Simisola (Inspector Wexford) - Softcover

Rendell, Ruth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099971402 ISBN 13: 9780099971405

Publisher: CROWN PUBLISHING GROUP@INC, 1995

Synopsis

Simisola, the 16th Inspector Wexford novel by Ruth Rendell, is at once a gripping mystery and an emotionally charged exploration of racism, sexual violence, and the urban ills that are infecting small, traditionally peaceful communities.

About this title

About the Author

Ruth Rendell is the recipient of several awards, including three Edgars and four Gold Daggers from the UK’s Crime Writers’ Association. Simisola, Blood Lines, Keys to the Street, and The Brimstone Wedding (written as Barbara Vine) are available from Brilliance Audio. She lives in England.

Reviews

In her 17th mystery starring Chief Inspector Wexford (after Kissing the Gunner's Daughter), Rendell casts a decidedly baleful eye on changes in the Sussex country town of Kingsmarkham and its people-the appearance of slums, the rise of decidedly fascistic attitudes and growing unemployment and hopelessness among the young. Against this dour backdrop, Raymond Akande, a thriving black doctor, comes to Wexford with a problem: his 22-year-old daughter has disappeared. Wexford, as patient and friend (a somewhat uneasy friend, because a "decent" Englishman of his generation cannot quite get used to blacks), feels bound to help. He uncovers a dark train of events: a girl who was apparently the last to see Melanie Akande alive is strangled; the body of another young black woman is found buried in the woods; and a sturdy Nigerian crossing guard is pushed down the stairs in her apartment block. Meanwhile, a flashy Arab lady running for the local council seems to be attempting to ensnare Wexford, and there is a mystery concerning one of her Filipino servants. The events are put together so methodically and believably, while the drawing of character and setting is so exact, that the book seems at times like a contemporary Middlemarch with a murder mystery at the heart of it. The solution is truly astonishing yet as logical as the rest of this splendid, passionately fair-minded and deeply disturbing novel-in which Rendell surpasses even herself.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

You might think we were dealing with Prime Suspect IV. In racist, high-unemployment Britain, a young, middle-class black woman goes missing, and the last person she seems to have spoken to--an unemployment officer--is found murdered in bed. Unfortunately, the struggle between social commentary and whodunit is so equal--think of two wrestlers, each unable to throw the other--that one soon tires of the sport. What went wrong? Rendell is the finest of the finest, an author who, like le Carre{‚}, often soars above her genre as if using it only to ground her craft. Is the problem the too-conventional nature of her Wexford series, or the too-conventional targets of her social criticism? In fact, the chief target of the author's criticism is an English law that permits wealthy immigrants to bring into the country servants who are part of their household but who are not legitimate immigrants in their own right--that is, who must stay with their "masters" if they are not to be deported. That these servants are often treated like slaves has not, so far, persuaded the Conservative government to change the law, and this is the source of Chief Inspector Wexford's (and Rendell's) quiet disgust. "We're all racists," the gentle Wexford says in the early pages, and the novel goes on to prove him right. But all this, of course, is a contrivance, and the story suffers under the burden; it has little force, momentum, or focus. True, Rendell firing on only three cylinders is more impressive than many firing on all four, but this is still a disappointment. Stuart Whitwell

Murder, prejudice and political manipulation have Inspector Wexford unraveling one of the most perplexing crimes of his career. Rendell's laborious and complicated plot includes a myriad of complex characters. Christopher Ravenscroft maneuvers the reader through the character transitions with enthusiasm and splendid propensity. The elaborate intertwining subplots may cause the listener to get a bit "lost" temporarily. However, Ravenscroft manages to differentiate between characters so precisely and effortlessly that the listener is rescued and positioned back on track. Dialect interpretations are superb and add color and spirit to Rendell's personalities. Christopher Ravenscroft's brilliant performance makes SIMISOLA worth a listen. B.J.P. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: CROWN PUBLISHING GROUP@INC
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0099971402
• ISBN 13: 9780099971405
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 323