One of the most prolific of all British crime novelists, Rendell has produced an enormous number of books of a consistently high quality and originality, helped by the fact that she has three strings to her bow. Her principal offering is the series of novels featuring Chief Inspector Wexford. Finely crafted police procedurals, these are set in the fictional town of Kingsmarkham, a comfortable haven in rural Sussex, and are carried largely by the personality and character of the intelligent and sophisticated Wexford, a humane man often dismayed by the myriad reasons why people are compelled to commit criminal acts. Such reasons and the sort of internal pressures that cause them are also dealt with in the many non-Wexford novels, and, in arguably greater detail, in Rendell’s third series of books. These are written under the name of Barbara Vine and explore a darker, more psychological and often claustrophobic terrain.

An Unkindness of Ravens finds Wexford investigating the disappearance of a neighbor, Rodney Williams, in what appears to be a simple, tawdry case of a man leaving his wife and running away with a young woman, but which swiftly becomes something infinitely more sinister. The existence of a militant feminist group, populated by many local girls, and whose symbol is the raven, complicates matters, but Wexford is unprepared for the revelations that follow as he gradually uncovers bigamy, incest and murder. Rendell's excellent characterization, perceptive social observation and faultless plotting make this, possibly, the most memorable of the Wexford novels.

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