- Title: From Doon with Death
- Author: Ruth Rendell
- Published: 1964
- Book: Wexford an Omnibus (1987)
- Publisher: Mysterious Press / Arrow books
- ISBN: 0 09 956640 0
You have broken my heart. There, I have written it. Nor for you to read, Minna, for this letter will never be sent, never shrink and wither under your laughter, little lips prim and pleated, laughter…. This is the rose-red blood of the troubadour!
from the book
“From Doon with Death” is the first novel of Ruth Rendell, published in 1964. It is also the first book to feature her popular character, Inspector Wexford.
As you already know, or can guess by reading her books, Ruth Rendell is highly influenced by Agatha Christie. It is not just a surface-level similarity, such as mystery genre and a paired character dynamic (Holmes and Watson, Poirot and Hastings, Wexford and Burden). Rendell’s books are about human psychology rather than the story of a murder, like the writings of Christie. A criminal case is a medium to show how people relate to one another.
At the same time, there are definite distinctions between Christie and Rendell. Christie’s characters are more generalized and stereotyped, allowing you to recognize the corresponding images despite the gaps of many years – as Miss Marple always does. Also you can find definite morality and evil. Rendell’s characters can be our neighbors with dubious inner states. They are ordinary people who act like what they are expected to do most of the time. They are neither evil nor good. With a slight twist of an event or a bad decision at a single moment, the life of a person can be changed dramatically. Or a character might go to extremes without much contemplation.
You might find it harder to read Rendell’s books than Christie’s because Rendell includes more detailed descriptions of people around, which might not seem directly linked to the murder case. I recommend starting with the “Wexford” series, which is easy to read and has all Rendell’s charms at the same time, before moving on to her other books.
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