Customer Reviews

Simisola : Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In "Simisola" Rendell continues to delve beneath the outer
layers of the human psyche, exposing attitudes and perceptions
that both animate and lay bare her main characters.
Her detectives, the thoughtful Chief Inspector Wexford and
the pragmatic Detective Inspector Burden, provide two separate
approaches to racial tension, and domestic violence, in our
society. When a woman goes missing and two women are murdered
issues of race and domestic abuse become the key to the mystery
and each detective is forced to rexamine his own perceptions.
Rendell moves swiftly to the heart how we often delude
ourselves about our attitudes. On the surface this is a fast-
paced, exciting puzzle with a surprise solution in the best
tradition of the British mystery writers. Below the
surface, "Simisola" is an piercing examination of the
emotionally charged atmosphere surrounding the integration
of immigrants into a small traditional community.

People lack the time for reading books; you may be concerned about the thickness of the book, do not!

A girls disappearence could not be more mysterious.

Chief Inspector Wexford's reasoning power is just behind the truth which disappears with every new fact untill the last page of the book.

The girl was last seen alive in an unemployment office... was she?

You find yourself in a maze of events which drag you from backstreets to reality; and then back again.

This book will be the beginning of Ruth Rendell series which are a fine blend of real life atmosphere and fiction.

The taste will still be there, and you will be hungry for more!

Ruth Rendell is often admired for her elegantly sparse prose and her psychological insight; I, however, too often find her novels vague in both character and construction--and her solutions more a matter of deux ex machina that actual deduction. And such is the case with SIMISOLA, a novel that finds unassuming Inspector Wexford first in search of a missing girl and then in search of a vicious killer.

As usual, Rendell writes with a graceful touch and brings a certain amount of social commentary into her novel, in this instance elaborating on both racism and joblessness in England. This sounds a promising mix, but Rendell proves quite typical of herself: when all is said and done most of her social commentary seems to have little to do with the story beyond providing a foggy sort of background to a somewhat forced conclusion. The ultimate effect is that of a novel you read a bit of and then put down--and maybe you pick it up again and maybe you don't. Certainly not one of her more interesting efforts.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Mystery novels are not a particular interest of mine, so i was surprised when someone virtually thrust this book into my hand. Having watched some of this series on the Goggle Box, i was only mildly interested in starting SIMISOLA. What a pleasant experience this book proved to be. The characters are superbly drawn, Wexford particularly so, but the Akande family was portrayed exquisitely. A sympathetic view into another culture is always welcome, since we ofays rarely have a proper glimpse into other worlds. This book strongly reflects the issues facing the UK's race relations today, the Stephen Lawrence murder case being a vivid example. Wexford's self confrontations are the highlights of this book. One hopes it's not a racist comment to request that someone from the Black community read and comment on this book for its accuracy.

This book, having led me to other Rendall works, led me to wonder just what the story behind its writing might be. SIMISOLA is so far superior to any of the other works i read that i can't help question who might have co-authored it. Rendall has a high reputation, which i can't judge having so little experience with the genre. No matter, this is an outstanding read and a fine addition to any bookshelf. The mystery is almost a minor matter set against some stunning revelations about race relations anywhere in the English speaking world. Buy, read and reflect on this book.

When C.I. Reg Wexford pays a visit to his new doctor,Raymond Akande, the doctor confides in him that his daughter Melanie has been missing from home for a few days after supposedly staying the night with a girlfriend. Most of the characters in this book revolve around the local employment and benefits office and the off-beat customers who spend much of their time there.The body of one of the clerks at the employment office is discovered and Wexford establishes a link between her and the coctors missing daughter.The story is tightly written with the characters well defined--a good fast read.

As has been pointed out by other reviewers, Ruth Rendell's "Simisola" combines the whodunit with a discussion of social issues. Even though the plot of the former is slightly overworked - an impressive construction, lacking somewhat in credibility - the connection is realistic and effective. Wexford's rather endearing, if unsuccessful attempts at "colourblindness", add neat twists and turns in his (more successful) attempts at solving the criminal problem. Blacks are, for example, not the only group suffering from the effects of prejudice here.

Even though a radical might criticize Rendell for mainly (but not exclusively) dealing with how whites do and should perceive blacks, Wexford's progress should be of interest to members of any race. And if non-British readers believe that the specific form of social evil at the heart of the story is limited to Britain, well, better take a closer look at your own society...

Again, the plot is overworked. Not that the mystery is all that complicated or fantastic, but the number of cleverly misleading clues, likely suspects, and distracting detours is rather too much for me. Clever but slightly artificial. Still, a favourite with me.

It was a chore getting through this book. It wasn't a bad book, but I didn't enjoy the journey to the end.

Just a terrific book, from beginning to end. Very vivid, and the last sentence hit me like a ton of bricks. My only complaint, and it's a small one, is that the "whodunnit" comes from out of almost nowhere; readers must keep track of all of the characters very carefully. Not only is this a good mystery, but Rendell writes about the tensions between black and white very adeptly.

Winner of three Edgars and four Gold Daggers, Rendell is a master of tightly constructed plots, characters under pressure and heightened atmosphere.

Simisola, her 16th Inspector Wexford mystery, set in the fairly small town of Kingsmarkham, England, opens with Wexford's new doctor -an African immigrant - beseeching the chief inspector for help finding his daughter, Melanie, last seen at the unemployment center. Melanie's home life is strict and Wexford assumes she's shaking off the yoke until the claims adviser who helped Melanie at the job center is found murdered.

Meanwhile Wexford's whiny daughter Sylvia and ill-matched husband are both jobless and going on the dole. Wexford, fretted by guilt at his impatience towards his daughter, and knowing that he would not be making daily visits to Melanie's parents if they were not black, muses over social attitudes, ingrained prejudice and motives for murder until the body of a young black woman is discovered.

There are few blacks in Kingsmarkham and despite several small clues to the contrary, Wexford assumes it's Melanie. After a night of grief, the family arrives at the mortuary only to find a stranger.

Wexford, mortified, approaches the three-part investigation with new insight - re-examining every assumption, taking note of every tiny discrepancy.
Kingsmarkham is large enough to encompass slums, council flats and elaborate estates, allowing Rendell to involve a wealthy and flashy female politician, a surgeon and his lackadaisically privileged children, a petty thief, an adulterous businessman, unemployed youth and a hidden black underclass in a story that unwinds in dark twists and turns of grubby secrets.

Although the explosive ending may seem unrealistically grotesque to some, it's still vintage Rendell - suspenseful and wholly absorbing.

I'm just about halfway through this book and am having a hard time putting it down. Good Mystery. This author (Ruth Rendell) is new to me and I'm enjoying her books.