Everyone believed Rosemary Barton’s death to be suicide. She was poisoned by cyanide at her own birthday party. She had been depressed, unhappy, deserted by her lover – she’d been actually caught writing a letter to her sister instructing her what to do with her things. Everyone accepted the suicide version.
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“From Doon with Death” is the first novel ever written by Ruth Rendell, the one with which she earned recognition as a new master of the genre. Probably its being the first is the reason why it reads so easily without putting any strain on the reader. In fact, it’s not much shorter than “Shake Hands For Ever” by the same author, but, unlike the other one, gives no feeling of being unnecessarily stretched. There’s nothing depressive about it, either.
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It’s a Chief Inspector Wexford mystery and my first ever acquaintance with the character. I’ve read a book by Barbara Vine – and Barbara Vine and Ruth Rendell are the same person – but my dear friend Ann once recommended that I read the Chief Inspector Wexford series. She thought I’d like it. What’s more, she sent me a gift – an parcel in which several of those books were neatly placed.
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What can I say? This is one of the greatest detective novels written by one of the best known detective story writers. It features Hercule Poirot – the famous old little man from Belgium with a great moustache, neat clothes and incredible grey cells that never fail him.
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