From Doon With Death: A Wexford Case - 50th Anniversary Edition (Wexford, 1)

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There's an art to writing a police procedural that is also a village mystery, and Rendell is the consummate artist.

To Wexford, it simply does not make sense, until he begins to slowly uncover the layers of Margaret Parsons' real life. The mystery itself was a bit obvious, but it was fun watching the detectives reach the conclusion that Rendell blatantly gave to the reader pretty early on.

I hear her solo stories and other Reginald Wexford / Mike Burden cases are better; a good thing, because I own nearly them all, courtesy of bargain bins! However, no one would accuse a career as prolific as Rendell's as lazy and there is something very appealing about her work. Also, there is no Hastings or Watson to romanticize the proceedings, and given how much I hate both characters, I'm adding a star just for that. The plot is a decent one, it's intriguing enough, but I have issue with the characterisation of people, I know it's the early nineties, but I have no recollection of people being to purist and straight laced.

Rendell says she modeled Wexford after her father and I realized that maybe that is why this series appeals to me so much.As it becomes clear that there is indeed foul play, of course we find that this ordinary housewife had a more interesting history than initially suspected. Although it lacks the polish of later volumes in the series, and Wexford especially hasn't yet assumed final form, it is a very capable first outing.