Harm Done - Ruth Rendell

Ah, Ruth Rendell, part of the staple diet for British lovers of Crime Fiction novels and television. Yes? Well not for me. For some reason I’ve never read any of her books or seen any of the adaptions, so “Harm done” was to be a first. Ruth Rendell, it turns out, is pretty good in many respects, but in others strangely lacking. I’ll probably read more books by her, but in truth wouldn’t be deeply saddened if it didn’t happen. On the mystery front she is competent, but certainly not in the same league as, say, Elizabeth George, P.D. James or Ian Rankin. This is compensated for though, by her grasp of the socio-political ...

This is a really good novel to read, it’s about a disappearance of ‘Lizzie’ and then another young women on the day a convicted pedophile is released from prison. The people go mad fearing the worst. The chief inspector is very concerned, he’s just started up a campaign which he his running called the ‘Hurt-Witch’ to help victims of domestic violence. His daughter is living in a marriage that is not working and she starts work in a nearby women refuge called the Hide as a social worker. Two other crimes are committed which are far worse, it puts fear into the police and public a like, and Inspector Wexford has to try ...