Ella lo espera en la oscuridad, su mente y cuerpos perfectos, pasivos, hasta que un día, cuando él va a la bodega, ella se ha ido...

Late last year we were offered the library of an avid, widely read deceased uncle of a friend. He had a habit of writing angry comments at the front of the books he disliked. I can do no better on this occasion than quote him: 'Another bad one.'

I'm really surprised that this is a seventies Rendell, I thought her work from that period would read better. Have I overrated her in the past?

I do wish I could have kept the entire library of this stranger to me. Going through his books, picking one and discarding another - as it was, we kept maybe a couple of hundred of them - his scathing commentaries almost urged me to read the books, I could see some companionship in agreeing with him. Can you get anything like that from a kindle? With the book comes so much more than the book. Books, paper and glue books, that have been touched in ways that are passed on to the next reader, value added, if you like. Long may even the bad ones live.


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Late last year we were offered the library of an avid, widely read deceased uncle of a friend. He had a habit of writing angry comments at the front of the books he disliked. I can do no better on this occasion than quote him: 'Another bad one.'

I'm really surprised that this is a seventies Rendell, I thought her work from that period would read better. Have I overrated her in the past?

I do wish I could have kept the entire library of this stranger to me. Going through his books, picking one and discarding another - as it was, we kept maybe a couple of hundred of them - his scathing commentaries almost urged me to read the books, I could see some companionship in agreeing with him. Can you get anything like that from a kindle? With the book comes so much more than the book. Books, paper and glue books, that have been touched in ways that are passed on to the next reader, value added, if you like. Long may even the bad ones live.


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Late last year we were offered the library of an avid, widely read deceased uncle of a friend. He had a habit of writing angry comments at the front of the books he disliked. I can do no better on this occasion than quote him: 'Another bad one.'

I'm really surprised that this is a seventies Rendell, I thought her work from that period would read better. Have I overrated her in the past?

I do wish I could have kept the entire library of this stranger to me. Going through his books, picking one and discarding another - as it was, we kept maybe a couple of hundred of them - his scathing commentaries almost urged me to read the books, I could see some companionship in agreeing with him. Can you get anything like that from a kindle? With the book comes so much more than the book. Books, paper and glue books, that have been touched in ways that are passed on to the next reader, value added, if you like. Long may even the bad ones live.


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One of my favourite Ruth Rendell novels. This is one of her "standalone" novels, as opposed to the Inspector Wexford Series. I have read more than a dozen of her standalone novels since early 2013. I enjoyed them all so much that it is hard to pick a favourite. The standalone novels seem to have more depth than the Wexford detective stories; they are deeper character studies, but their real beauty is the great sense of humour, very much like Monty Python. For example, the main protagonist in "A Demon in My View" is a reclusive middle aged man living in a London boarding house or block of flats. He has a compelling urge to strangle women but he has developed a unique way of controlling his "demons". All the characters living in this house are interesting and funny, but especially the "strangler" - I find Rendell's perceptiveness and psychological depth, along with her great humour an irresistable combination. ( )