Inspector Reg Wexford is something of a dinosaur, albeit a respected one, in the Kingsbridge Constabulary. As usually happens as people age, he is more and more discomposed by current societal attitudes and mores, while his younger colleagues take them for granted. It's a good thing that Reg has some skilled and trusted younger colleagues upon whom to rely, because, while he's a fine detective, he hasn't kept up with important technological advances. On the other hand, 30-ish DS Hannah Goldsmith maintains a rigid out-with-the-old attitude that sometimes interferes with her objectivity. In his latest case, the murder of two teenaged mothers, Reg must grapple not only with a frustrating, perplexing investigation, but also with a family crisis of his own that, in many ways, bears a striking resemblance to what he's facing at work. The involvement of children only exacerbates Reg's disheartenment. A complex and painstaking investigation over four months leads to a dramatic and surprising conclusion.Ruth Rendell, for over forty years, has been one of the countesses of British crime fiction. While many of her works deal with psychological suspense, End in Tears is a straightforward mystery, built around the problems of illegal adoption, surrogate parenthood, and personal unhappiness. Rendell's writing is clean, unencumbered by fancy words or elaborate sentence construction. Clues abound, dropped seamlessly into the narrative, in such a way that it's easy to miss their significance until things come clear at the end. True, the Goldsmith persona can use some fine tuning, she provides the suspense that brings the book to its close while balancing Wexford's deficiencies. All in all, End in Tears is a page turner full of interesting characters and timely issues.
END IN TEARS. (2005). Ruth Rendell. ****.tIt’s a good thing that I usually write down the names of characters in books as I go through a book, along with a brief description of who they are as they appear in the plot. If I didn’t, I would be lost half-way through this novel by Ms. Rendell. It features her protagonist Wexford, the head of the police in Kingsmarkham, a small city in England. The story moves along nicely, but, frankly, there are just too many characters. Even with my crib sheet, I had to stop and wonder who several of them were when I encounterd them again after a few chapters. Anyway...it’s a trap that Ms. Rendell occassionally falls into. The story starts out with a hooded figure dropping a large concrete block onto a car from a bridge, causing a subsequent crash and the death of the driver – a young woman. Later, a second young woman is killed by being hit from behind with a brick to the head, at night, while walking home from a club. It takes while, but Wexford ultimately ties the two murders together. He decides that the first murder at the bridge underpass was a mistake. The rock thrower meant to kill this young girl, but he got the wrong car. It was the car behind – a silver one – as opposed to the actual one – a gray one of the same model – that he was supposed to hit, but unfortunately could not distinguish them in the dark. Once deciding that the two murders were related, Wesford and his crew try to piece together evidence when suddenly, another young woman is killed – this time by a brutal beating – and left in an unoccupied house. The plot thickens. Ms. Rendell has a terrific imagination, and her stories are unique without unduly stretching your credulity. Recommended – but take notes!
What do You think about End In Tears (2006)?
The initial build up was interesting, but as with many other mystery thrillers, the end couldnot sustain the thrill. Wexford and his team, as usual, tried their best, and were successful at the end. And kudos to them. I liked the interplay between the various detectives, and the tidbits about their personal lives. The story revolves around two young adult females, of opposite social strata, educational status and attraction potentials being killed at weeks apart, and their association comes to light. Later comes out the fact that both were pregnant. The plot deepens, with explanation towards the end, but things do not fit in nicely. The solution was like a crooked jigsaw puzzle. Not sorry that I read this one. But Rendell could have done better with the last 40% of the book.
—Ahtims
A lump of concrete dropped deliberately from a little stone bridge over a relatively unfrequented road kills the wrong person. The driver behind, a young mother, is spared. But only for a while. Then another young woman dies.Chief Inspector Wexford, with his old friend and partner, Mike Burden, along with two new recruits to the Kingsmarkham team, pursue their inquiries that quickly become very complicated - drugs? surrogate mothers? baby selling/buying?I have always liked Ruth Rendell's stories. They are tightly constructed, suspenseful, with interesting characters. Most of the story's action is in the investigation as they find our things, piece by piece. This book was not as dark as some have been (a good thing).I listened to this book and the reader was great - gave all these English characters just the right personalities.
—Mary
With the publication of End in Tears, the incomparable Ruth Rendell has now written twenty-some books of psychological suspense featuring Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford. In this story, teenage mother Amber Marshalson is found dead after a night clubbing with her friends. Soon after, the body of one of her friends turns up. Why did both of the girls travel to Frankfurt some months back? Where did Amber get two thousand pounds? Were the two girls involved with drugs? Was it blackmail? And what about the pregnancy angle? The forays into the personal lives of the detectives are just as absorbing as the main story. Highly recommended, as are all of the Wexford books. Rendell is a genius.
—Lake Oz Fic Chick
