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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
The charm of mystery novels often comes from the detective or detectives solving the case. If you don't like these characters or find their methods of investigation unappealing, then you won't enjoy the story no matter how "good" the crime.
Such is the case here. Inspector Wexford utterly failed to charm me. He came across as a rather unappealing man who, while not entirely unpleasant, was someone I'd never want to deal with given his propensity to pout and his highly judgmental attitude.
I think I might have found him far more tolerable if the novel had been a tad more fast-paced and had more evidence involved. I say this because the murder takes place in chapter one and isn't solved until the very end of the book, almost 200 pages later. These 200 pages are spent just following the inspector around as he obsesses over how to solve the murder in an honestly unhealthy way based on no real evidence other than his own feelings. It made for a rather dull read, though the last two chapters were pretty intense and the solution to the murder was decently set up, if a bit far-fetched.
The other reason Shake Hands Forever failed to charm me undoubtedly has to do with the generation gap. This book was written in 1975 (though you wouldn't know that from the very modern cover on my 2000 reprinting) and it really shows. Even though I had no idea of it's age when I started reading, by the time I was 20 pages in I'd found myself looking up when it was published just because everything about the novel felt dated and out of place. Once I knew the publication date, I was a tad more forgiving, but it certainly drew me out of the story at times.
All in all, I'd probably tell you to give this one a pass unless you're looking for a mystery that focuses more on the characters than the crime and more on stakeouts and guesswork than hard facts or evidence.
Such is the case here. Inspector Wexford utterly failed to charm me. He came across as a rather unappealing man who, while not entirely unpleasant, was someone I'd never want to deal with given his propensity to pout and his highly judgmental attitude.
I think I might have found him far more tolerable if the novel had been a tad more fast-paced and had more evidence involved. I say this because the murder takes place in chapter one and isn't solved until the very end of the book, almost 200 pages later. These 200 pages are spent just following the inspector around as he obsesses over how to solve the murder in an honestly unhealthy way based on no real evidence other than his own feelings. It made for a rather dull read, though the last two chapters were pretty intense and the solution to the murder was decently set up, if a bit far-fetched.
The other reason Shake Hands Forever failed to charm me undoubtedly has to do with the generation gap. This book was written in 1975 (though you wouldn't know that from the very modern cover on my 2000 reprinting) and it really shows. Even though I had no idea of it's age when I started reading, by the time I was 20 pages in I'd found myself looking up when it was published just because everything about the novel felt dated and out of place. Once I knew the publication date, I was a tad more forgiving, but it certainly drew me out of the story at times.
All in all, I'd probably tell you to give this one a pass unless you're looking for a mystery that focuses more on the characters than the crime and more on stakeouts and guesswork than hard facts or evidence.
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Good fun but you can tell that this was written in the 70s. Not as fast paced and detailed as her more recent works,
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this one less, partly for the somewhat static plot. Watching Wexford obsess over the killer for a year got a little repetitive. Also, I found it odd that his superior doesn't agree with his methods and finds Wexford irritating given that Wexford has closed so many cases. Plus, we have to contend with Wexford contemplating having an affair which just felt uncomfortable. Clearly I'm more of a prude than I thought! Still, it's not terrible, just not as good as some of the others.
I liked this one less, partly for the somewhat static plot. Watching Wexford obsess over the killer for a year got a little repetitive. Also, I found it odd that his superior doesn't agree with his methods and finds Wexford irritating given that Wexford has closed so many cases. Plus, we have to contend with Wexford contemplating having an affair which just felt uncomfortable. Clearly I'm more of a prude than I thought! Still, it's not terrible, just not as good as some of the others.
Wexford's Chimera
Review of the Arrow Books paperback edition (1976/1985 reprint) of the original Hutchinson hardcover (1975)
Ruth Rendell continues to impress me with another of my 1980's re-reads. Shake Hands for Ever (most later editions show the title as Shake Hands Forever), is listed as No. 9 in her Inspector Wexford series (1964-2013).
Angela Hathall has been strangled in her cottage in West Sussex. She was discovered by her mother-in-law and husband as they came for a weekend visit. The husband Robert Hathall was commuting weekly to London for work. The trip had been meant as a reconciliation of Hathall's mother with Angela, his 2nd wife, with whom there had been an earlier quarrel. Wexford has a theory about the crime, but no one else believes him, especially his Chief Constable Charles Griswold. After complaints by the husband, he is taken off the case.
Despite having to work the case unofficially, Wexford persists in having Hathall occasionally followed in London by paying off an old contact and by calling in favours from his nephew Howard Fortune, a Chief Superintendent of CID in London. Over the course of 15 months, Wexford continues to hope that the case will catch a break and that Hathall and a co-conspirator will be discovered. He is continually disappointed until a chance coincidence ties Hathall into an apparently unrelated payroll fraud. It all leads to a final dramatic conclusion with a shocking twist reveal by Wexford.
Cover of the original Hutchinson hardcover (1975). Image sourced from Wikipedia.
Rendell also plays a sly game with readers by introducing a suspiciously attractive neighbour widow Nancy Lake, who was a partial witness to events at the murder cottage. Lake seems especially drawn to Wexford and flirtatiously arranges to keep meeting him throughout the course of the investigation. Is she somehow involved in the crime or is the Inspector that much of a romantic interest to her? Rendell teasingly leaves their final meeting to your imagination: Did Wexford or didn't he cheat on his faithful wife Dora? Your opinion of Wexford's character, based on the previous 8 novels, will determine your answer to that question.
I re-read Shake Hands for Ever due to the discovery of a hoard of my old 1980's mystery paperbacks while cleaning out a storage locker. I only have a few of the old Ruth Rendell paperbacks, so this isn't the start of one of my complete binge re-reads. Rendell is definitely one of the masters of the Silver Age of Crime though, so I will certainly be re-reading several of her books.
Trivia and Links
Shake Hands Forever was adapted for television as part of the long running series of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1987-2000), sometimes called 'The Inspector Wexford Mysteries'. It ran as Episodes 4 to 6 of Series 2 in 1988. The entire 3 Episodes can be viewed on YouTube here. The TV series stars actor George Baker as Inspector Wexford.
Review of the Arrow Books paperback edition (1976/1985 reprint) of the original Hutchinson hardcover (1975)
Ruth Rendell continues to impress me with another of my 1980's re-reads. Shake Hands for Ever (most later editions show the title as Shake Hands Forever), is listed as No. 9 in her Inspector Wexford series (1964-2013).
Angela Hathall has been strangled in her cottage in West Sussex. She was discovered by her mother-in-law and husband as they came for a weekend visit. The husband Robert Hathall was commuting weekly to London for work. The trip had been meant as a reconciliation of Hathall's mother with Angela, his 2nd wife, with whom there had been an earlier quarrel. Wexford has a theory about the crime, but no one else believes him, especially his Chief Constable Charles Griswold. After complaints by the husband, he is taken off the case.
Despite having to work the case unofficially, Wexford persists in having Hathall occasionally followed in London by paying off an old contact and by calling in favours from his nephew Howard Fortune, a Chief Superintendent of CID in London. Over the course of 15 months, Wexford continues to hope that the case will catch a break and that Hathall and a co-conspirator will be discovered. He is continually disappointed until a chance coincidence ties Hathall into an apparently unrelated payroll fraud. It all leads to a final dramatic conclusion with a shocking twist reveal by Wexford.
Cover of the original Hutchinson hardcover (1975). Image sourced from Wikipedia.
Rendell also plays a sly game with readers by introducing a suspiciously attractive neighbour widow Nancy Lake, who was a partial witness to events at the murder cottage. Lake seems especially drawn to Wexford and flirtatiously arranges to keep meeting him throughout the course of the investigation. Is she somehow involved in the crime or is the Inspector that much of a romantic interest to her? Rendell teasingly leaves their final meeting to your imagination: Did Wexford or didn't he cheat on his faithful wife Dora? Your opinion of Wexford's character, based on the previous 8 novels, will determine your answer to that question.
I re-read Shake Hands for Ever due to the discovery of a hoard of my old 1980's mystery paperbacks while cleaning out a storage locker. I only have a few of the old Ruth Rendell paperbacks, so this isn't the start of one of my complete binge re-reads. Rendell is definitely one of the masters of the Silver Age of Crime though, so I will certainly be re-reading several of her books.
Trivia and Links
Shake Hands Forever was adapted for television as part of the long running series of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1987-2000), sometimes called 'The Inspector Wexford Mysteries'. It ran as Episodes 4 to 6 of Series 2 in 1988. The entire 3 Episodes can be viewed on YouTube here. The TV series stars actor George Baker as Inspector Wexford.
Wexford’s White Whale
Review of the Arrow Books/Cornerstone Digital Kindle eBook edition (2010) of the original Hutchinson hardcover (1975)
I was so swept up in my current binge read / re-read of Ruth Rendell (aka [a:Barbara Vine|47687|Barbara Vine|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1263385982p2/47687.jpg]) that I picked up an eBook edition of Wexford #9, having forgotten that I had already re-read & reviewed it back in 2022 as Wexford's Chimera when I discovered an old hoard of paperbacks. That review and rating stands after this additional re-read.
I will add that there is an extra level of enjoyment in a Rendell eBook binge as it allows for an easy markup of Notes and Highlights, allowing you to research Rendell's various literary quotes and allusions.
Cover image for the Arrow Books paperback reprint edition from 1985. Image sourced from Goodreads.
Trivia and Links
Shake Hands For Ever was adapted for television as part of the Ruth Rendell / Inspector Wexford Mysteries TV series (1987-2000) as Season 2 Episodes 4 to 6 in 1988 with actor George Baker as Inspector Wexford. You can watch the entire 3 episodes on YouTube here.
Review of the Arrow Books/Cornerstone Digital Kindle eBook edition (2010) of the original Hutchinson hardcover (1975)
‘Howard, you are my only ally.’ ‘Well, you know what Chesterton said about that.’ Wexford put on his dressing gown and went downstairs to find what Chesterton had said. ‘There are no words to express the abyss between isolation and having one ally. It may be conceded to the mathematicians that four is twice two. But two is not twice one; two is two thousand times one.’ - Inspector Wexford is bucked up by the support of his nephew Howard Fortune.
I was so swept up in my current binge read / re-read of Ruth Rendell (aka [a:Barbara Vine|47687|Barbara Vine|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1263385982p2/47687.jpg]) that I picked up an eBook edition of Wexford #9, having forgotten that I had already re-read & reviewed it back in 2022 as Wexford's Chimera when I discovered an old hoard of paperbacks. That review and rating stands after this additional re-read.
I will add that there is an extra level of enjoyment in a Rendell eBook binge as it allows for an easy markup of Notes and Highlights, allowing you to research Rendell's various literary quotes and allusions.
Cover image for the Arrow Books paperback reprint edition from 1985. Image sourced from Goodreads.
Trivia and Links
Shake Hands For Ever was adapted for television as part of the Ruth Rendell / Inspector Wexford Mysteries TV series (1987-2000) as Season 2 Episodes 4 to 6 in 1988 with actor George Baker as Inspector Wexford. You can watch the entire 3 episodes on YouTube here.