light. The denizens of Wall Street don't come out well here.
The reader is given the impression that the killer is legally guilty and deserves to have the book thrown at him when apprehended, yet his victims deserved what they got. More than one author implies the same. This reviewer doesn't condone vigilantism. But, I can't help wondering whether there aren't exceptions.
