Cyndi J. (cyndij) reviewed on 12/19/2022 + 1033 more book reviews

Excellent plotting, excellent pacing, and very atmospheric. it's an interesting look back in time too - published in 1969 - with things like refrigerators and washing machines being luxuries, and the elevator in the police station a luxury too. I laughed at myself a little because as they're trying to identify a body, my mind immediately jumps to DNA, which of course wasn't possible then. The characters were all well drawn, although the "non-police" characters (I'm including Wexford's wife and daughter among the police) are uniformly nasty. There's not a likable characteristic among them. And back to the appliances, I felt like Rendell was using the idea that they (non-police) wanted appliances to be something bad, that they shouldn't be aspiring to that. Anyway loved the procedural parts of it, liked the occasional funny bit, and was reminded again why I wanted to read all her Wexford novels in order.

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