The Vault
Inspector Wexford Mysteries Series, Book 23
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
November 1, 2011 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781464019944
- File size: 243423 KB
- Duration: 08:27:07
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Reg Wexford, Rendell's long-admired detective inspector of Kingsmarkham (since 1964), has retired and now lives part time in London, where he becomes involved in a gruesome discovery: Three old corpses and a newer one are found in a coal bin. The carefully structured plot unfolds neatly. Narrator Steven Crossley gives longtime Wexford enthusiasts a vivid presentation of the detective we've come to love. The other characters--nasty neighbors, fussy family members, vicious thugs, exploited Eastern European girls, and other Londoners--are convincingly portrayed and distinctive. It's good to light upon Reg and family again, especially as they are illuminated by the talents of Steven Crossley. D.L.G. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine -
July 25, 2011
In Rendell's fine follow-up to A Sight for Sore Eyes (1999), a non-Wexford novel in which a working-class aesthete's quest for beauty earned him an ugly, unexpected end, horror strikes the home improvement plans of Martin and Anne Rokeby. The couple are seriously disconcerted to discover multiple bodies in varying states of decay in a long-forgotten vault beneath their London garden. In the art world, the Rokebys' address is famous as the setting of a '70s-era masterpiece, Marc and Harriet in Orcadia Place, a painting depicting a rock star and his girlfriend. Though Inspector Wexford has retired, the police soon summon him to help solve this most gothic case. Has more than one killer used the vault as a body dump? Rendell's recent style can feel a bit anemic when contrasted with that of A Sight for Sore Eyes, and she populates this sequel with people who resemble sketches rather than vivid, complex characters. Still, this easily outshines most of the competition on either side of the Atlantic.
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