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From Doon With Death
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From Doon with Death - November 2015
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Hey there everyone! I will be your moderator for this group read. I choose this book because it is Ruth Rendell's very 1st Wexford story. For those not familiar with the series, this book provides a good introduction to her detective & the series. It's a nice short, traditional mystery puzzler.Enjoy, everyone!
I love Ruth Rendell, but am not too fond of Wexford. So unfortunately I have not read this book.
I'll join in, too. Always wanted to read this.
I nominated this book a few months back but it didn't get enough votes that time. I want to read this. Several Rendall books have been in the BOM, but never the first one. Somehow I've never read any of her work. I hope to this time. Will get back to the discussion after reading it. :)
Same here. Haven't read the book. Will look for it in the library and then return to the discussion.
That's what I love about older titles. You can easily find them at the library or most used book stores/thrift shops :-)
As I've read the book and am working my way slowly through the entire Wexford series — what did people think about the introduction of the Wexford? Is he different enough from other books with police officers?
Just got my copy, and looking forward to starting! I've never read Rendell before.
Sophia wrote: "I'm about halfway through, begun on Monday ... it's a quick read. So far the book is entertaining, although not tremendously engaging, and there are meandering, unnecessary scenes which would be be..."Ruth Rendell's books when she writes under the pen name Barbara Vine are terrific stand-alone psychological suspense novels. You may want to try one of these next.
Sue wrote: "Just got my copy, and looking forward to starting! I've never read Rendell before."Enjoy Sue!
Hi, I'm back. :)I finished the book, then went ahead and read the 2nd Wexford case. Then read several other different types of books as well, and sort of forgot to comment here. :)
As I mentioned earlier this was to be my first Ruth Rendell book, and I liked it, and the 2nd book in the series as well. The mysteries were good. And it is interesting to see society's view points 50-60 years ago. I would like to comment more on the society part, but I'm afraid since I've read two books back to back, my comment will be sort of overlapping and may be somewhat a spoiler for those who haven't read the 2nd one. I guess I can discuss my views on that book and its topic when we select that book in the future sometime.
These days I'm finding the writing style, the prose, the story-telling of most of the recent writers lacking in quality if compared to writers from even a decade ago. It was refreshing to read Rendell from that aspect. The language wasn't complicated, but it wasn't dull or simple. I enjoy Agatha Christie's work very much, and while Rdndell's style is different from hers, I am glad I liked Rendell too. Her work seems to hold the promises of interesting who-dunnits with enjoyable, comfortable prose.
After reading two books from the Wexford Cases series back to back, I have a feeling that the series isn't much about the Inspector himself solving the cases, but more about the cases themselves. For example the 2nd book was more the activities of characters other than the Inspector, who look into an older case, the very first case in fact, of Wexford. Wexford himself hardly figure in the book. But again, I better refrain from discussing that book any further, and keep it for a future time. I only mention this, because if the other books in the series are often like this - less about Wexford himself, more about his County, the crimes, the criminals, the victims, then I like this even further, it is not the usual police detective series then. But I'm yet to read and find out if that is so. If not, that's okay as well, as I said, Rendell holds the promise to good murder mystery plots anyway.
Regarding the sort of impression Wexford makes upon the reader - I found him sort of like Dalziel from the Dalziel & Pascoe series. Though I couldn't find the books in my part of the world, and my views are based entirely on the TV series of the same name, Dalziel and Wexford seem to hold similar sarcastic wit and the tendency to badger their subordinates. :)
Rendell discussed the personal life of the inspector, his philosophy, dreams, heartaches or heart's desire, etc. much less in the first books. And frankly that is another comfort, because when I'm reading a murder-mystery I would rather focus on the murder, motive, mystery part and read more of those, than read about the social drama of the detective's human life. I can always read about the matters of our humane world in another type of fiction. It is much better if those personal informations, the life and thoughts of the detective come up slow and steady throughout the different books of the series rather than loaded heavily in each book.
I look forward to reading more of Ruth Rendell's books.
I love Ruth Rendell. But I think you have to put the Wexford series in a different light than her standalones. I've read Doon With Death previously and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure I'd call him like Dalziel. I love Dalziel and the books are wonderful. Check to see if your local library has an interlibrary loan system. That is how I've ended up getting some of the books in the series.
Farhana wrote: "Hi, I'm back. :)I finished the book, then went ahead and read the 2nd Wexford case. Then read several other different types of books as well, and sort of forgot to comment here. :)
As I mentioned..."
That's also what I found surprising in this first book Farhana. The detective Wexford, does not take the center stage, rather the mystery itself is the focus. It's a refreshing change from current mystery series, where the detective's personal problems overshadow the mystery/crime itself.
In some current series, it's a mystery how the detective is able to solve anything at all given the depth of their personal addictions/probs. LOL
@Kirsten, I really want to read the Dalziel and Pascoe series. But it is difficult to get every foreign book in Bangladesh (my home country). The recent hits are more or less available, though expensive. But libraries mostly keep Bangla books and text or non-fiction in English. I rely on ebooks heavily these days. Unfortunately I couldn't find free ebooks of the series.
@Icewineanne,Exactly, you expressed my thoughts better. It was refreshing that imstead of the detective the 'mystery' itself took the centre stage in both books. It is uncommon for a murder-mystery series.
And yes, some of the recent murder mystery series seem too much to be on the detectives themselves than the actual mysteries. But I suppose they have their own appeals. For example I enjoyed reading Rowling's new Cormoran Strike book "Career of Evil".. three books into the series the interpersonal relationships of the detective and his assistant are now much more interesting and complimenting the main murder-mystery. Again the Dublin Murder Squad seires books feel more like they should be categorized as social dramatic fiction than murder-mysteries. They are the stories of the detectives, their lives, failures, hopes and dreams as average people instead of about the mysteries which often leave you with unsatisfied solutions. But the prose is beautiful in these books.. something I find lacking in most books these days as I've mentioned earlier. :)
Farhana wrote: "@Icewineanne,Exactly, you expressed my thoughts better. It was refreshing that imstead of the detective the 'mystery' itself took the centre stage in both books. It is uncommon for a murder-myster..."
I agree Farhana. The writing in Tana French's series is so beautiful that I never want the story to end. And these stories are very different from regular dectective novels.
I just voted for another Ruth Rendell book for the Dec-Jan poll. I want to read more of her books. :)
****THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS******Hi all! I finished this book last week. It was certainly different than the majority of mystery/crime thrillers that are out there now. The ending was a surprise for me! I did not expect Doon to be a female because of the time in which the book was set/written. The idea of unrequited love between females seems like such a more modern topic.
Overall, I was bored with the book. As @sophia-dubay said, there were scenes that could have easily been cut without being noticed. I didn't necessarily miss the details of the detective's life but, I did miss a fast paced plot. The book overall seemed very slow.
My opinion seems to be very much in the minority. If I had looked more into the book prior to reading it, I probably would not have picked it to begin with. It is always good to read something different every once in a while. :)
A little late here... I am glad to have read this, but still not sure how much I liked it. I really appreciate reading your comments, because you've made me understand that the absence of the detective is what disturbed me the most. I don't care for the damaged detective that seems to be in vogue today, but I would like to have a bit more of the detective's reasoning process. And a couple of scenes that show me who he/she is. Like Sophia, I also thought this book was slow with meandering details, and yet I enjoyed the case very much.
Sue wrote: "A little late here... I am glad to have read this, but still not sure how much I liked it. I really appreciate reading your comments, because you've made me understand that the absence of the detec..."I think as the series goes on, the Inspector's character becomes a more prominent part of the story.
This is the discussion thread for From doon with death. Your moderator and discussion leader is Icewineanne. Thanks!