Cyndi J. (cyndij) reviewed on 5/30/2018 + 1031 more book reviews

I haven't read much Rendell before, but not for any particular reason. When I started this book, I knew it was an Inspector Wexford book, and one of the last in the series (the penultimate, as it turns out). Inspector Wexford sees a man on the street he hasn't seen for years, a man he suspected of killing at least one and maybe more people, but his suspicion was based on nothing more than the way the man stared at him and then kept showing up. Now he's back, and Wexford finally relates his suspicion to his colleague (friend?) Burden. If I had read more of these I'd know their relationship, so that was a drawback. I kept wondering why Burden was so skeptical - is Wexford usually given to bad hunches? Does he never do that at all, perhaps, so this is very uncharacteristic? Anyway, Wexford's flashbacks include not just the story of the suspected killer but also his days as a young detective and meeting the girl he'd marry, very evocative. The secondary plot relates to the concern of Burden's wife Jenny for a young Pakistani girl who was her student. Jenny thinks the girl might be forced into an arranged marriage - again without any proof, just a hunch. It was surprising to me how nosy the teacher and then the police were willing to be with the family. The two plots unfold slowly and will intersect eventually; one hunch will turn out to be right. While it's far from action-packed I read it steadily right through. Definitely going to have to pick up more of her books at some point.

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