The Babes In The Wood - Hardcover

Kingsmarkham is wet. Very wet and flooding when the call comes in that two teenage children and their carer are missing. Wexford and Burden are faced with the thought that all three have drowned in the high water but when the Kingsbrook subsides no bodies are found. Complicated by the bizarre personalities of the children's parents, the case drags on for several months before all the pieces fit together in Wexford's methodical mind, the pieces being drawn together from random sentences gleaned from police interviews. Ruth Rendell spins the story out cleverly, delving into her characters psyche and exploring their hidden thoughts and fears. The end, when it comes, is an unexpected result, seen in retrospect, revealing Rendell's intuitive quest for suspense and surprise. A first-rate read to be enjoyed, if possible, in one sitting. - Lucy Watson

'I've just heard a crazy thing, thought it might amuse you. You look as though you need cheering up.' Burden seated himself on the corner of the desk, a favourite perch. Wexford thought he was thinner than ever. 'Woman phoned to say she and her husband went to Paris for the weekend, leaving their children with a - well, teen-sitter, I suppose, got back last night to find the lot gone and naturally she assumes they've all drowned.' 'That's amusing?' 'It's pretty bizarre, isn't it? The teenagers are fifteen and thirteen, the sitter's in her thirties, they can all swim and the house is miles above the floods.' There hadn't been anything like this kind of rain in living memory. The River Brede had burst its banks, and not a single house in the valley had escaped flooding. Even where Wexford lived, higher up in Kingsmarkham, the waters had nearly reached the mulberry tree in his once immaculate garden. The Subaqua Task Force could find no trace of Giles and Sophie Dade, let alone the woman who was keeping them company, Joanna Troy. But Mrs Dade was still convinced her children were dead. This was an investigation which would call into question many of Wexford's assumptions about the way people behaved, including his own family...