I don't find Ruth Rendell's Wexford mysteries as engrossing as her psychological novels, but anything by Rendell is nevertheless entertaining and well worth reading. This one finds Wexford and his partner, Mike Burden, investigating the death of an older woman found strangled in a parking garage at a shopping mall. Numerous suspects abound in the woman's neighborhood but Wexford is soon incapacitated, however, by a car bomb (meant for someone else). Burden takes the lead by pursuing a withdrawn young man who lives with his domineering mother. Burden's intuition fails him though and it is Wexford who eventually identifies the killer by subtly noting the habits and motivations of the suspects and even the items they purchased in the shopping mall. The book is a little overlong for a Wexford mystery and gets sluggish a little in the middle but picks back up toward the end. Every character seems like a likely culprit (the victim was a blackmailer) and it is hard to see what is coming until close to the last chapter. If you are just beginning with Ruth Rendell, don't let this one detract you from her - she is one of the best writers in the world today.

I wish some of the many Ruth Rendell fans would have reviewed this one so I could have a jumping off place. Since I discovered Ms. Ruth in September 2001, I have worked my way through 21 of her 50 or more, aka Barbara Vine. Inspector Wexford's stories are not as interesting to me as some of the non Wexford works but this was a neat one and I never dreamed the killer would be the killer. This was the most convoluted, mixed up mystery I think I have ever reaad. The victim really got what she deserved, hope that is not a spoiler. The last 20 pages seemed to go rather fast, compared to the first 2/3 of the book. But oh, well, It was good.

This is the first of RDE's series of mysteries set in modern-day British institutions, introducing Robert Amiss, the unlikely and likeable hero of the series, and his policeman friend Jim Milton. It demonstrates RDE's trade-mark clear-sighted understanding of her settings, in this case the intricacies and absurdities of the British government and civil service. At the same time she does not lecture. She hits the plot straight away (we don't even get to meet the murder victim alive) and does not let up the pace. Amiss is the junior-but-fast-tracked (graduate entrant), intelligent and basically decent Private Secretary to the murdered Permanent Secretary who is recruited by Milton to be his mole and his guide to the complex hierarchy, conventions and personalities involved. Amiss' explanations get a wee bit laboured - I can't believe that a senior British policeman needs to have explained to him what the various "Secretaries" in the civil service really connote - but I guess explanation in some form or another is unavoidable if she is not to lose her non-British readers entirely. As it is, this is a painless and indeed enjoyable introduction to the British civil service by an insider (as RDE has been a civil servant herself).

Another RDE trademark is that believable and distinct (and recognisably British) characters come to life with remarkable economy of words. As usual with RDE the plot is not over-clever, but nonetheless tight and can't be faulted. Her strength really is making everything so true-to-life. Policemen engage in real hard thinking and thorough dog-work, coping at the same time with political pressures. People act true to nature and yet don't always conform to steorotype. Milton and Amiss display real intelligence and understanding of human nature (no glaring oversight of an obvious angle which proves to be the key to the mystery). RDE mixes realism and entertainment to a commendable degree. Needless to say, she writes well; well-paced, articulate and snappy prose.

This books take the point of view of Jim Milton more than Robert Amiss, which is interesting for devotees of the series because Amiss quickly becomes central whereas Milton fades away gradually. For the reader interested in character development, this first book provides an important piece in the jigsaw. Here Milton is portrayed more vividly than in any other book in the series, and we learn to respect his patience and professionalism, and understand a little more of his personal life. Amiss is a bit flat here compared to the following and later books where he becomes more lively. One gets the feeling that perhaps at this stage RDE meant Milton to be her central character rather than Amiss. But this is the only book where he is in real and appropriate employment so for Amiss fans it is a chance to see him on his homeground.

I give this four rather then five stars because some later books in this series (Matricide, Ten Lords, Publish) are more deserving of full honours. She hasn't quite gotten into her satirical stride in this first book, though that's not to say that she's not irreverent. But it is only in later books that her satire gets truly and howlingly wicked, and her comic talent blossoms. I recommend any book in the series; not one of them is a dud.

Robert Amiss only lives up to his surname when he heeds the advice of his friend Baroness Jack Troutbeck. After all the misadventures that Jack gets him into he wonders why he still listens to her. This time around, she persuades (perhaps bullies is a more apt description) a near broke Robert to accept a job accompanying her when she visits Westonbury Cathedral. He should have known that the easiest job in the world would turn int o the job from hell if Jack is involved. ..... It seems that the locale, the Westonbury Cathedral, is imbued with a massive controversy that threatens to rip the Church of England in half with its worst feud since Henry's days. The new dean is an American fundamentalist who wants to end all the new age gurus that have entered the church. His ideas split the church into two factions who turn violent and deadly, including killing the new dean. Robert and Jack find themselves flooded with numerous suspects as they try to uncover the identity of the killer. However, in Robert's mind, it is Jack's friendship with everyone in the universe and her opinion on everything under the universe that is driving him away from the church. ..... The Robert Amiss tales are superb satires that laugh at every potential politically correct thing imaginable. However, it must be understood that MURDER IN A CATHEDRAL is not for everyone. Some readers will laugh at the antics of Jack, while others will feel that she is an abrasive SOB. The who-done-it is fun, but whether the reader enjoys Jack's pontificating on everything right and wrong with the C O E (the Church of England not the Corps of Engineers) depends on whether they love a British satire that overwhelms the mystery. ......Harriet Klausner

This is a fasinating account of a single mother's experience in the mid-nineteenth century. Fanny Fern, pen name of Sara willis Parton, fictionalized her own experiences to create this account of life for a woman on her own in the 1850's. Fern's wryly ironic style and hold no punches revelations earned her fame and fortune and more than a small amount of criticism. If you thought all women were straightlaced and demure 150 years ago read this and learn.