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Book Summary and Reviews of The Vault by Ruth Rendell

The Vault by Ruth Rendell

The Vault

An Inspector Wexford Novel

by Ruth Rendell

  • Critics' Consensus (0):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • Published:
  • Sep 2011, 288 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Wessex is retired - or would be, if murder and danger would only leave him alone.

The impossible has happened. Chief Inspector Reg Wexford has retired. He and his wife now divide their time between Kingsmarkham and a coachhouse in Hampstead belonging to their actress daughter, Sheila. For all the benefits of a more relaxed way of life, Wexford misses being the law. But a chance meeting in a London street, with someone he had known briefly as a very young police constable, changes everything. Tom Ede is now a Detective Superintendent, and is very keen to recruit Wexford as an adviser on a difficult case.

The bodies of two women and a man have been discovered in the old coal hole of an attractive house in St John's Wood. None carries identification. But the man's jacket pockets contain a string of pearls, a diamond and a sapphire necklace as well as other jewellery valued in the region of £40,000. Wexford is intrigued and excited by the challenge - until this new investigative role brings him into serious physical danger.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"[T]his easily outshines most of the competition on either side of the Atlantic." - Publishers Weekly

"Though this sequel doesn't pack the punch of the earlier novel, which never seemed in need of a sequel, it's an undoubted tour de force likely to offer enjoyment both to readers with long memories and to those approaching it as a stand-alone." - Kirkus

This information about The Vault was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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W.H.O. Dunnett

This cannot be written by Ruth Rendell
This is a very poorly written book, it reads like a writing class project. The project is as follows:

4 bodies are found in a coal hole in present day London, Ruth Rendell's retired dectective Wexford investigates. You must write this as 'Ruth Rendell', but in the style of Agatha Christie, so that anything that has happened in the UK since 1960 is greeted with suspicion, trepidation and awe - mobile phones, the internet, East European immigrants, female detectives, and so on.

The plot must also depend very heavily on a ludicrous set of co-incidences. Eh Voila as Poirot would no doubt say, you have 'The Vault' by 'Ruth Rendell'. See if you can get past the first chapter!

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Author Information

Ruth Rendell Author Biography

Ruth Rendell was born February 17, 1930 in Essex, England. During her 50-year writing career she wrote over 60 novels, both under her own name and using her pseudonym, Barbara Vine.

Rendell was credited with bringing a social and psychological dimension to crime fiction, which led to considerable commercial and success and critical praise. Many of her books were were adapted for both movies and television, especially including the Inspector Wexford series.

Rendell was awarded three Edgars for best novel by the Mystery Writers of America, as well as the Grand Master Award. In England, the Crime Writers' Association honored her with two Gold Dagger awards for best novel, a Silver Dagger, and a Diamond Dagger for outstanding contribution to the genre. She lived in London.

Ruth ...

... Full Biography

Name Pronunciation
Ruth Rendell: ren-DELL

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