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The Lake of Darkness
Martin Urban is a quiet bachelor with a comfortable life, free of worry and distractions. When he unexpectedly comes into a small fortune, he decides to use his newfound wealth to help out those in need. Finn also leads a quiet life, and comes into a little money of his own. Normally, their paths would never have crossed. But Martin’s ideas about who should benefit from his charitable impulses yield some unexpected results, and soon the good intentions of the one become fatally entangled with the mercenary nature of the other. In the Lake of Darkness, Ruth Rendell takes the old adage that no good deed goes unpunished to a startling, haunting conclusion.
154 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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About the author
Ruth Rendell
457 books1,626 followersA.K.A. Barbara Vine
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE, who also wrote under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, was an acclaimed English crime writer, known for her many psychological thrillers and murder mysteries and above all for Inspector Wexford.
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE, who also wrote under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, was an acclaimed English crime writer, known for her many psychological thrillers and murder mysteries and above all for Inspector Wexford.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 126 reviews
March 22, 2023
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Review of the Arrow Books paperback edition (1994) of the original Hutchinson (UK) hardcover (1980)
This was a dark noir which continues my current Ruth Rendell read/re-read binge. It is the third of my non-Wexford Rendells after A Dark-Adapted Eye (1986) (published under her pseudonym of Barbara Vine) and A Judgement in Stone (1977).
The Lake of Darkness is a dance of death where three characters circle each other at a distance for most of the book until the final fatal confrontations. It is not always obvious what the tie-ins are going to be until a reveal occurs about 2/3rds into the book. Saying too much about that will be a spoiler so I will just stick to the main characters and plot.
Accountant Martin Urban wins slightly over ₤100,000 in a football pool (this 1980 amount would be the equivalent of ₤400,000 in 2022 value or about $500,000 U.S.). Martin himself had not previously played or even understood football pools, but had been given a formula by an acquaintance Tim Sage who was a journalist. After his win though, Martin decides to hide that information from Tim (he is somewhat suspicious about Tim's character and there is a hint of fear about his own latent bisexuality). Martin is still altruistic enough that he decides to share his good fortune with several others by helping them in their lives. These offers are often met with suspicion and doubt however. Martin also meets and falls in love with a young woman named Francesca who works at a florist shop.
The other main character of the book is handyman Finn (the last name only is used), the son of Lena Finn who was once the cleaning lady for Martin's parents, but who has fallen on hard times due to a mental breakdown. The psychopathic Finn (who also has delusions of occult powers) moonlights as a strongman & hitman for landlords who seek to evict tenants from buildings against their will. Finn is used to acting on oblique hints and orders by his employers who loathe to speak directly about violence and murder.
This all leads to very dark consequences for some of the characters involved. What kept it out of 5 star territory for me was the amount of coincidence and misinterpretation required to reach that result. But this is fiction requiring drama and suspense and some trickery is obviously required to get there. In any case, this is much darker that the often light mysteries of the Inspector Wexford series with Wexford's quoting of the classics and his banter with his assistant Burden.
Cover image for the original Hutchinson UK hardcover edition from 1980. Image sourced from Wikipedia. It is believed that the cover art can or could be obtained from Hutchinson., Fair use, Link.
The book's title is taken from Shakespeare:
Trivia and Links
The Lake of Darkness was adapted for television as part of the UK Ruth Rendell Mysteries series as The Lake of Darkness (1999) in Season 11 Episodes 8 & 9. I could not find a free trailer or a free posting of it online. I did find that it was available as part of the Britbox Canada streaming channel as The Ruth Rendell Mysteries: Next Chapters as Season 6 Episode 1 (combining the original two separate episodes into one) here.
Review of the Arrow Books paperback edition (1994) of the original Hutchinson (UK) hardcover (1980)
Finn finished his drink. He said nothing. He was beginning to be aware that an offer was about to be made to him but for what and in exchange for what he couldn’t tell. […] Finn’s gaze fell and rose again. He was overwhelmed by the munificence of this offer. His fame had indeed spread before him, and it wasn’t his fame as a plumber and decorator. Yet one to him were fame and shame, he was without vanity.
This was a dark noir which continues my current Ruth Rendell read/re-read binge. It is the third of my non-Wexford Rendells after A Dark-Adapted Eye (1986) (published under her pseudonym of Barbara Vine) and A Judgement in Stone (1977).
The Lake of Darkness is a dance of death where three characters circle each other at a distance for most of the book until the final fatal confrontations. It is not always obvious what the tie-ins are going to be until a reveal occurs about 2/3rds into the book. Saying too much about that will be a spoiler so I will just stick to the main characters and plot.
Accountant Martin Urban wins slightly over ₤100,000 in a football pool (this 1980 amount would be the equivalent of ₤400,000 in 2022 value or about $500,000 U.S.). Martin himself had not previously played or even understood football pools, but had been given a formula by an acquaintance Tim Sage who was a journalist. After his win though, Martin decides to hide that information from Tim (he is somewhat suspicious about Tim's character and there is a hint of fear about his own latent bisexuality). Martin is still altruistic enough that he decides to share his good fortune with several others by helping them in their lives. These offers are often met with suspicion and doubt however. Martin also meets and falls in love with a young woman named Francesca who works at a florist shop.
The other main character of the book is handyman Finn (the last name only is used), the son of Lena Finn who was once the cleaning lady for Martin's parents, but who has fallen on hard times due to a mental breakdown. The psychopathic Finn (who also has delusions of occult powers) moonlights as a strongman & hitman for landlords who seek to evict tenants from buildings against their will. Finn is used to acting on oblique hints and orders by his employers who loathe to speak directly about violence and murder.
This all leads to very dark consequences for some of the characters involved. What kept it out of 5 star territory for me was the amount of coincidence and misinterpretation required to reach that result. But this is fiction requiring drama and suspense and some trickery is obviously required to get there. In any case, this is much darker that the often light mysteries of the Inspector Wexford series with Wexford's quoting of the classics and his banter with his assistant Burden.
Cover image for the original Hutchinson UK hardcover edition from 1980. Image sourced from Wikipedia. It is believed that the cover art can or could be obtained from Hutchinson., Fair use, Link.
The book's title is taken from Shakespeare:
Frateretto calls me; and tells me Nero is an angler in the lake of darkness. Pray, innocent, and beware the foul fiend. - spoken by Edgar in King Lear Act 3 Scene 6.
Trivia and Links
The Lake of Darkness was adapted for television as part of the UK Ruth Rendell Mysteries series as The Lake of Darkness (1999) in Season 11 Episodes 8 & 9. I could not find a free trailer or a free posting of it online. I did find that it was available as part of the Britbox Canada streaming channel as The Ruth Rendell Mysteries: Next Chapters as Season 6 Episode 1 (combining the original two separate episodes into one) here.
September 10, 2017
Ruth Rendell is on fine form in this short novel originally released in 1980, which is a dark and deeply ironic take on the proverb that no good deed goes unrewarded. Rendell approaches this story with a wealth of experience on the malevolent intentions of others and in The Lake of Darkness she captures the cruelty, ignorance, or selfishness of the world or others, that means ones good intentions will often result in being more trouble than they are worth. The Lake of Darkness initially sets out with dual threads and it proves somewhat difficult to envisage how the two distinct plot lines will coalesce for the eventual denouement. Opening with Finn, a mercenary loner who passes himself off as a handy man and fancies himself as a purveyor of dark arts, caring for his schizophrenia mother and engaged in an underhand scheme aimed at self-betterment, it quickly becomes apparent that he is no stranger to violence. At this point Rendell goes on to introduce twenty-eight-year old, Martin Urban, a chartered accountant with a staggeringly naive outlook on life. Given the advantages of a respectable upbringing and feeling rather fortunate at his start in life, a chance encounter with a fellow student that he met at university, local journalist Tim Sage, gives rise to his dalliance with playing the football pools, something that his parents eschewed as being a habit of the working classes. Scooping a share in the jackpot on just his fifth time of entry, he decides to play the benefactor and use some of his winnings to help various deserving causes, primarily in gaining a foothold on the housing market. However he also neglects to tell Tim, perhaps due to his subconscious recognition that Tim, despite Martin’s attraction and pull towards him, is inherently a rather selfish man. For Martin, it proves harder than he thought to convince the beneficiaries of his altruism, as opposed to their suspecting a hidden and less unselfish motive behind his actions. Rebuffed and disenchanted with the fruits of his labours he is met by a mixture of puzzlement, suspicion and ingratitude.
Lacking guile, callow and very unworldly wise, Martin finds his eye taken off the ball (no pun intended) by his meeting with the enigmatic Francesca Brown, who happens to deliver flowers to his residence. Surely, not by chance the reader imagines; although a wide-eyed Martin seems to easily progress from concern at pinning down the source to attempting to court Francesca, despite her remarkably tepid response to his amorous advances. When Francesca expressly asks Martin not to read the local paper, he immediately turns the pages of the North London Post and discovers an announcement mentioning the publication of a novel which also enlightens him as to reasons for her reluctance to progress their relationship. For in Francesca’s shadowy background there waits a husband, Russell Brown, and a two-year-old child. As it becomes apparent that the rather bland Francesca is merely a subterfuge for another’s intended malevolence, it proves hard to retain some semblance of credibility in the idea that a professionally qualified and intelligent man of almost thirty could be so devoid of nous as Martin is. Francesca fails to bring much to the novel, leaving an insipid impression, and hence it proved more bemusing to imagine how even staid Martin could become so entranced by her. Meanwhile, still trying to assist needy causes, Martin’s bizarre shortlist of those qualified to fit his requirements sees him contacting Finn, the dull-witted son of the Urban’s family former cleaner, Lena. A series of misunderstandings sees confusion reigning, their fortunes becoming intricately linked and Martin losing a whole lot more than just his football pools windfall.
My overriding disappointment with The Lake of Darkness is that the two separate threads show no sign of fusing together until almost seventy-five percent of the way through the novel, and that when they do cross paths it relies on a series of unlikely coincidences. It is this pie in the sky aspect that underwhelms the eventual conclusion. Neatly plotted and highly entertaining, none of the central figures ring true and the contrivances required to connect the threads means this doesn’t leave a memory quite so dark as Rendell perhaps intended. Well worth a read for an opportunity to see the diverse world of London inhabitants that Rendell chronicles so well and another of her tales showing the collision of two very different worlds. As much as the intention is obviously to cast Martin’s altruistic nature as being callously taken advantage of, it is hard to really consider him as anything other than an architect of his own downfall and also to believe that Finn has escaped the justice of the police for so long. The upshot is that I rather thought all involved parties got their just deserts, but then again reading this almost forty-years after publication, I inevitably have a much more cynical, but markedly more realistic expectation of best laid plans and how they often go very awry.
Lacking guile, callow and very unworldly wise, Martin finds his eye taken off the ball (no pun intended) by his meeting with the enigmatic Francesca Brown, who happens to deliver flowers to his residence. Surely, not by chance the reader imagines; although a wide-eyed Martin seems to easily progress from concern at pinning down the source to attempting to court Francesca, despite her remarkably tepid response to his amorous advances. When Francesca expressly asks Martin not to read the local paper, he immediately turns the pages of the North London Post and discovers an announcement mentioning the publication of a novel which also enlightens him as to reasons for her reluctance to progress their relationship. For in Francesca’s shadowy background there waits a husband, Russell Brown, and a two-year-old child. As it becomes apparent that the rather bland Francesca is merely a subterfuge for another’s intended malevolence, it proves hard to retain some semblance of credibility in the idea that a professionally qualified and intelligent man of almost thirty could be so devoid of nous as Martin is. Francesca fails to bring much to the novel, leaving an insipid impression, and hence it proved more bemusing to imagine how even staid Martin could become so entranced by her. Meanwhile, still trying to assist needy causes, Martin’s bizarre shortlist of those qualified to fit his requirements sees him contacting Finn, the dull-witted son of the Urban’s family former cleaner, Lena. A series of misunderstandings sees confusion reigning, their fortunes becoming intricately linked and Martin losing a whole lot more than just his football pools windfall.
My overriding disappointment with The Lake of Darkness is that the two separate threads show no sign of fusing together until almost seventy-five percent of the way through the novel, and that when they do cross paths it relies on a series of unlikely coincidences. It is this pie in the sky aspect that underwhelms the eventual conclusion. Neatly plotted and highly entertaining, none of the central figures ring true and the contrivances required to connect the threads means this doesn’t leave a memory quite so dark as Rendell perhaps intended. Well worth a read for an opportunity to see the diverse world of London inhabitants that Rendell chronicles so well and another of her tales showing the collision of two very different worlds. As much as the intention is obviously to cast Martin’s altruistic nature as being callously taken advantage of, it is hard to really consider him as anything other than an architect of his own downfall and also to believe that Finn has escaped the justice of the police for so long. The upshot is that I rather thought all involved parties got their just deserts, but then again reading this almost forty-years after publication, I inevitably have a much more cynical, but markedly more realistic expectation of best laid plans and how they often go very awry.
May 27, 2020
I was a bit disappointed by Master of the Moor but Lake of Darkness was brilliant. Martin Urban am accountant has won a small fortune in the football pools, thanks to his friend, journalist Tim. However, instead of sharing the winnings with Tim, he decides to play Good Samaritan with half the money. So begins a series of misunderstandings.
Finn is a psychotic hitman living with his schizophrenic mother Lena who was once Martins mothers cleaning lady. Soon Martin and his path will cross with tragic consequences. Tim finds out about Martins win and suddenly Martin meets his perfect ideal woman, Francesca a flower shop seller who he falls head over heels in love. But is she who she says she is? Married?
Martin’s good intentions go pear shaped and greed, real estate chicanery and revenge become interwoven with a stellar ending. I can understand why it won the 1981 Arts Council National Book Award.
Finn is a psychotic hitman living with his schizophrenic mother Lena who was once Martins mothers cleaning lady. Soon Martin and his path will cross with tragic consequences. Tim finds out about Martins win and suddenly Martin meets his perfect ideal woman, Francesca a flower shop seller who he falls head over heels in love. But is she who she says she is? Married?
Martin’s good intentions go pear shaped and greed, real estate chicanery and revenge become interwoven with a stellar ending. I can understand why it won the 1981 Arts Council National Book Award.
June 26, 2017
I love Ruth Rendell's writing and even her lesser books are fun to read. This may very well be one of those lesser ones. In fact, it strongly reminded me of another one of her books that I can't seem to remember the title of, but it also featured a protagonist that was so utterly clueless about the ways of the world, one practically expects him to be steamrolled under it. Granted this is an older book from a very different time, but still Martin is a staggeringly naïve young man by anyone's and any time's standards. He knows next to nothing about himself or others, so when he wins a large sum of money and sets off to give a lot of it away out of sheer quixotic altruism he finds out the veracity of the no good deed adage all too viscerally. His character was difficult to buy at times, an implausible sort of a person...but as a social satire or a work of psychological fiction, it's perfect, the way kindness is treated in the world, the greed, mendacity, cruelty, misunderstandings and sheer psychopathy that are so much more prevalent and (sadly) much easier recognizable and understood, that's pure Rendellian darkness. And yet, not without humorous notes (albeit black as night), not without a sort of compassion that lets her characters (from nicest to most demented) come across as dimensional and engaging, or at least realistic and understandable. Astute morality play about the price of good intentions and roads paved with them. You wouldn't want to spend any time with them probably, but a vicarious literary visit might be fun for fans of dark psychological fiction. Quick and entertaining read.
July 25, 2017
Martin, an ordinary, middle-class accountant wins some money playing the football pools, and decides he’s going to give at least half of it away. He comes up with a list of deserving recipients – his cleaner’s sister-in-law, a child who needs surgery, a couple of friends of friends – and writes some letters to set his plan in motion. It’s a simple act of kindness, with only a hint of self-interest. On the heels of his first charitable act, a gift of flowers appears at his door, and he quickly falls hard for the young woman who delivers them. Something has been set in motion, and by the time Martin puts the pieces together, it will be too late. I couldn’t put it down, and I marveled at how Ruth Rendell put it all together.
April 23, 2023
If it weren’t for novels like A Tale of Two Cities and The Grapes of Wrath, I would be giving this five stars – but there has to be some headroom.
I always judge a book by how I feel each time I return to it: if there is a small thrill of pleasure – like finding a wrinkled £20 note in a pair of laundered jeans, or discovering the wife’s secret chocolate stash while scouring a drawer for shoe polish – then it’s a hit by my reckoning.
Ruth Rendell wrote 24 Inspector Wexford novels and 14 more-literary works as Barbara Vine. Published in 1980 – perhaps her heyday – The Lake of Darkness is from her 28-strong canon of stand-alone suspense novels, typically austere and set in the mean streets of her favoured North London. It contains several of the unsettling tropes that populate her best works, most notably in its familiar character types.
There is the is the disenfranchised and misanthropic young male sociopath; the amoral temptress; and – caught between them – the wooden and painfully naïve protagonist, in whose shoes the reader is obliged to walk …
… thus, here we have Finn, Francesca and Martin, respectively.
In short, Finn is an amateur contract killer, and we hear first of his latest project. Meanwhile, chartered accountant Martin forms a subliminally homoerotic relationship with a journalist, Tim, an old acquaintance re-met. Tim shows Martin how to do the football pools. Martin wins a fortune, but does not tell Tim, and loses contact with him. Guilt-ridden, however, Martin sets about doing good with his riches. He picks Finn’s mother as one of his beneficiaries. When alluring flower-shop assistant, Francesca delivers a bouquet from an anonymous well-wisher, he falls for her. They begin to date, but Francesca is secretive about her private life (think, Tim).
You begin to see the scope for misadventure.
As the plot tantalisingly approached its climax, I became convinced it was drifting off course – indeed I was crafting a review that bemoaned its missing the main chance. Then – boom!
I always judge a book by how I feel each time I return to it: if there is a small thrill of pleasure – like finding a wrinkled £20 note in a pair of laundered jeans, or discovering the wife’s secret chocolate stash while scouring a drawer for shoe polish – then it’s a hit by my reckoning.
Ruth Rendell wrote 24 Inspector Wexford novels and 14 more-literary works as Barbara Vine. Published in 1980 – perhaps her heyday – The Lake of Darkness is from her 28-strong canon of stand-alone suspense novels, typically austere and set in the mean streets of her favoured North London. It contains several of the unsettling tropes that populate her best works, most notably in its familiar character types.
There is the is the disenfranchised and misanthropic young male sociopath; the amoral temptress; and – caught between them – the wooden and painfully naïve protagonist, in whose shoes the reader is obliged to walk …
… thus, here we have Finn, Francesca and Martin, respectively.
In short, Finn is an amateur contract killer, and we hear first of his latest project. Meanwhile, chartered accountant Martin forms a subliminally homoerotic relationship with a journalist, Tim, an old acquaintance re-met. Tim shows Martin how to do the football pools. Martin wins a fortune, but does not tell Tim, and loses contact with him. Guilt-ridden, however, Martin sets about doing good with his riches. He picks Finn’s mother as one of his beneficiaries. When alluring flower-shop assistant, Francesca delivers a bouquet from an anonymous well-wisher, he falls for her. They begin to date, but Francesca is secretive about her private life (think, Tim).
You begin to see the scope for misadventure.
As the plot tantalisingly approached its climax, I became convinced it was drifting off course – indeed I was crafting a review that bemoaned its missing the main chance. Then – boom!
March 30, 2014
I was definitely not in the right frame of mind for this; by two-thirds of the way through, I couldn't stand any of the characters and didn't care what happened to them. This isn't to say that Rendell didn't do her usual job of creating interesting, fully-developed characters. I just couldn't stand these. And little things bothered me about this book; I kept finding incidences of her not specifying that time had passed, and it made me want to throw the book. She'd write about, for example, how Martin was tired and the evening was getting late, and immediately write about how little he was enjoying dinner with his parents. It took me several moments that we were on the following evening. It tripped me up, it bothered me, and it happened repeatedly.
June 12, 2017
As usual, Rendell doesn't fail to entertain with her weird and deviant characters.
And the audio narration was quite entertaining.
Martin Urban is a conscientious young accountant who wins a pool and suddenly becomes quite affluent, and he decides to use the money to help others less fortunate. He had good intentions, but where did those take him?
Finn is another youngster, quite different, who lives with his widowed and schizophrenic mother who is quite dependent on him. Finn has no qualms in killing a person.
Tim Sage is Martin's customer, and is the person who introduced him to the concept of the pool.
Mr. Cochrane is Martin's cleaner, but quite hoity toity in nature, and he has a sister in law who is in devastating circumstances.
Fiona is a flower seller, who meets Martin while delivering a bouquet to him, perhaps by one of his grateful beneficiaries.
There are many other characters, who make up the rich tapestry.
And how do all these key players come together in a bizarre drama, upstaged by circumstances as well as by intent?
I was quite enthralled by this beautifully spun tale.
And the audio narration was quite entertaining.
Martin Urban is a conscientious young accountant who wins a pool and suddenly becomes quite affluent, and he decides to use the money to help others less fortunate. He had good intentions, but where did those take him?
Finn is another youngster, quite different, who lives with his widowed and schizophrenic mother who is quite dependent on him. Finn has no qualms in killing a person.
Tim Sage is Martin's customer, and is the person who introduced him to the concept of the pool.
Mr. Cochrane is Martin's cleaner, but quite hoity toity in nature, and he has a sister in law who is in devastating circumstances.
Fiona is a flower seller, who meets Martin while delivering a bouquet to him, perhaps by one of his grateful beneficiaries.
There are many other characters, who make up the rich tapestry.
And how do all these key players come together in a bizarre drama, upstaged by circumstances as well as by intent?
I was quite enthralled by this beautifully spun tale.
March 13, 2025
Oh my! I was looking forward to this, but kept putting it off in favor of other reads. Then it didn't seem to gel at first. There are two story lines: one from the viewpoint of a paid-for-hire murderer, the other from the viewpoint of a single and rather culturally conservative accountant. Call me perverse if you will, but the one of the murderer was very interesting and the accountant pretty much meh.
Not a slog by any means, but it seemed as if the first part just poked along. I kept after it thinking "this is Rendell, there must be something more to this." And yes, there is ever so MUCH more to this. I think if I had been reading a paperback rather than a Kindle edition, the last 50 pages would be curled from having been gripped hard. Rendell barely lets you breathe right up to the last sentence.
For drama, this might be 5 stars. And then there is that first part holding me back. It's the kind of strong 4-stars that has me knowing I'll happily pick up Rendell again and again.
Not a slog by any means, but it seemed as if the first part just poked along. I kept after it thinking "this is Rendell, there must be something more to this." And yes, there is ever so MUCH more to this. I think if I had been reading a paperback rather than a Kindle edition, the last 50 pages would be curled from having been gripped hard. Rendell barely lets you breathe right up to the last sentence.
For drama, this might be 5 stars. And then there is that first part holding me back. It's the kind of strong 4-stars that has me knowing I'll happily pick up Rendell again and again.
October 18, 2019
I stumbled upon Ruth Rendell in my teens and, with the exception of Rendell’s Inspector Wexford series, I have persistently returned to her novels. To me Rendell is a genius! Judging by the synopses on the covers of her books, most of her plots seem a trifle bland, not to say boring. However, once you give it a go, you get sucked into her stories.
All her psychological novels have got one decisive feature: She creates protagonists that on the surface have got absolutely nothing in common with each other. As her stories unravel, the author creates a web of fateful connections between her protagonists, and in the end all are entangled in a web of (often) unintended and horrific consequences. The “Lake of Darkness” is a case in point.
Following guidance from his erstwhile university friend Tim Sage, Martin, a young accountant from a well – to-do family, wins a fortune in the football pools. Due to philanthropic impulses, Martin decides to put his wealth to good use and draws up a list of deserving people, who he considers to be in need of financial help. Amongst the beneficiaries is Lena, the family’s former, mentally – ill cleaner, who lives together with her son, Finn, in a shabby London bed-sit. Finn is a sociopath, who not only works as a handyman, but also as a contract killer. When Martin contacts Finn with the good news, Finn completely misunderstands Martin’s philanthropic motive and assumes that Martin’s “gift” is intended to pay for his services as a killer. Meanwhile, all the reader can do is follow the tragedy unfold as the two worlds collide.
Just like Martin, the educated and professionally successful bachelor, who has only recently moved out from a somewhat (sterile) parental home in order to move into an up-market (sterile) flat, Finn lives in an isolated world, defined by a belief in the supernatural, his own invincibility and his mentally deranged mother. Whilst Finn is a loner by choice, all of Martin’s social relationships are of a more or less functional nature. By the same token, it is exactly this very isolation that is the trigger behind Martin’s irrational choices, above all his almost childish devotion to his girlfriend, Francesca. Both characters simply occupy different social spaces, which in the end collide. The motif of social isolation and its consequences permeates many Rendell novels and “Lake of Darkness” is no exception. In fact, it is to a large extent due to this underlying isolation that Rendell’s characters assume deeply tragic qualities.
Apart from her qualities as a writer of psychological novels, Rendell’s stories should be viewed as historical documents, sketching the development of London and the home counties. “Lake of Darkness”, for instance, is set against the background of acute housing shortages and the onset of the property boom in the capital during the 1970s and 1980s.
Whilst I have to admit that the plot of the story is at times slightly unbelievable (hence only four stars), “Lake of Darkness” is a gripping book, deeply tragic, full of wonderful prose and poignant dialogue, with sometimes even comic attributes.
All her psychological novels have got one decisive feature: She creates protagonists that on the surface have got absolutely nothing in common with each other. As her stories unravel, the author creates a web of fateful connections between her protagonists, and in the end all are entangled in a web of (often) unintended and horrific consequences. The “Lake of Darkness” is a case in point.
Following guidance from his erstwhile university friend Tim Sage, Martin, a young accountant from a well – to-do family, wins a fortune in the football pools. Due to philanthropic impulses, Martin decides to put his wealth to good use and draws up a list of deserving people, who he considers to be in need of financial help. Amongst the beneficiaries is Lena, the family’s former, mentally – ill cleaner, who lives together with her son, Finn, in a shabby London bed-sit. Finn is a sociopath, who not only works as a handyman, but also as a contract killer. When Martin contacts Finn with the good news, Finn completely misunderstands Martin’s philanthropic motive and assumes that Martin’s “gift” is intended to pay for his services as a killer. Meanwhile, all the reader can do is follow the tragedy unfold as the two worlds collide.
Just like Martin, the educated and professionally successful bachelor, who has only recently moved out from a somewhat (sterile) parental home in order to move into an up-market (sterile) flat, Finn lives in an isolated world, defined by a belief in the supernatural, his own invincibility and his mentally deranged mother. Whilst Finn is a loner by choice, all of Martin’s social relationships are of a more or less functional nature. By the same token, it is exactly this very isolation that is the trigger behind Martin’s irrational choices, above all his almost childish devotion to his girlfriend, Francesca. Both characters simply occupy different social spaces, which in the end collide. The motif of social isolation and its consequences permeates many Rendell novels and “Lake of Darkness” is no exception. In fact, it is to a large extent due to this underlying isolation that Rendell’s characters assume deeply tragic qualities.
Apart from her qualities as a writer of psychological novels, Rendell’s stories should be viewed as historical documents, sketching the development of London and the home counties. “Lake of Darkness”, for instance, is set against the background of acute housing shortages and the onset of the property boom in the capital during the 1970s and 1980s.
Whilst I have to admit that the plot of the story is at times slightly unbelievable (hence only four stars), “Lake of Darkness” is a gripping book, deeply tragic, full of wonderful prose and poignant dialogue, with sometimes even comic attributes.
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April 19, 2019dnf
May 5, 2021
3.5 stars
A very, very slow start making me yawn (literally) and wondering if this was going to be a DNF (1 star), progressing to a bit more interesting but maybe just not my cup of tea (2 stars) and ending with a nice twist (3.5 stars rounded down to 3). Though at a certain point you see it coming, it’s also the slow progression to that point that makes this a good read. Also liked the unlikable and strange though interesting characters.
“You made conjecture into truth.”
A very, very slow start making me yawn (literally) and wondering if this was going to be a DNF (1 star), progressing to a bit more interesting but maybe just not my cup of tea (2 stars) and ending with a nice twist (3.5 stars rounded down to 3). Though at a certain point you see it coming, it’s also the slow progression to that point that makes this a good read. Also liked the unlikable and strange though interesting characters.
“You made conjecture into truth.”
May 25, 2017
One of my personal favorite books. This is the first novel that I read by Ruth Rendell and what I consider her very best (yes, even above the Barbara Vine novels, although 'A Dark Adapted Eye' comes in as a close second). In this book, Rendell showcases her penchant for describing the mentally ill and the quiet desperation in the lives of the average person as their fates intersect in the most interesting and odd of ways. One thing I love about this book is the huge twist in the middle that hits you like a brick wall. I remember reading it and having to put the book down because it shocked me so much. I also love the moral irony in regards to how the main characters struggle to do what they think is right and fair. One can say that when reading Rendell's work you walk away with a sense that none of the characters are likable but you can't help but feel sorry for them as you flip the pages-much like real life. Moral ambiguity is often prevalent within Rendell's writing and every Rendell fan should read this one.
5/5
5/5
February 1, 2018
Un bel thriller di Ruth Rendell. Una trama apparentemente semplice che in realtà si complica terribilmente non appena riusciamo a connettere tra loro tutti i personaggi. Martin Urban vince al totocalcio e decide di dare una parte della vincita in beneficenza mirata: una cifra a una famiglia per l'operazione del figlio, una cifra a una persona bisognosa, una cifra alla ex domestica, eccetera. Con l'andare avanti del libro, Martin comincia a vedere se stesso in modo differente, fino a capire le sue vere inclinazioni. Un assassino che uccide su commissione capisce male la generosità di Martin e lo getta nella disperazione. Un vecchio amico che non è proprio un amico. Tanti piccoli pezzi del puzzle... Godibilissimo!
July 20, 2017
This is one of the better Ruth Rendell's I've tried. It is very dark, as the title implies, but it also has touches of humor that are unexpected. One of the two protagonists is a psychopathic serial killer. One is a socially confused accountant. Their eventual meeting is disastrous, but also weirdly funny. The getting there, to that meeting, is alternately horror-inducing and roll-your-eyes peculiar. But with both protagonists, there is a true sense of the pathetic that at the same time repels and makes the reader empathise with these contemporary Brits cuaght in the overwhelming angst of contemporary life. This is a very enjoyable quick read.
July 13, 2017
Maravilloso, como todos los libros de Ruth Rendell. Si pudiese le pondría 10 estrellas.
December 10, 2007
Martin Urban, a square 28-year-old accountant, wins 100,000 pounds in the football pools thanks to the picks from his attractively louche friend Tim. Martin plans to use the windfall to play Lord Bountiful, bestowing gifts upon strangers to assist them with housing woes (any housing woes his friend Tim might have don't factor into Martin's decision; he neglects to mention the win to Tim).
Meanwhile, Finn is up to no good, again. This time he's been asked to knock off a tenant so her greedy landlord can sell the property. Finn intends to make the death look like an accident in order to spare the feelings of his poor mother, who was nearly unhinged by a bloody murder Finn committed when he was 15. But when opportunity presents itself, Finn strikes quickly, bludgeoning the woman with a handy hammer.
One afternoon a delivery girl arrives at Martin's apartment bearing chysanthemums. The card is illegible, and the girl is delectable, so Martin drops in at the flower shop in order to ascertain who has sent him the flowers. He fails on that count, but succeeds in picking up Francesca. The reader, of course, suspects that something about Francesca is not what it seems, because someone so gorgeous shouldn't be wasting her time with boring Martin. Francesca strings Martin along for a bit before a small item in the newspaper alerts him to the fact that she is married and has a child. He underlines part of the item and writes the address where he supposes she lives with her husband in the margin. Soon he's trying to persuade her to leave her husband and marry him, sweetening the deal with the offer of an apartment.
Martin continues his attempts at charity, too. He hears that his family's former housekeeper, Lena, lives in a cramped apartment. He contacts Lena's son, Finn, to give him enough money to settle his mother in more spacious quarters.
Of course Finn is accustomed to a different sort of meeting. He leaves convinced that Martin would like Finn to do that particular type of job that he recently carried out for the greedy landlord. He insists on cash payment. When Martin sends a bundle of cash to Finn, it is wrapped in old newspaper. Finn finds an underlined item and an address, and believes he has his orders.
What Martin doesn't realize is that Francesca lives with Tim. Tim whose photographic memory certainly didn't forget the footballpicks he sent to his friend and who was angry at not getting a cut. Tim has sent Francesca to entice expensive gifts out of Martin. A flat in her name is more than they hoped for. Once the papers are signed, Francesca can drop Martin.
Martin can't understand why Francesca doesn't call. Why he can't reach her at the new apartment. Why she appears not even to have moved into the new apartment. He heads off to consult his friend Tim. Although he's always refused to go to Tim's apartment (because he believes Tim to be gay and feels a disturbing attraction to him) he goes there now. And when the door is opened, he finds not only Tim but also...Lindsay. And he finds out that Francesca was not only playing him for a fool, she also was hit by a van and killed two days ago.
Now that his job is complete, Finn is waiting for the second installment of his payment. He heads to Martin's apartment to confront him. Martin realizes that Finn killed Francesca, and Finn realizes Martin really did just want to see Lena in better housing. Martin moves to call the police, Finn moves to stop him, and Martin falls back over the balcony railing to his death.
Finn thinks it will be OK. If he leaves quickly, there's nothing that will bring the police to his door. He hurries home to Lena. Only then does he remember the cheque Martin began writing in his apartment, a cheque that Martin thought would be used for a new apartment for Lena and that Finn thought would pay him for a job done. Had he gotten as far as writing in Finn's name? The sirens in the night are his only answer.
Meanwhile, Finn is up to no good, again. This time he's been asked to knock off a tenant so her greedy landlord can sell the property. Finn intends to make the death look like an accident in order to spare the feelings of his poor mother, who was nearly unhinged by a bloody murder Finn committed when he was 15. But when opportunity presents itself, Finn strikes quickly, bludgeoning the woman with a handy hammer.
One afternoon a delivery girl arrives at Martin's apartment bearing chysanthemums. The card is illegible, and the girl is delectable, so Martin drops in at the flower shop in order to ascertain who has sent him the flowers. He fails on that count, but succeeds in picking up Francesca. The reader, of course, suspects that something about Francesca is not what it seems, because someone so gorgeous shouldn't be wasting her time with boring Martin. Francesca strings Martin along for a bit before a small item in the newspaper alerts him to the fact that she is married and has a child. He underlines part of the item and writes the address where he supposes she lives with her husband in the margin. Soon he's trying to persuade her to leave her husband and marry him, sweetening the deal with the offer of an apartment.
Martin continues his attempts at charity, too. He hears that his family's former housekeeper, Lena, lives in a cramped apartment. He contacts Lena's son, Finn, to give him enough money to settle his mother in more spacious quarters.
Of course Finn is accustomed to a different sort of meeting. He leaves convinced that Martin would like Finn to do that particular type of job that he recently carried out for the greedy landlord. He insists on cash payment. When Martin sends a bundle of cash to Finn, it is wrapped in old newspaper. Finn finds an underlined item and an address, and believes he has his orders.
What Martin doesn't realize is that Francesca lives with Tim. Tim whose photographic memory certainly didn't forget the footballpicks he sent to his friend and who was angry at not getting a cut. Tim has sent Francesca to entice expensive gifts out of Martin. A flat in her name is more than they hoped for. Once the papers are signed, Francesca can drop Martin.
Martin can't understand why Francesca doesn't call. Why he can't reach her at the new apartment. Why she appears not even to have moved into the new apartment. He heads off to consult his friend Tim. Although he's always refused to go to Tim's apartment (because he believes Tim to be gay and feels a disturbing attraction to him) he goes there now. And when the door is opened, he finds not only Tim but also...Lindsay. And he finds out that Francesca was not only playing him for a fool, she also was hit by a van and killed two days ago.
Now that his job is complete, Finn is waiting for the second installment of his payment. He heads to Martin's apartment to confront him. Martin realizes that Finn killed Francesca, and Finn realizes Martin really did just want to see Lena in better housing. Martin moves to call the police, Finn moves to stop him, and Martin falls back over the balcony railing to his death.
Finn thinks it will be OK. If he leaves quickly, there's nothing that will bring the police to his door. He hurries home to Lena. Only then does he remember the cheque Martin began writing in his apartment, a cheque that Martin thought would be used for a new apartment for Lena and that Finn thought would pay him for a job done. Had he gotten as far as writing in Finn's name? The sirens in the night are his only answer.
April 25, 2013
Yet another astounding novel from Ruth Rendell. The characters followed (or perhaps "stalked" is a more appropriate word) in this tale are so very different from each other and yet their worlds become so fatefully entangled. Without giving anything away, what is bound to happen doesn't come as a surprise - at least, the general direction of the plot seemed quite obvious to me. What really makes this tale one of her best is the chilling way in which the inescapable chain of events is presented to us and the finer details that make it all seem so tragically plausible. Furthermore, and as always with Ruth Rendell, there is more than just a clever and gripping storyline and intriguing cast of characters. We also have a study of good and evil intentions, and of greed and generosity, and Rendell shows us how unfortunate it all is when they get mixed up together.
August 26, 2015
Another gripping and fantastical novel by the much lamented late Ruth Rendell. I'm not sure we actually learn which era this is set in, but there are indications it is the 1970s, a time Rendell appears to have found morally fascinating. Martin is a middle class fool who naively plans to give away some of his football pools winnings, only to become accidentally enmeshed with psychopathic handy man, Finn. It is difficult to say who comes off worse, the amoral hunter or the torpid, tax avoiding middle classes whom Martin represents. When Martin acquires a mysterious girlfriend, along with her appalling daughter Lyndsey, the reader realises something is not at all right in Martin's overprotected world. I loved the deft series of twists and sudden reveals which unravelled right to the very last sentence.
February 23, 2012
Another of Rendell's very dark psychological thrillers based on seemingly innocent actions by an unsuspecting and basically naive person. In this case, it is an accountant who fits the stereotype of that profession. He wins 100,000 pounds in the football pools and decides to use it to help people that he doesn't know find appropriate housing. To say that this is a mistake is putting it mildly as his path crosses with a grasping female who is not what she appears, an old friend who challenges his sexuality, and a serial killer. It is a disaster waiting to happen.....and it does. I really liked this little book which can be read at one sitting.
August 13, 2014
Average Ruth Rendell is better than most writers at their apex.
I will say however that this tale of what happens to a man who unexpectedly comes into a financial windfall is one of Rendell's weakest books.
She appears to be channeling her inner O. Henry. The book is too melodramatic. There are too many convenient coincidences to drive the plot along.
What I disliked the most, however, is a testament to Rendell's skill as an author. All of the characters are so unpleasant. I could not find any to root for. She has created a very ugly group of people here.
I will say however that this tale of what happens to a man who unexpectedly comes into a financial windfall is one of Rendell's weakest books.
She appears to be channeling her inner O. Henry. The book is too melodramatic. There are too many convenient coincidences to drive the plot along.
What I disliked the most, however, is a testament to Rendell's skill as an author. All of the characters are so unpleasant. I could not find any to root for. She has created a very ugly group of people here.
February 11, 2020
It's nearly always a pleasure to enter Ruth Rendell's dark and amoral London. Everyone has a past, everyone does bad things, everyone pays for it. Everyone is scheming for money or property or the perfect kill. If you've read any of her books, you know what you are getting into, but you willingly go back again and again. She is not so much a mystery writer as an explorer to the darkest parts of the human soul.
May 22, 2023
Very sophisticated Lady Ruth Rendell was.
And she was.
There could be said a lot about this book, just giving a short insight.
The introductory saying is: King Lear: Nero is an angler in the lake of darkness.
Actually it is Edgar disguised as poor Tom who says that.
Actually the sentence goes like this:
Frateretto calls me and tells me, Nero is an angler in the lake of darkness.
King Lear was first performed on Christmas Day 1606.
400 years later, Ruth Rendell picks up the story again and tells it in a modern way.
The main actor this time is not a king, but a townsman, the Urban Martin, Martin Urban. And it's not ungrateful daughters he lets himself be deceived by, and to whom he loses all his money during his lifetime, but ungrateful city tenants who live in bad dwellings.
How did Shakespeare know that Nero is an angler in the lake of darkness,
It is believed that he got it from Chaucer s the Canterbury Tales, that was written around 1392, 200 years before King Lear.
From the oldest part of the Canterbury tales: The monks tales.
There are 17 stories, all about the miserable end of influential men.
17 stories like King Lear would be one.
So Shakespeare picked up the idea from Chaucer, as Rendell is now picking up the story from Shakespeare.
Where did Chaucer get the idea for Canterbury Tales, especially Monk Tales.
From his trip to Italy.
At that time Bocaccio was still alive and he was successful with Decamerone and a story about the decline of well-known personalities like the ones in the Monks tales or King Lear.
The Monks Tales actually says that Nero fishes in the Tiber with golden nets.
Just as Chaucer fished in Italy, where the Tiber flows,just as Chaucer fished in Bocaccio's texts.
What does Martin Urban fish in the murky waters he lives in: FINN. We only get his first name, FINN, probably his last name is Whale. Finn Whale The big Fish.
The psychologist Carl Gustav Jung was also keen to fish the Big Fish out of the subconscious.
Rendell also plays with the idea of the Monks Tales.
Both Martin Urban and his shadowy life, Finn live a monastic life and we hear their stories, modern day monk tales.
Very nice is the German book, that is playing with its front picture, an ancient street lamp, glowing in the dark, throwing shadows on the wall.
in the six following pages the picture is showing different cutouts of the front picture
While telling how Finn sees himself in three sentences put on this pages.
In one cutout, the iron spiral of the street lamp decoration meets the shadow of the counterclock spiral of the other iron spiral, this might be associated with fishing in the dark for the shadow fish.
Last picture shows the shadow of the Lantern itself, wich looks like an urn or some fancy oriental spiritual vessel like Aladdins lamp.
And she was.
There could be said a lot about this book, just giving a short insight.
The introductory saying is: King Lear: Nero is an angler in the lake of darkness.
Actually it is Edgar disguised as poor Tom who says that.
Actually the sentence goes like this:
Frateretto calls me and tells me, Nero is an angler in the lake of darkness.
King Lear was first performed on Christmas Day 1606.
400 years later, Ruth Rendell picks up the story again and tells it in a modern way.
The main actor this time is not a king, but a townsman, the Urban Martin, Martin Urban. And it's not ungrateful daughters he lets himself be deceived by, and to whom he loses all his money during his lifetime, but ungrateful city tenants who live in bad dwellings.
How did Shakespeare know that Nero is an angler in the lake of darkness,
It is believed that he got it from Chaucer s the Canterbury Tales, that was written around 1392, 200 years before King Lear.
From the oldest part of the Canterbury tales: The monks tales.
There are 17 stories, all about the miserable end of influential men.
17 stories like King Lear would be one.
So Shakespeare picked up the idea from Chaucer, as Rendell is now picking up the story from Shakespeare.
Where did Chaucer get the idea for Canterbury Tales, especially Monk Tales.
From his trip to Italy.
At that time Bocaccio was still alive and he was successful with Decamerone and a story about the decline of well-known personalities like the ones in the Monks tales or King Lear.
The Monks Tales actually says that Nero fishes in the Tiber with golden nets.
Just as Chaucer fished in Italy, where the Tiber flows,just as Chaucer fished in Bocaccio's texts.
What does Martin Urban fish in the murky waters he lives in: FINN. We only get his first name, FINN, probably his last name is Whale. Finn Whale The big Fish.
The psychologist Carl Gustav Jung was also keen to fish the Big Fish out of the subconscious.
Rendell also plays with the idea of the Monks Tales.
Both Martin Urban and his shadowy life, Finn live a monastic life and we hear their stories, modern day monk tales.
Very nice is the German book, that is playing with its front picture, an ancient street lamp, glowing in the dark, throwing shadows on the wall.
in the six following pages the picture is showing different cutouts of the front picture
While telling how Finn sees himself in three sentences put on this pages.
In one cutout, the iron spiral of the street lamp decoration meets the shadow of the counterclock spiral of the other iron spiral, this might be associated with fishing in the dark for the shadow fish.
Last picture shows the shadow of the Lantern itself, wich looks like an urn or some fancy oriental spiritual vessel like Aladdins lamp.
February 25, 2024
Very good story with lots of twists and turns and a somewhat predictable end. Ruth Rendell makes you fall in love with London every time she writes a story.
Not one of her best books but worth your while nonetheless.
Not one of her best books but worth your while nonetheless.
February 5, 2022
i usually don't read this type of book but it was surprisingly good
February 28, 2023
Clever story from Ruth Rendell. Plenty of twists and turns. Worth the read.
May 21, 2024
Ruth Rendell can make a huge cosmopolitan city like London, seem small and insular. Two men receive a large amount of money and end up crossing paths. Finn, part time handy man and full time psychopath, looks at killing as just another job. Re-grout the tile and kill an annoying tenant; it's all the same thing. That annoying tenant, well he's just helping her on her way to her next plane of existence. Really, he's doing her a favour.
Now Martin the other man, receives his money, and immediately goes into white saviour mode. He is condescending, dense, and very naive. Rendell moves her chess pieces in ways that the reader doesn't expect, with devastating results for everyone.
This was a very good read.
Now Martin the other man, receives his money, and immediately goes into white saviour mode. He is condescending, dense, and very naive. Rendell moves her chess pieces in ways that the reader doesn't expect, with devastating results for everyone.
This was a very good read.
February 17, 2020
This is an odd little book. The premise is interesting and Rendell has created a cast of quirky nuts to fit into her odd little story.
February 25, 2019
"No good deed goes unpunished" is the moral of this psychological thriller written by Ruth Rendall. The book is about Martin Urban who is leading a plain life as an accountant, when he unexpectedly comes into a small fortune. He then decides to give the money away to people who are in need.
The other protagonist is Finn, a 26-year-old psychopathic handyman who still lives with his mother. When their paths cross, it has disastrous consequences.
The thing I particulary liked about the book was how the story of two people, who have on the surface nothing in common, ends up entwining. Both Finn and Martin are just leading their own lives, but their actions have a major impact on the life of the other. Furthermore, I was pleasantly surprised by the touches of humour that where thrown into the story from time to time. I enjoyed this for the simple reason that it made the otherwise dark and sinister plotline a bit easier to read.
However, this book still lacked something for me. For instance, the characters were not relatable at all. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, in this case it was. The main characters especially, were so unlikable and unpleasant that near the end of the book, I couldn't care less about what happened to them. Additionally, I think that the author used too many convenient coincidences to drive the plot along to a point where it simply wasn't believable anymore.
To put it briefly, if you're into thrillers with a intricate plot and twisted characters, I would definitely recommend this book. However, it was simply not a book for me.
The other protagonist is Finn, a 26-year-old psychopathic handyman who still lives with his mother. When their paths cross, it has disastrous consequences.
The thing I particulary liked about the book was how the story of two people, who have on the surface nothing in common, ends up entwining. Both Finn and Martin are just leading their own lives, but their actions have a major impact on the life of the other. Furthermore, I was pleasantly surprised by the touches of humour that where thrown into the story from time to time. I enjoyed this for the simple reason that it made the otherwise dark and sinister plotline a bit easier to read.
However, this book still lacked something for me. For instance, the characters were not relatable at all. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, in this case it was. The main characters especially, were so unlikable and unpleasant that near the end of the book, I couldn't care less about what happened to them. Additionally, I think that the author used too many convenient coincidences to drive the plot along to a point where it simply wasn't believable anymore.
To put it briefly, if you're into thrillers with a intricate plot and twisted characters, I would definitely recommend this book. However, it was simply not a book for me.
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