I really enjoy Ruth Rendell. She always manages to surprise me, which ought to be one of the primary goals of any good suspense writer. Unfortunately it also seems to be a relatively rare gift among those who write suspense books.The Water’s Lovely tells the story of two sisters and the mystery of their stepfather’s death in the upstairs bathtub when they were children. Though it sounds fairly straightforward, Rendell has several other equally well-developed characters; one sister’s love interest, their lonely aunt, a manipulative fortune hunter, etc. In typical Rendell style, all of the lives intersect wonderfully and the reader is eager to find out what will happen to the characters.
Another thing that I thoroughly enjoy about Rendell stories is the fact that she often focuses on topics that are important to women. This book offers several examples of relationship abuse and violence. Though I know very little about her personal life, I get the feeling that the author has pretty strong political feelings and she is doing a very good job of expressing them subtly in her work. But then again, I may just be projecting my own opinions.
Overall, this was another great book by Ruth Rendell, but I would have expected nothing less.
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