Review of Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell

From PBPulse (Palm Beach) --

Inspector Wexford returns in style --

By Scott Eyman --
February 08, 2010 --

THE MONSTER IN THE BOX, by Ruth Rendell. Scribner; 287 pages; $26.

Inspector Wexford is older now, and, to his dismay, wider, but The Monster in the Box is no lighthearted farewell to a beloved detective.

Wexford is haunted by his very first case, in the middle of Sussex where he is still working. It was a strangling, for which a man was caught and sentenced, but Wexford has never believed they got the right man. He knows who the right man was, and he also has a gut feeling that the same man has strangled several other people years apart.

He first saw the man the night Elsie Carroll was murdered. The man was walking his dog, who was relieving himself against a tree. Most people will look away at policemen doing their grim jobs, but this man just stared at the young Wexford.

And then he nodded. It was the nod that convinced Wexford he was the murderer, that and the smug satisfaction in his face as he watched the police come and go during the investigation of that murder.

The man was named Targo. He loves animals and hates people, has a crab-shaped birthmark on his neck and cheek that he covers up with a procession of scarves.

All this backstory is communicated via long, mezmerizing monologues from Wexford, as he tells a colleague the story. Targo was never prosecuted because there was no evidence. Wexford knows he’s right, but he also knows he can’t prove anything and, in any case, it was all so long ago.

“The man began to take on the aspect of a character in a recurring dream, someone who has no existence in life but only in the dream, where he is vivid enough and haunting enough.”

And then, more than 30 years later, there is another strangling, and Wexford realizes that Targo is back, and very close indeed — taunting Wexford by murdering Wexford’s gardener, just to show that he can.

Rendell backs up this A story, which is totally compelling, with a B story that isn’t anywhere near as interesting. Given her great skill, there’s no doubt that the two stories will converge, but it takes a bit too long, although when the narratives do come together it’s in a surprising way, followed by a lovely surprise and appropriately chilly, major-chord ending.

Ruth Rendell remains among the three or four best mystery novelists alive — procedurals in layers, written through a deep knowledge of character and the endless human capacity for perversity. Wexford has been the protagonist of more than 20 of Rendell’s 50-odd novels. He’s an intellectual of sorts, but he’s a bulldog when it comes to his business.

This dogged, admirable character has the leaping instincts of Holmes combined with the resolution and decency of Watson — an Englishman straight and true, created by a modern master.

Review of Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell

From Belleville Intelligencer (Ontario, CA) --

BOOKS IN BRIEF --

By YVONNE CRITTENDEN --
January 27, 2010 --

Ruth Rendell brings back the inimitable Insp. Reg. Wexford in her haunting new crime novel. Wexford is in a reflective mood, both about his personal past and about an unsolved murder case which has bothered him for years. Long before, when he was a young policeman, a woman had been found strangled, and although her husband was a suspect, no one was ever convicted. Another strangling followed and Wexford was convinced that a strange little man called Eric Targo was responsible, although he had no proof. When Targo crosses his path again, apparently accidentally, Wexford is sure he is a psychopath who is taunting him. As Wexford tries to prove he's right, another case crops up, that of a Muslim family whom one of his officers is convinced have been involved in the honour killing of their daughter. (Doubleday)

Review of The Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell

From Montreal Gazette --

Book Review: Books at center of murder tale --

By Anne Sutherland --
January 18th, 2010 --

The Monster in the Box, by Ruth Rendell (Doubleday; 279 pp.; $32.95). This is the 22nd novel following Detective Inspector Reg Wexler. In this instalment, Wexler is taken back to the first murder case he was ever involved in. Years ago, he was at a crime scene where a woman had been strangled with the belt from her bathrobe. The back door and the garden entrance of her row-house were unlocked. Wexler sees a stocky man with a dog on the street at the scene, a man who gives him a penetrating stare, and his Spidey senses tell him this is the perpetrator of the crime. Over decades, he sees the same man around, while other unsolved murders remain on the books. Wexler fixates on the man, whom he discovers is the much-married and successful property developer Eric Targo. He unloads his theories on his best chum, Mike Burden, who is skeptical. There's a side story about a young Muslim woman taught by Burden's schoolteacher wife, whom she suspects is being forced into an arranged marriage. Wexler is asked as a favour to look into it. To say more would ruin things. Rendell weaves an intriguing tale. Fans will be happy.

Review of The Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell

From Montreal Gazette --

True Blue --

January 15th, 2010 --

The Monster in the Box
By Ruth Rendell
Doubleday, 279 pages, $32.95

Ruth Rendell is another beautiful writer. Her latest, The Monster in the Box, is also one of a series, the 22nd following the career of Detective Inspector Reg Wexler.

In this instalment, Wexler is taken back to his earliest days as a policeman and the first murder case he was ever involved in. Years ago, he was at a crime scene where a woman had been strangled with the belt from her bathrobe. The back door and the garden entrance of her row house were unlocked at the time. Wexler sees a stocky man with a dog on the street at the scene, a man who gives him a penetrating stare, and his Spidey senses tell him this is the perpetrator of the crime.

Over decades, he sees the same man around, while there are other unsolved murders on the books. Wexler fixates on the man, whom he discovers is the much- married and successful property developer Eric Targo. He unloads his theories on his best chum, Mike Burden, who is skeptical.

There's a side story about a young Muslim woman taught by Burden's schoolteacher wife, whom she suspects is being forced into an arranged marriage. Wexler is asked as a favour to look into it.

To say more would ruin things. Rendell weaves an intriguing tale. Fans will be happy.