One of Rendell's more complex plots, that in some ways seem simple. Actually, there are overlapping investigations, which serve to complicate the lives of our investigators significantly.
The first case is of the missing girl. A young girl is abducted, gone for three days, and then suddenly returned unharmed. She is reluctant to disclose much of what happened to her. Then it happens again, to another girl, who ultimately reveals some of her experience, and the two cases are linked.
Chief Inspector Wexford is consumed by these cases, while his stalwart associate, Mike Burden, is not. Burden would just as soon move on to other cases, given that the girls were unharmed. But then a three-year-old is abducted.
Wexford and Burden meet the parents: Stephen Devenish, the CEO of an airline company and his submissive wife, Fay. They live in a large house on a large piece of land, where they are effectively insulated from prying eyes. This may be in part why the big secret of their marriage is not well known.
Meanwhile, a sex offender is released from prison and returns home, to a small community where the residents take up the cause of getting rid of him.
All of these situations meld together, with the help of the local weekly, and harm is done. Wexford, Burden, and others on the team track down the answers, but they do not come easily. It's a bit like a mixed drink- shaken AND stirred.
The first case is of the missing girl. A young girl is abducted, gone for three days, and then suddenly returned unharmed. She is reluctant to disclose much of what happened to her. Then it happens again, to another girl, who ultimately reveals some of her experience, and the two cases are linked.
Chief Inspector Wexford is consumed by these cases, while his stalwart associate, Mike Burden, is not. Burden would just as soon move on to other cases, given that the girls were unharmed. But then a three-year-old is abducted.
Wexford and Burden meet the parents: Stephen Devenish, the CEO of an airline company and his submissive wife, Fay. They live in a large house on a large piece of land, where they are effectively insulated from prying eyes. This may be in part why the big secret of their marriage is not well known.
Meanwhile, a sex offender is released from prison and returns home, to a small community where the residents take up the cause of getting rid of him.
All of these situations meld together, with the help of the local weekly, and harm is done. Wexford, Burden, and others on the team track down the answers, but they do not come easily. It's a bit like a mixed drink- shaken AND stirred.
Barbara S. (barbsis) -
I'm not really sure what this book is ultimately about. I'd gotten halfway through it before the cassette broke and still haven't a clue which direction it was headed. It starts out with a missing teenage girl who returns unharmed three days later with no memory of her adventure. The police question her and question her with no result. When the next teenage girl goes missing, they assume she'll be back as well and she is. Again unharmed and with little recollection of what happened. The police investigate this non-crime for many chapters and when a 3 year old baby is taken, the investigation is minimal. I couldn't figure why the police were so interested in the teenagers' story but not in the missing baby's. Next follows a rambling tale of a homosexual pedophile (he's into boys) being released back into society. The townspeople protest outside his house, throw things threw his windows, make up rumors about him snatching the missing baby girl, and finally march on the police station and toss fire bombs inside. I just couldn't figure out what the purpose of this section was since the pedophile liked boys not girls. I just didn't get the connection and got very irritated when it went on and on and on. I kept thinking, please get to the damn point. When cassette 6 broke and 7 also had some kind of problem, I decided that I really didn't care to be tortured any longer with this rambling tale.
Cameron-Ashley H. (BigGreenChair) reviewed Harm Done (Chief Inspector Wexford, Bk 18) on + 463 more book reviews
Boring, very boring...characters boring, plot boring, writing boring...did I mention boring?
