This is a scary but compelling psychological thriller about two unfortunate flawed people. The 'sight for sore eyes' is the beautiful Francine Hill, who has never recovered from the childhood trauma of her mother's brutal murder, and is now at the mercy of an over-protective stepmother. A chance meeting brings her face to face with a young man her age, Teddy Grex, autistic, unloved by his parents, poorly educated, but a skilled craftsman - and a murderer. He becomes totally obsessed with Francine in an oddly distant, cold-hearted way, and makes it his mission to rescue her from an oppressive home life. But it does nothing to prepare either of them for a happy-ever-after existence. - quite the opposite, in fact.

I found the novel oddly disjointed for the first few chapters, especially as the two main characters seemed to have no connection whatsoever. Not until I was over a quarter of the way through did it all become clear. If you've never read a Ruth Rendell before (and this was my first), do persevere with it, for once the characters meet, the story really clicks into place. Also it says much for the author's characterisation that it invites some sympathy for the hapless if menacing Teddy.

It's a chilling, unsettling tale that will really have you turning the pages towards the end.