Rating: 
Summary: Wexford gets his feet wet!
Review: "The Babes in the Wood," the latest Inspector Wexford mystery, is a welcomed addition to
the famed Ruth Rendell police procedural series set in England. Three people have disappeared with few traces. Due to the heavy rains the area of
Kingsmarkam is literally inundated, and it is first assumed, by some, that the three, Joanna Troy,
the baby sittter, and Giles and Sophie Dade, have simply drowned. Of course, Rendell wouldn't
have it so simple and neither would her Inspector. Before long the proverbial body is found and it's
Joanna. Now the hunt begins for Wexford. Where are the two kids (Giles 15 and Sophie 13)?
Motives for their harm abound. The scene becomes quite complex. Rendell is simply great with her series; her combination of strong central characters
(Wexford, his family, and Mike Burden, his assistant), a riveting story line, and the usual
outstanding interplay between the characters, the plot, and setting make "Babes in the Wood" a
comfortable companion to the others in this series. Her fans know that, barring some great literary upheaval, Wexford "will out." The murder
will be solved--this is a given. The author, like others in this genre, most notably P.D. James,
Martha Grimes, and Donna Leon, concentrates on the strength of her central character: his
wisdom and savvy, his personal and internal struggles, his depth of perception, his abilities simly to
solve the case. In addition, Rendell does not hesitate to foray into sensitive and socially significant
issues (spousal and child abuse, racism). Each of her books is an adventure alone, but as the series
progressed the complete picture of a complex and gentle man emerges. "Babes in the Wood" joints smartly in this stellar series. Wexford, once again, triumphs.
(Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)
Rating:
Summary: Wexford gets his feet wet!
Review: "The Babes in the Wood," the latest Inspector Wexford mystery, is a welcomed addition to
the famed Ruth Rendell police procedural series set in England. Three people have disappeared with few traces. Due to the heavy rains the area of
Kingsmarkam is literally inundated, and it is first assumed, by some, that the three, Joanna Troy,
the baby sittter, and Giles and Sophie Dade, have simply drowned. Of course, Rendell wouldn't
have it so simple and neither would her Inspector. Before long the proverbial body is found and it's
Joanna. Now the hunt begins for Wexford. Where are the two kids (Giles 15 and Sophie 13)?
Motives for their harm abound. The scene becomes quite complex. Rendell is simply great with her series; her combination of strong central characters
(Wexford, his family, and Mike Burden, his assistant), a riveting story line, and the usual
outstanding interplay between the characters, the plot, and setting make "Babes in the Wood" a
comfortable companion to the others in this series. Her fans know that, barring some great literary upheaval, Wexford "will out." The murder
will be solved--this is a given. The author, like others in this genre, most notably P.D. James,
Martha Grimes, and Donna Leon, concentrates on the strength of her central character: his
wisdom and savvy, his personal and internal struggles, his depth of perception, his abilities simly to
solve the case. In addition, Rendell does not hesitate to foray into sensitive and socially significant
issues (spousal and child abuse, racism). Each of her books is an adventure alone, but as the series
progressed the complete picture of a complex and gentle man emerges. "Babes in the Wood" joints smartly in this stellar series. Wexford, once again, triumphs.
(Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)
Rating: 
Summary: A Twisted, Suspenseful and Totally Absorbing Tale
Review: "It was raining. But as [Chief Inspector Wexford] had remarked to Burden some four hours before, rain was no longer news ... the exciting thing worthy of comment was when it wasn't raining." Residents of the towns and villages were at the mercy of swelling streams, lakes and ponds that were swollen beyond ... "anything [that had ever been seen] in this part of Sussex" and no relief was in sight. The flooding was at disaster level, looting was beginning to emerge and anxiety rose in stages, as did the waterways. Wexford and Burden have appeared as a cop-buddy team for years in Ruth Rendell's police procedurals. They are like an old married couple comfortable in their knowledge of each other's strong and weak points, and they have a healthy respect for each other that is enhanced by trust and affection. Thus, when Burden opened the office door he said, "I've just heard a crazy thing, thought it might amuse you. He seated himself on the corner of the desk, a favorite perch" and reported that a "... woman phoned to say she and her husband went to Paris for the weekend, leaving their children with a --- well, a teen-sitter, I suppose. The couple got back late last night to find the lot gone and naturally she assumes they've drowned." "Dade. They are called Giles and Sophia Dade. The teenagers are fifteen and thirteen, the sitter's in her thirties, they can all swim" and are not anywhere near the flooded out areas. Joanna Troy, their mother's friend was the sitter ... "who was spending the weekend in their house to keep an eye on the two kids." They have been missing "possibly since Friday evening when the parents left." Wexford finds this less than amusing and listens as Burden remarks: "It's pretty bizarre, isn't it?" On his way home, as Wexford thinks back over the day, he is struck with the realization that "All this nonsense about floods and drowning had obscured for him the central issue. Two children, aged fifteen and thirteen, were missing." Thus begins the case of THE BABES IN THE WOOD, Ruth Rendell's nineteenth Inspector Wexford mystery novel. As the investigation slowly moves into action the team begins to wonder what "really" is going on with this family. The mother is a neurotic wreck who weeps buckets of tears ... "a woman who would assume that her children had drowned, just because they weren't there and part of the town (not even close to their house) was flooded, had to be --- well, to put it charitably, somewhat scatterbrained." After a short visit to interview them Burden reports to Wexford: "She cries all the time. It's weird. It's pathological." The father is a rude bully and a crude workaholic who has no time to waste looking for his children, who he says are obviously missing out of spite ... to torture their parents. A parallel thread begins to emerge when not too long after the search for the Dade children and Ms. Troy gets underway, a young landowner is walking on his property in "Toxborough" which "... lays Northeast of Kingsmarkham, just over the Kentish border, but the Sussex side of the Mao." Peter Buxton is proud of his acreage even though he and his impossible wife rarely spend time upon it: "Originally intending to retreat there every Friday evening and return to London on Monday morning, Buxton soon found that ... the traffic on Fridays after four in the afternoon ... was appalling." Moreover, their social life in the city was conducted on weekends. Thus, more than a month had passed since the couple had come to Passingham Hall. One of the attractions of the Buxton property is a large "clearing ... the open space in the center of the wood. It was ... to this clearing" that Peter was making his way, when he noticed "the ruts a car's tires make were deeply etched into the gravelly earth of the track." Clearly they were not new and this kind of trespass infuriated the Buxtons. Peter decided to follow the rutted track up to the quarry, an ancient and now overgrown chalk deposit where it was obvious that a vehicle had gone over. A dark blue car lay on its side but hadn't fully turned over. As he stared in anger and amazement he slowly became aware of the smell emanating from the wreck in the quarry. When Ruth Rendell plans the architecture of her novels, she is careful to limn the details even as she presents the larger, more obvious events. In THE BABES IN THE WOOD she has painted a large canvas with a twisted, suspenseful and totally absorbing tale of dysfunctional families, children and parents who hate each other, the venom that destroys relationships rooted in lies and betrayals, the inscrutable personalities that populate the world and often make it an unpleasant place. But, at the same time, she balances this dim view of humanity with the positive dynamics of the Wexford family, and with the public servants who devote their lives to undo the damage done by the "dark ones." Rendell fans will find her latest Wexford addition a great read, and those new to her work will be able to pick up the series without any trouble. The series characters have evolved and changed over the years because she manages to keep pace with the world, which allows her to bring a fresh, new and more mature ensemble to each book. One of Rendell's greatest assets is her ability to catch readers up with her familiar cast without slowing the pace of the plot or her snappy prose. THE BABES IN THE WOOD is a must for mystery fans who appreciate fine writing, believable characters and a well-structured plot. --- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum
Rating:
Summary: The rains came down/the floods came up
Review: After intense heavy rain around Kingsmarkham Valley, the River Brede swells, until it eventually bursts its banks, casting forth its murky waters to flood the surrounding area. When Katrina and Roger Dade return home from a weekend in Paris, they discover the house empty. Their children Giles and Sophie, both in their teens have disappeared along with Joanna Troy, Katrina's friend who was "babysitting" them. Mrs Dade immediately panics, assuming without reason that her children have drowned in the floods. The Subaqua Task Force can find no trace of any them in the waters. All three of them have vanished into thin air, and there seems no possible motive for their disappearance. Then, it emerges that 15- year-old Giles was connected to a mysterious Christian group, The Church of the Good Gospel. It's been three long years since Rendell's last Chief Inspector Wexford novel, and now she returns him, and they are both on characteristically fine form once again. It's a real treat to be able to view the curiosities of this world, as he sees them, through the filter of Wexford's pondering eye again. This, in my view is one of the strongest of the Wexford series, boasting an especially original and intriguing plot, made all the more-so because of the unusual occurrence of the flooding in Kingsmarkham Valley, which allows what might otherwise be a normal plot to go down different avenues. As always, the psychology of it all is brilliant. She presents us with a set of seemingly inexplicable human behaviours, and then, through her plot, proceeds to explain then and how they can come about, in the end making it all seem to reasonable. And even if the police procedural aspects aren't as good as, say, in an Ian Rankin novel, she more than makes up for that with her explorations of the human elements behind crime. As well as the interesting and well-paced main plot-line, there's also a great sub-plot involving Wexford's own family who are always great to read more about. There are twists throughout, and the final solution is also surprising and mostly satisfying, but for the fact that the reader has only met the culprit once or twice throughout the novel. However, you can't really criticise this fact, as Rendell's novels have rarely been "traditional" solvable ones. Instead, her books are more explorations of contemporary society and crime. They are grounded in realism and real society. And, in realism, there are rarely easy clues and red-herrings to aid the intrepid detectives. Rendell's novels often reflect this very well. This is another absolutely first-class crime novel from the ever- expert Ruth Rendell.
Rating:
Summary: The Inspector returns
Review: Among the handful of mystery characters we always look forward to welcoming again is Insp. Wexford, and Rendell has brought him back in fine form in a plot that is startling and fresh. The charaters are so peculiar and rich and Rendell offers such psychological insights (as well as the pathologies of many) that this tale could easily have come from Barbara Vine.
Rating:
Summary: An absorbing read
Review: Chief Inspector Wexfords' home is surrounded by rising floodwaters, as are the homes of everyone in his town of Kingsmarkam. A distraught and hysterical woman contacts the local police, convinced that her two teenaged children and their babysitter have drowned in the floodwaters, even though there is no reason to place them anywhere near the dangerous area.
M/s Rendell introduces many fascinating-albeit nasty- characters into the story...a weird religous cult who is trying to control the mind of the missing teenaged boy, and the inner workings of the boys seemingly normal family, who are dominated by an aggressive and robustly rude father.
Wexford and his wife Dora are horrified when their daughter Sylvia introduces her latest lover, an abusive man who exerts an unhealthy influence over her to the extent that she disregards her experience with abused women, feeling that it is different in her case.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to other readers of this genre.
Rating:
Summary: Good, Happily; Bad, Unhappily
Review: Few reading experiences are more steadfast and reliable than a Ruth Rendell novel. There's the content which is engaging and sophisticated without being difficult to pick up where you left off, or to follow. Ruth Rendell is a consummate narrator. I don't know if this is deliberate but it's even published in a size and format designed to be held and read at any moment, on the train, in a bus, airplane or waiting room.
I'm an avid reader of Ruth Rendell, except for the Detective Wexford novels, although I read From Doon With Death. Not being a fan of detective series, I wasn't interested in trying to follow the rest. But when someone handed me THE BABES IN THE WOODS I thought I would give it a try. There's no need to have read any of the previous Wexford novels to follow this one. Three people, a babysitter and her two teenage charges, go missing. The story traces Wexford and his team, their relentless and patient seach for the truth and the very curious people and situations they encounter. We are shown religious fanatics, child abuse, wife beating, alcoholism as well as a few caring, unrewarded individuals. In the background but also menacing is a unusual seasonal flooding which threatens the homes and lifestlyes of all the principal players. Rarely have I read such complete and convincing descriptions of hysterical, narrow-minded or mean-spirited human beings. There are an amazing number of threads connecting this large cast of colourful characters and each thread is clear and entertaining, leaving no confusion or frustration. The narration is so fine, that I was hooked and couldn't put it down.
I think it was Oscar Wilde who wrote in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST that "the good end happily and the bad, unhappily, that is what fiction means" as a joke. However, this is exactly why certain crime fiction is popular and and reassuring. A good story is what I'm looking for and Ruth Rendell always delivers.
Rating: 
Summary: Most disappointing in series
Review: I am a big British mystery fan, and have read all of Ruth Rendell's Wexford series. I anticipated a well-written, pleasant read with this book, and was disappointed. At times, I wondered if she had even written this book! It seemed simplistic, it dragged, Wexford and Burden were wooden; in short, it lacked the polish and spark that have always characterized this series for me. Rendell moves down in my list of favorite British mystery authors, below Colin Dexter and Elizabeth George.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Mystery
Review: I have to say, I really enjoyed Babes in the Wood, which is the first Ruth Rendell I have ever read. I imagine, based on some of the reviews I have read here, that there are other novels in the Inspector Wexford series that are stronger, but as I have no frame of reference for this series, other than this one novel, I cannot comment as to that. What I can comment to is the fact that Babes in the Woods is a well-written, well-plotted and well-paced mystery. It kept me guessing throughout the novel and the ending made sense without being predictible or overly foreshadowed. The story concerns the disappearance of two teens and their adult babysitter over the course of a rainy weekend. Their mother returns home and jumps to the conclusion that the pair have drowned. As the novel continues, there are many other conclusions reached and discarded, leads followed and abandoned. Babes in the Wood is an excellent mystery and an enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Mystery
Review: I have to say, I really enjoyed Babes in the Wood, which is the first Ruth Rendell I have ever read. I imagine, based on some of the reviews I have read here, that there are other novels in the Inspector Wexford series that are stronger, but as I have no frame of reference for this series, other than this one novel, I cannot comment as to that. What I can comment to is the fact that Babes in the Woods is a well-written, well-plotted and well-paced mystery. It kept me guessing throughout the novel and the ending made sense without being predictible or overly foreshadowed. The story concerns the disappearance of two teens and their adult babysitter over the course of a rainy weekend. Their mother returns home and jumps to the conclusion that the pair have drowned. As the novel continues, there are many other conclusions reached and discarded, leads followed and abandoned. Babes in the Wood is an excellent mystery and an enjoyable read.
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