I got into the habit of binge reading or re-reading classic mystery authors during the pandemic and I now find it to be a continuing habit.

Although a fairly short novel, it is filled with intrigue as Wexford and Burden investigate the murder of a seemingly friendless, quiet wife named Margaret Parsons. I surmise Ruth intentionally conveyed a depressed husband and household but that persisted too long, before the appearance of a clue brought any action at all.My feeling, however, was that I should wait to see how she resolved it before reaching a conclusion. I am a fan of classis murder mysteries yet was not familiar with Ruth Rendell's writing (nor have I seen Inspector Wexford on television).

That presents no memorable personality and in this case, I was glad Reginald was not in the story until later; that Mike is an equal protagonist. I am sure that a proof reader could have easily rectified the mistakes and, although I expect to see them in a self published book, it is unacceptable to find so many in a traditionally published ebook. It is not a case of intuition, it is the answer to the mystery in so many words, in a conversation between the detective and another party, to which the reader is not privy to. Ruth Rendell introduces here Chief Inspector Wexford, who, along with Inspector Burden, will have to solve the murder of a housewife named Margaret Parsons in the quiet English town of Kingsmarkham. While I did get into Morse in my late teens, I actually never got around to trying Rendell either in print or in the televised adaptations.As Rendell explains in her Afterword, From Doon with Death was originally written as a one-off standalone. It seemed grimmer and more adult than the Christies and Chestertons I was used to, and the twist surprised me.