The Vault by Ruth Rendell
Chief Inspector Wexford is retired and he likes retired life. Except for the parking. It was much easier to park when he didn’t have to worry about parking tickets. As a pensioner he can devote time to his family and poke around asking questions about police cases when called in to assist with inquiries. When four bodies are found in a long closed coal hole under a posh “cottage” in London Wexford pokes around with police permission. Three bodies have been down there about twelve years and the fourth only about two years. Who are they? How did they end up there? Will we ever know?
The mystery is told through Wexford’s eyes only so we learn facts as he does and start piecing together those long ago events with him. It’s a well crafted mystery with a lot of interesting characters (reminded me of some of the neighbor characters from Midsomer Murders) and the voice actor did a wonderful job keeping them all straight.
While checking this entry out in the catalog I noticed that this book was the sequel to another. I had no idea! No need to read the former to understand and enjoy the later in this case.
If you are a mystery reader, you may be interested in joining the Mysterious Mornings discussions. Our next theme/sub-genre is British Bobbies and Inspectors. A list of suggested authors and titles is available at the Bridgewater Library and titles will be on display starting tomorrow. The discussion will be held on Tuesday, March 6th at 9:30am.
