Most helpful customer reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
A worthy addition to the Wexford series, Jan 15 2001
By A Customer
No More Dying Then is worth reading. It stands on it's own, and it is a worthy addition to the Wexford series. I've been reading Rendell for a couple of years now, primarily because Elizabeth George's work is so often compared to hers. I find the comparison complimentary to both authors. Rendell's early work, including No More Dying Then, is less complex in plot and character development than both her later work and all of George's work. Regardless, Rendell's stories are interesting, and her characters are believable. No More Dying Then is generally a satisfying work. The relationships and thought-processes are well-crafted and authentic. The red herrings are fun, and the ending is a bit of a suprise. Plus, there is enough bizarre and deviant behavior to entertain a second milennium audience without excruciating detail, for those of us who prefer not to know too much...I have been reading Rendell's work in order of publication (a personal preference when authors are as prolific as she), and I have thoroughly enjoyed the development of both Wexford and Burden. I get the feeling that Rendell likes her main characters and cares about their lives. As a result I care about them, and want to know more about them.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent writing, and gloomy, gloomy, gloomy, Sep 15 2000
This is a typical Ruth Rendell product. If you have read her books before and liked them then you will like this one. 'No More Dying Then' deals with the disappearance of a small boy. Six months earlier, a twelve-year-old girl disappeared in the same vicinity, and was never found. So the two events terrify the community and galvanize Chief Wexford and his deputy Burden into action. At the same time, Burden is having a very hard time dealing with the loss of his wife to cancer about nine months earlier. In fact, the secondary plot of Burden's emotional struggles almost overshadows the mystery itself. Rendell handles both sides of her story with smooth professional polish. The plotting is believable and skillful, the writing is excellent, the characterizations are insightful.So why four stars and not five? Well, because almost no 200-page mystery novel can explore personalities or ideas to the depth that would be required for 5 stars, IMHO. Secondly, is Ruth Rendell herself as unhappy as her characters always seem to be? Whether they are cops, criminals, or innocent bystanders, even the happiest of Rendell's characters seem to look at life with a world-weary resignation. Sheer joy is close to unheard of in her work, and this book is no exception. In a mystery magazine article I read a few years ago, someone took Rendell to task for criticizing Agatha Christie (whom Rendell could never begin to approach, IMHO). The writer said, "Whom would you prefer to have dinner with: Hercule Poirot or Inspector Wexford?" The answer is obvious. After a dinner with Wexford, you would wonder what's the point in going on with life. I'm probably spending too much time on the negatives here, because this is a fine book. But I don't believe that Rendell is at the very top level of living literary mystery writers - a level which is reserved for P D James and Elizabeth George. Then comes Anne Perry, and then Rendell. However, that still puts Rendell above an awful lot of writers!
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent suspense story with rounded characterizations., Aug 31 1999
By A Customer
Above average for Ruth Rendell with unremitting suspens and round up characters, this book could be termed "superb" by any other author; for Ruth Rendell, it is merely excellent. Contrary to the view of the reader from Riga, Ruth Rendell, to me, is of the same category as Dorothy Sayers - stylishly erudite. P. D. James I would classify with Agatha Christie, with a pedestrian style and unmemorable characterizations.
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