Reviews

Vermist by Ruth Rendell

laila4343's review against another edition

4.0

I devoured this one, and the ending wasn't what I expected, which is always refreshing. Love Inspector Wexford and Mike Burden, although Burden does deserve a good kick in the head for most of this book.

ianl1963's review against another edition

3.0

Wondering if the series will end in a bloodbath:

Burden strung up by his underlings at the cop shop.

Wexford burnt on a pyre of the pompous b*ggers book of quotes.

A reasonable listen, should concentrate more for clues, see if crimes deducible.

Surely not two pipe problems!

slipperose's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

crowyhead's review against another edition

3.0

One child, a twelve-year-old girl, has been missing for several months. Now, another child, a five-year-old boy, has disappeared, and Inspector Wexford fears that time is running out. This is an excellent mystery/crime story (it kept me guessing right up until the end), but it's almost more of a character study as we get inside the head of Inspector Burden, Wexford's aptly named colleague. Burden's wife has recently passed away, and he is consumed with grief and anger, causing him to react to the case in an unpredictable manner.

bucherca49's review against another edition

4.0

I liked the way in which this novel explores the character of Mike Burden, who has been portrayed as hard and somewhat puritanical. His inability to understand human frailties goes along with his ignorance of literature. At the beginning of this novel, Burden has lost his wife Jean to cancer and can think only of his own misery. He ignores his children and his sister-in-law Grace, who has come to help out after her sister's death. All this changes when he meets Gemma Lawrence, whose son has disappeared. Burden disapproves of Gemma, but Gemma leads him out of his depression. Meanwhile, Wexford solves the murder of a young girl, which he thinks might be related to the disappearance of Gemma's son.

gifflesnooks's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

davedwelling's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

acmedia's review against another edition

1.0

The sexism that runs throughout it, and colours the behaviour of one of the lead characters, can be explained by the time it was written but is still a struggle to read. And as for the detection work - there's evidence withheld from the reader, a solution which is circumstantial at best, and a coincidence so unlikely that it must have been caused by a deadline approaching.

erniekate's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

lucyb's review against another edition

3.0

I recently reread this, and while the resolution of the mystery itself may be rather farfetched, the clues for it are given. What struck me most about it, though, was the lyricism of the writing. Rendell is here at her best in evoking moody landscapes, inchoate dread, and the terrifying incalculability--and unexpected grace--of human relationships.