Rating: 
Summary: ENTERTAINING AND POWERFUL
Review: Shakespearean trained actor Nigel Anthony gives noteworthy voice to the crusty and sometimes cranky Inspector Wexford in this aptly named mystery by the celebrated Ruth Rendell. The scene is Sussex during a torrential rain. Atmospheric? Of course. Add to this the mysterious disappearance of two teenagers. The pair, as well as the sitter who was staying with them for the weekend, have evidently vanished into thin air. Some may assume that the trio have drowned in the rising waters. However, the sitter's body is later found alone in the car. There is not a trace of or a clue to the whereabouts of the sister and brother. Since they were not in the car their parents, of course, cling to the hope that they're still alive. As she always does, author Rendell thoroughly probes the psyches of her characters, giving listeners an entertaining and powerful listening experience. - Gail Cooke
Rating: 
Summary: A somewhat slow moving plot
Review: This novel has numerous digressions, both in the story and in the conversations of the characters. Besides the missing children, there is the rain and flood, problems within Chief Inspector Wexford's own family, and sometimes long descriptions of passing scenery, what people are eating for lunch, etc. Then there are all the long-winded people who can't seem to get to the point. Wexford gets frustrated with people, but a reader can get frustrated wanted to get on with the plot. Eventually the story gets moving along, but the reader can guess some of the circumstances of the plot. The full circumstances are not known until the end, but come only partly as a surprise. It deals with perhaps too many issues including adolescent sex, pedophilia, fundamentalist religion, spousal abuse, phychological abuse, social climbing, family conflicts, and misplaced loyalties. Authors should be careful about getting on a soapbox.
Rating:
Summary: A somewhat slow moving plot
Review: This novel has numerous digressions, both in the story and in the conversations of the characters. Besides the missing children, there is the rain and flood, problems within Chief Inspector Wexford's own family, and sometimes long descriptions of passing scenery, what people are eating for lunch, etc. Then there are all the long-winded people who can't seem to get to the point. Wexford gets frustrated with people, but a reader can get frustrated wanted to get on with the plot. Eventually the story gets moving along, but the reader can guess some of the circumstances of the plot. The full circumstances are not known until the end, but come only partly as a surprise. It deals with perhaps too many issues including adolescent sex, pedophilia, fundamentalist religion, spousal abuse, phychological abuse, social climbing, family conflicts, and misplaced loyalties. Authors should be careful about getting on a soapbox.
Rating: 
Summary: It's not the forest, stupid: it's the trees
Review: This ranks as one of the best of the recent Wexford novels, witty and sneakily engrossing. Don't crack the cover unless you have plenty of time and no appointments to keep: you might otherwise be late, or fail to turn up at all. It isn't the plot, as much as the telling. At the center is a snottily dysfunctional family, the children of whom (along with their 30-something baby-sitter) disappear one rain-drenched weekend in Kingsmarkham. Along the way, Rendell provides some mordantly hilarious characters, sardonic comments on the state of the world, and a few blatantly red herrings. It's a good trek through the forest, whether one sees the resolution well before it's reached or not: sly, entertaining and well-paced. Rendell is the best writer of psychological mysteries on the planet. "Wasting one's time" and her name -- are simply not compatible phrases.
Rating:
Summary: It's not the forest, stupid: it's the trees
Review: This ranks as one of the best of the recent Wexford novels, witty and sneakily engrossing. Don't crack the cover unless you have plenty of time and no appointments to keep: you might otherwise be late, or fail to turn up at all. It isn't the plot, as much as the telling. At the center is a snottily dysfunctional family, the children of whom (along with their 30-something baby-sitter) disappear one rain-drenched weekend in Kingsmarkham. Along the way, Rendell provides some mordantly hilarious characters, sardonic comments on the state of the world, and a few blatantly red herrings. It's a good trek through the forest, whether one sees the resolution well before it's reached or not: sly, entertaining and well-paced. Rendell is the best writer of psychological mysteries on the planet. "Wasting one's time" and her name -- are simply not compatible phrases.
Rating:
Summary: not quite the strongest Wexford, but still excellent
Review: true, this isn't really the best of Rendell's books, but it's still great. The story is interesting, and Wexford is becoming even more fascinating as he ages and feels increasingly adrift in a world that's largely moved on. There are some incredibly compelling sections which DO show Rendell writing at absolutely top form (e.g. the discovery of the car. I can't say more for spoilers) even if some aspects of the mystery are not QUITE of her normal quality. The Babes in the Wood is packed with symbolism, which makes it a very thoughtful read indeed. In some of the early books, also, Wexford is not a very developed character, merely a vessel through which the mystery could be solved. In her later novels, he has grown and expanded and shown himself to be one of the most fascinating protagonists the genre has to offer. A sort of Old-Father-Time of the crime world. A developed, interesting, reflective man, who is feeling increasingly adrift in a world which seems to have moved on. His presence in this story alone makes it worth reading. The Babes in the Wood is still a five-star read, better than almost all other crime fiction (I will take a moment here to whet appetites and mention that her latest novel, The Rottweiler, available in the UK, is EXCELLENT. For any Rendell fan, I must tell you that it is a book well-worth ordering from amazon.co.uk and paying the shipping costs for). As well as an intriguing mystery, she crams in interesting social observation and wonderful character development, too. True, her characters may not always be likeable, but the view that unlikeable characters a good book does not make holds absolutely no water with me at all. Rendell shows us real people, all the time, not always in their best light, and they are always fascinating. If you want comfortable fiction, Rendell probably isn't always for you. If you want a strong and fascinating crime novel, she is.
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