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Make Death Love Me
by
Ruth Rendell
The manager of a tiny branch of the Anglican-Victoria bank, Alan Groombridge, is doomed to a life of domestic boredom and tedious routine, husband to a woman he doesn’t like, the father of two children he never wanted. But Alan has a fantasy: to rob the bank of enough money for one year of freedom.
Audio Cassette, 0 pages
Published
March 1st 2000
by Chivers North America
(first published 1979)
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an early Rendell and an enjoyable one.
She reminds me of Highsmith but Highsmith is much darker. Rendell has a real romantic streak. At least in this one (spoiler alert!) the new-found romance is short-lived...but that's because there is unfinished business which must be attended to (and which claims the would-be lover).
There, I've said little, explained nothing.
I think this romantic vein of hers gets stronger in the later novels.
In Rendell's books (I'm including her Barbara Vine novels), those w...more
She reminds me of Highsmith but Highsmith is much darker. Rendell has a real romantic streak. At least in this one (spoiler alert!) the new-found romance is short-lived...but that's because there is unfinished business which must be attended to (and which claims the would-be lover).
There, I've said little, explained nothing.
I think this romantic vein of hers gets stronger in the later novels.
In Rendell's books (I'm including her Barbara Vine novels), those w...more
I would have sworn (or at least, strongly suggested) that this book was written before the magisterial A Judgement in Stone, but it turns out that it was actually published immediately afterwards. Oops.
Still, on the whole I thought it was a decidedly lesser book. Its plot arises out out of a rather more commonplace inversion of Judgement, which rather famously begins with the astonishing opening sentence "Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write." Alan Groo...more
Still, on the whole I thought it was a decidedly lesser book. Its plot arises out out of a rather more commonplace inversion of Judgement, which rather famously begins with the astonishing opening sentence "Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write." Alan Groo...more
Aug 21, 2012
Clarissa Draper
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
ruth-rendall
I have wanted to read a book by this author for a very long time. I wasn't disappointed. She's an amazing writer.
It starts out simply enough, a man wants something more from his life. He works as a bank manager and fantasizes about what his life could be like if he just took half the money from the bank safe--a measly 3000 pounds.
Well, one day he finally gets that chance when a bank robbery goes bad.
Rendell has a lovely way of getting into her character's heads. We truly believe that each char...more
It starts out simply enough, a man wants something more from his life. He works as a bank manager and fantasizes about what his life could be like if he just took half the money from the bank safe--a measly 3000 pounds.
Well, one day he finally gets that chance when a bank robbery goes bad.
Rendell has a lovely way of getting into her character's heads. We truly believe that each char...more
For a mystery, this is pretty good since it's told from the point of view of the perpetrators of the crime and how their lives change...the bank manager, who up until this time has had no challenges in his life and his initial reaction is that of a coward who becomes a hero and from the two young men who perpetrated the bank robbery and turn from thoughtless young men to Nigel who becomes a murderer. Joyce the bank teller who is a heroine of sorts but is cowed by starvation and desperation. Alan...more
I'm having another go at this 1979 Rendell novel, which I recall as one of her best. The thing is, although I liked it very much, I also seem to recall it as one of her gloomiest, as it plays out almost like a Greek tragedy. So, except for an aborted attempt within the past few years, I haven't re-read it since the late 1980s. Anyway, here goes. . .
01/09/11: Decided, after a few chapters, not to proceed with a re-read at this time, and am instead re-reading Agatha Christie's Ordeal By Innocenc...more
01/09/11: Decided, after a few chapters, not to proceed with a re-read at this time, and am instead re-reading Agatha Christie's Ordeal By Innocenc...more
"The very literate Rendell creates another Hitchcock style mystery. 30- something bank manager, Alan Groombridge, discovers that “ the heady intoxication of literature” not only gives pleasure but has also “poisoned him for what he had.” This leads to a series of events in which ordinary folk get caught in a web of deceit and become robbers, thieves, adulterers and, yes, murderers. You might think it dated, but envy and greed never goes out of style."
DB/Reference Emerita
DB/Reference Emerita
I love Rendell, though generally speaking I'm a bigger fan of the Wexford series than her stand-alone stories. This early one is very well written, but marketing it as a thriller, especially with the not terribly accurate title, misrepresents it. This is really a study of the central character, Alan Groombridge, a sort of "man without character", and how he comes to a long-overdue moral awakening. Very good, if you don't mind it not actually being a crime novel exactly.
the narrative details a sad and sympathetic downward spiral for the handful of characters involved in a bank robbery gone awry. Rendell, per usual, invokes each character with precise psychological acuity and, at times, an almost romantic sense of dignity. the central character, although thoroughly weak and misguided, is a particularly poignant creation. i feel sympathy for any ardent book-lover and dreamer trapped in relentless suburbia; his characterization is strong, maybe even tragic. overal...more
Ruth Rendell is a master at leading you down a road and then you know you are lost and mistaken. Its a great bus trip book.
You can't beat Rendell for a good British mystery! I love the way she spins a story, develops her characters, and ties the whole thing up neatly at the end.
Ruth Rendell knows how to write intelligent page-turners! I've not been disappointed yet.
Audiobook
best title ever
good
about a bank manager just wanted 3000 lbs.
Apr 22, 2013
Eddy Allen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery-and-suspense
The manager of a tiny branch of the Anglican-Victoria bank, Alan Groombridge, is doomed to a life of domestic boredom and tedious routine, husband to a woman he doesn’t like, the father of two children he never wanted. But Alan has a fantasy: to rob the bank of enough money for one year of freedom.
Alan Groombridge doesn't want his boring life, or his boring wife. He dislikes the children he never wanted and he's desperate to escape the rest of this domestic nightmare.
But Alan has a plan. He wants to rob a bank...
But Alan has a plan. He wants to rob a bank...
Apr 22, 2012
Lili
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-fiction,
paperback
I have yet to read a poor Ruth Rendell mystery. in fact I have enjoyed reading them all. Not all at once but over the years.
M Ren
Apr 20, 2013
Liam Wright
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery-and-suspense
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Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE, who also writes under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, is an acclaimed English crime writer, known for her many psychological thrillers and murder mysteries.
More about Ruth Rendell...
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