End In Tears

I have written beforein this blog of my huge admiration for Ruth Rendell. At one time, I had readevery novel and short story she'd published, both under her own name and asBarbara Vine. In the past 10 years or so, however, I've missed a few titles,and I've rather felt that (with a few notable exceptions) her most recent bookshave not quite reached the remarkable standards of excellence that she set inthe past. But she remains a gifted writer, and I'm keen to fill in the gaps.
I decided that I'd tryan audio book version of one of her Wexford stories, and was tempted by End inTears, especially as it was read by Christopher Ravenscroft, who was so good ontelevision in the role of Detective Inspector Mike Burden. I really like theWexford series, and I also admired the performance of the late George Baker asa very believable television Wexford.
Again,however, I have felt that there has been something of a falling-off in the morerecent Wexford books. For my taste, Rendell became a little too anxious toshove some social comment into the stories, and in such a long-establishedseries, this occasionally seems a bit awkward and unconvincing. But I make thisobservation simply because I think Ruth Rendell is such a fine writer that sheought to be judged by the most demanding standards (most of the rest of us needjustice to be tempered with a liberal dose of mercy!)
Endin Tears is a well-constructed mystery, although not ideally suited to audiobook abridgement, which led to a slightly fragmentary narrative and perhaps toomany characters. The social comment element here is about surrogacy, and Ifound this fairly interesting. But the actual murder motive was, to my mind, genuinelyfascinating, and neatly concealed. This book may not rank with the best ofWexford, but it is still enjoyable and I'm glad I've caught up with it at last.