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Product Description
Review
"It's a pleasure to have flashbacks to a boyish Wexford. . . . It's also a revelation to see how meticulously Rendell reconstructs that long-ago period."
— The New York Times
"An intriguing mystery is yet further proof of Rendell's amazing criminal mastery."
— Evening Standard (UK)
From the Hardcover edition.
— The New York Times
"An intriguing mystery is yet further proof of Rendell's amazing criminal mastery."
— Evening Standard (UK)
From the Hardcover edition.
Product Description
Inspector Wexford returns in his most surprising case yet
"He had never told anyone. The strange relationship, if it could be called that, had gone on for years, decades, and he had never breathed a word about it. He had kept silent because he knew no one would believe him. None of it could be proved, not the stalking, not the stares or the conspiratorial smiles, not the killings, not any of the signs Targo had made because he knew Wexford knew and could do nothing about it."
Wexford had almost made up his mind that he would never again set eyes on Eric Targo's short, muscular figure. And yet there he was, back in Kingsmarkham, still with that cocky, strutting walk.
Years earlier, when Wexford was a young police officer, a woman called Elsie Carroll had been found strangled in her bedroom. Although many still had their suspicions that her husband was guilty, no one was convicted. Another woman was strangled shortly afterwards, and every personal and professional instinct told Wexford that the killer was still at large. And it was Eric Targo. A psychopath who would kill again...
As the Chief Inspector investigates a new case, Ruth Rendell looks back to the beginning of Wexford's career, even to his courtship of the woman who would become his wife. The past is a haunted place, with clues and passions that leave an indelible imprint on the here and now.
From the Hardcover edition.
"He had never told anyone. The strange relationship, if it could be called that, had gone on for years, decades, and he had never breathed a word about it. He had kept silent because he knew no one would believe him. None of it could be proved, not the stalking, not the stares or the conspiratorial smiles, not the killings, not any of the signs Targo had made because he knew Wexford knew and could do nothing about it."
Wexford had almost made up his mind that he would never again set eyes on Eric Targo's short, muscular figure. And yet there he was, back in Kingsmarkham, still with that cocky, strutting walk.
Years earlier, when Wexford was a young police officer, a woman called Elsie Carroll had been found strangled in her bedroom. Although many still had their suspicions that her husband was guilty, no one was convicted. Another woman was strangled shortly afterwards, and every personal and professional instinct told Wexford that the killer was still at large. And it was Eric Targo. A psychopath who would kill again...
As the Chief Inspector investigates a new case, Ruth Rendell looks back to the beginning of Wexford's career, even to his courtship of the woman who would become his wife. The past is a haunted place, with clues and passions that leave an indelible imprint on the here and now.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
"He likes animals better than people",
By Michael Leonard "MikeonAlpha" (Silver Lake, Los Angeles, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Monster in the Box (Hardcover)
Losing none of his urge to get to get to the bottom of a challenging case, Rendell's intrepid protagonist Inspector Wexford finds himself uncovering the dark motivations of Eric Targo, a monster who Wexford suspects is a serial murderer. The first time Wexford had seen Targo was when he was very young and very fit and a young police officer investigating a brutal murder of Elsie Carroll had been found dead in her bedroom one evening while her husband was out at his whist club. Targo had been exercising his golden spaniel in the street shortly after the murder, his stare was absurd, sinister, it went on so long still gazing at Wexford under the street lamp. Then Wexford nodded faintly saying to himself that man he did it, while Targo hides his birthmark, a purple-brown naevus, shaped like a map of an unknown continent, "whoever he is, he killed Elsie Carroll." And then there's the faint nod as if to say: " We know each other now. We are bound together now"But now with the birthmark gone, Targo has grown old but has a young man's figure, squat stocky muscular with his cocky walk and his confident stance. But Wexford is still plagued by memories from a distant past as he spies Targo visiting an the Rahman family in a suburb of Kingsmarkham, driving up and parking in a white van. Wexford just can't get Targo out of his head, the hunches, speculations, suspicions built up over the years. Now a lifetime later Wexford is ready to tell Mike Burdon who reminds him Targo has absolutely no motive. Furthermore, there's no circumstantial evidence and he's got some sort of alibi that he was at home with his family, looking after his son. Why would he kill Elsie Carroll? Meanwhile, Burden's wife Jenny and Wexford's colleague Hannah Goldsmith set themselves on a path of benevolent martyrdom, convinced that the Rahman family's youngest the sixteen year old Tamina is being pushed into an arranged forced marriage. Currently Tamina's whereabouts is unknown, having left school of her own free will like the law says she could. Wexford is convinced that Jenny and Hannah have manufactured a serious problem out of nothing. But Hannah will not be un-persuaded, with her propensity to bend over backwards to avoid uttering the slightest word that might be construed as criticism of some nasty custom. Her vehement determination is prove that a forced marriage was intended without any evidence of it. Rendell fleshes out Wexford's character like never before as she recalls his first loves, his engagement to a girl called Alison and then his obsession with a girl in a red dress, just enough to think that one day he would like to marry a girl like her, and his experiences in Cornwall with a young girl by the name of Medora Holland, and her boyfriend. Of course, his marriage to Dora remains steadfast, her loyalty and love the rock in his life. When another murder hits close to home, shaking up Wexford and Dora's world, Wexford turns to his memories of the seventeen-year-old Billy Kenyon a young autistic man who loved to work at Kingsmarkham's Botanical Gardens and who was murdered back in 1976, perhaps by Targo. Rendell intuits her novel with a benevolent racism, a British people who think they are "not without prejudice," a family who had a solidarity Wexford had seldom seen before the immigrants came, along with the wild imaginings, fixation, and a kind of madness of the man with the cold blue eyes who had such self-confidence that he would see no need to bring the instrument of death with him. Mixing in various ex-wives, and other opportunists, Rendell's novel bleeds the past in with the present, the suspicious and the unpredictable, not the least of whom is the enigmatic drifter Eric Targo. Emphasizing the gossipy effects of small town Kingsmarkham, Rendell's Wexford faces a convoluted mystery and a real challenge that slowly unravels as the novel progresses. While it's not surprising that Targo's machinations are somehow connected to the Rahman family, the fear of what he might do next plays a large role in this case, almost becoming an invisible container created by Wexford's mind, the apprehensiveness or anxiety always locked inside, a true monster in the box. Mike Leonard November 09.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.7 out of 5 stars (72 customer reviews) 52 of 53 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Out Of The Past,
By Tom S. "filmfan3" - Published on Amazon.com
Eric Targo is a creep, but is he a serial killer? That's the question for Inspector Reginald Wexford in THE MONSTER IN THE BOX. Many years ago, when he was a young cop on the beat, Wexford suspected the strange little man of committing several random murders in Kingsmarkham, Wexford's town in southern England. Wexford never had any evidence or proof, so he never mentioned his suspicions to anyone. Targo knew the young cop suspected him, and he took to taunting him in a weird way--following him around and staring at him. Then he disappeared. Over the years, Wexford's suspicions became a secret obsession.Now, after many years, Mr. Targo is back in Kingsmarkham, and Wexford's old obsession has resurfaced. He's even begun to stalk Targo, just as he, himself, was once stalked. But is Targo really a monster? Was he ever? Or is it all in Wexford's imagination? Wexford finally breaks his long silence, telling his police partner, Mike Burden, everything he knows and suspects about the man. Mike doesn't believe him at first, but then there's a new murder very much like the old ones.... Ruth Rendell is my favorite mystery writer, and this new book is a real treat for fans. In telling Wexford's history with Eric Targo, Rendell gives us unusual glimpses into his past--including his bachelor days and how he met, courted, and married his wife, Dora, and the eventual births of their daughters, Sylvia and Sheila. These flashbacks arrive throughout the new story, providing a detailed portrait of the inspector. I've been reading his adventures for 30 years now, but I never learned as much about him as I did here. Another bonus for longtime readers is the mentioning of several earlier Wexford cases, including From Doon with Death: The First Inspector Wexford Novel (Mortalis), Murder Being Once Done, and Road Rage (A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery). A great new mystery plus a great trip down Memory Lane--what could be better than that? Highly recommended. 20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
My first Wexford and Rendell's last*,
By Sharon Isch - Published on Amazon.com
Pre-release customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program
Longtime fans of this series seem to be particularly keen on this novel because it reveals so much of the inspector's personal past. I can't really speak to that as this is my first Inspector Wexford novel and, according to the review in today's Washington Post, Ruth Rendell has said this 22nd in the series will be her last, as she has "other interests now.""Monster in the Box" is the story of two detectives' extreme obsessions: 1) Wexford's with a character out of his past who, without a grain of proof, he deeply believes has committed at least two murders and may also be a serial killer; and (2) his "politically correct" colleague Hannah's to save a 16-year old Pakistani girl, who's dropped out of school, from the threat of either a forced arranged marriage or an honor killing. Eventually the two storylines will merge and all will be revealed. A pretty good read with an exceedingly creepy prime suspect, but after all the buildup, I found the wrapup somewhat weak and flat. *Update October 2011: OOPS! Seems the author changed her mind and is revisiting yet another of Wexford's old cases: Following is from the New York Times mystery review column of 10/16/11: "The most disturbing moment in Ruth Rendell's latest Inspector Wexford mystery, THE VAULT (Scribner, $26), is when her retired London detective realizes that he isn't 'entitled' to enter the new police headquarters in Cricklewood. That sense of disorientation hovers over Wexford as he goes about his vaguely defined business as an "expert adviser" on a bizarre case in St. John's Wood. "Three skeletons have turned up in the long-forgotten coal cellar of Orcadia Cottage, along with a fresher corpse that adds an extra frisson of horror to the fiendish plot, which picks up the threads of 'A Sight for Sore Eyes,' published more than a decade ago. Wexford hasn't lost his touch, but he must watch his step around the real cops, who find his methods rather 'eccentric.' One promising note: Although Wexford doesn't seem very keen on his new role of amateur detective, once the case is well behind him he finds that 'having not enough to do was beginning to make him fidgety.'" 13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
"I will get him for what he's done.",
By E. Bukowsky "booklover10" - Published on Amazon.com
In Ruth Rendell's "The Monster in the Box," Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford takes center stage. In his mind's eye, he relives his early days as a policeman and even recalls his youthful romances. Why this sudden attack of nostalgia? Wexford's obsession with the past results from a renewed sighting of his nemesis, Eric Targo, whom Wexford believes has killed before and may kill again. The problem is that Wexford does not have a scintilla of proof that Targo has committed murder, and for many years, Wexford "had kept silent because he knew no one would believe him." Targo has stalked, smirked at, and mocked Wexford, knowing that the chief inspector cannot touch him. Has Wexford's intense dislike of this man colored his thinking? Is it possible that Targo is guilty of nothing more than being an obnoxious bully? Finally, desperate to confide in someone, Reg reveals his suspicions to his long-time partner, Mike Burden.Eric Targo, who is short and muscular, was born with a disfiguring purple-brown birthmark on his neck. Over the years, he has married repeatedly, embarked on a number of business ventures, and traveled from place to place. The first Mrs. Targo said of her husband, "He likes animals better than people. Well, he doesn't like people at all." After a decade of having no contact with Targo, the chief inspector still bitterly regrets his inability to bring this fiend to justice. Now that Targo is back in Kingsmarkham, Wexford has another chance to complete his mission. Another subplot involves Moslem parents named Mohammed and Yasmin Rahman, whose sixteen-year old daughter, Tamima, is an excellent student. However, Tamima is a bit too interested in boys and her family might want to arrange a "safe" marriage for her before she strays too far afield. Rendell demonstrates how the huge wave of immigration from Asia is changing the face of England and setting the stage for ugly religious and cultural conflicts. "The Monster in the Box" is a well-constructed novel in which Rendell gives us a fascinating peek at the young Wexford as he tries to make his mark in his chosen profession. Reggie is a richly developed and appealing character whose compassion, good judgment, insight, love of learning, and willingness to admit his mistakes are thoroughly refreshing. Rendell's literate writing flows effortlessly, the dialogue is sharp and often amusingly sardonic, and her descriptive writing is vivid and concise. This book would be worthwhile solely for the back story of how Reggie met and married and his wife after a series of unproductive relationships. The Targo plot is chilling. Wexford is convinced that this individual has ruthlessly killed a number of men and women whom he barely knew. However, what is his motive (if indeed he has one)? Furthermore, unless Targo strikes again and is caught in the act, there is nothing that Wexford can do. He recalls old murder cases that may have been Targo's handiwork and investigates a new one that hits much too close to home. Gradually, Wexford closes in on a brute who may be the epitome of evil or simply an unpleasant person who, for some reason, has become the focus of Reggie's intense dislike. Ruth Rendell plays with our minds and keeps us guessing in this multi-faceted and engrossing novel of psychological suspense. |
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