No Man's Nightingale: An Inspector Wexford Novel
Written by Ruth Rendell
Narrated by Nigel Anthony
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
From “one of the most remarkable novelists of her generation” (People) a “refined, probing, and intelligent” (USA TODAY) mystery in the masterful Inspector Wexford series…more enthralling than ever after fifty years.
A female vicar named Sarah Hussein is discovered strangled in her Kingsmarkham vicarage. A single mother to a teenage girl, Hussein was working in a male-dominated profession. Moreover, she was of mixed race and wanted to modernize the church. Could racism or sexism have played a factor in her murder?
Maxine, the gossipy cleaning woman who discovered the body, happens to also be in the employ of retired Chief Inspector Wexford and his wife. Wexford is intrigued by the unusual circumstances of the murder, and when he is invited by his old deputy to tag along with the investigators, he leaps at the chance.
As Wexford searches the Vicar’s house, he sees a book on her bedside table. Inside the book is a letter serving as a bookmark. Without thinking much, Wexford puts it into his pocket. Wexford soon realizes he has made a grave error in removing a piece of valuable evidence from the scene without telling anybody. Yet what he finds inside begins to illuminate the murky past of Sarah Hussein. Is there more to her than meets the eye?
No Man’s Nightingale is Ruth Rendell’s masterful twenty-fourth installment in one of the great crime series of all time, an “absorbing and rewarding” (Seattle Times) mystery that explores issues of sexism, class, and racism. As Stephen King said: “No one surpasses Ruth Rendell.”
Ruth Rendell
Ruth Rendell (1930–2015) won three Edgar Awards, the highest accolade from Mystery Writers of America, as well as four Gold Daggers and a Diamond Dagger for outstanding contribution to the genre from England’s prestigious Crime Writers’ Association. Her remarkable career spanned a half century, with more than sixty books published. A member of the House of Lords, she was one of the great literary figures of our time.
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Reviews for No Man's Nightingale
157 ratings11 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Too many story lines that really made no sense. I finishing it but was bored and not surprised at the end
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An excellent read great characters and a villain I never saw coming
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5unsurprisingly icky. I quite like the way that Rendell resolves her mysteries, but I do find them rather brutal.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5After just reading a book of Rendell's short stories which I really enjoyed, this was a supreme disappointment. Boring as can be. I wouldn't have finished except I was hoping it might cure my insomnia. It didn't.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not Randell's best effort, but still worth the read. Interesting to see Wexford in retirement.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I think a Inspector Wexford and I are both uneasy with his retirement. Maybe it can grow on both of us. Still a pretty good read. From an author who is a master storyteller.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I have to agree with many of the other reviews. This isn't the Wexford I remember in his prime. Maybe it's time to retire the series since Wexford is retired. It was still a nice read, with interesting characters and if you're a Wexford fan you'll want to read it, otherwise start with the older ones when his life was much more exciting. I never did figure out how the title fit into the plotline.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I've been reading Ruth Rendell for many years, and her Inspector Wexford books are always enjoyable. Definitely recommmended.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Wexford in retirement is not the same Wexford as DCI. I've read the last few books which take up with Wexford in his retirement from the CID. They just don't grab me the same way. Ruth Rendell is an excellent writer, and she has been one of my favourites for many years, both as herself and under her pseudonym Barbara Vine. She has a way of exploring the "off the wall" like no other author out there. But her latest books just don't have the same tension or even the same creepy characters. In this book Wexford is called out of retirement by his pal and former co-worker Burden when a female vicar is found strangled in her home.He's asked to come and observe, but with Wexford being Wexford observation alone is not in his wheelhouse. He gets thoroughtly involved with the vicar and all the people connected to her in some way. He follows his own line of enquiry which is in a totally different direction than Burden's. The idea of the story is a good one and the plotline is tight as I've come to expect from Ms. Rendell, but there wasn't much tension at all during the entire book. Not what I expect from Ms. Rendell at all.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nearly 40 years on since he emerged in FROM DOON WITH DEATH (1964) Reg Wexford, now retired after a lifetime as Chief Inspector Wexford, is happily reading his way through The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Retirement is suiting him better now than it did in THE VAULT where he took up Detective Superintendent Tom Ede's offer of being an unpaid serious crimes adviser. But he still likes to feel needed, doing something important.This time it is former colleague and friend Mike Burden who asks him if he would interested in a bit of unpaid consultancy following the murder of a local vicar.Most of NO MAN'S NIGHTINGALE is written from Wexford's point of view. Wexford finds for example that Burden is running the the investigation differently to the way he would have done. In his opinion Burden has too many conferences and Wexford finds that in his consultancy capacity he is really not able to voice his opinions freely. Nor can he prevent his friend from making some disastrous errors. Because the murder has taken place in the community in which he lives Wexford finds he at times has to tread a very narrow line. For example, as a private person he learns information that he wouldn't come across as a policeman, and he is not sure whether he is still duty bound to report it to the police.I think Rendell has taken great pains to present us with an aging Wexford, whose brain is still very much alive and alert, but no longer quite as agile as it used to be. But his powers of observation and deduction are still strong.So, an aging person myself, that assured my feeling of empathy with Wexford.And what about Rendell, now 83. How is her writing going? Well, I don't think this is her best book, but it still puts her at the forefront of today's writers. Fans will enjoy Wexford's latest outing.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When the vicar of St Peter's Church in Kingsmartin is found murdered, there are a lot of suspects. The fact that the vicar was a woman, half Indian, and a single mother had made her unpopular with many both in her congregation and throughout the village. Although Wexford is now retired, he is asked to assist. When the police make an arrest, Wexford is convinced they have the wrong man but he's the only one who thinks the man is innocent.This is, I believe, the 24th Inspector Wexford novel and, in many ways it seemed more cozy mystery a la Miss Marple than police procedural ie savvy oldster not only helps police but solves the mystery despite them. However, in this novel, the oldster doesn't seem as savvy as he has in the past. In fact, for a retired inspector, he seems downright amateurish at times. When, for example, he discovers a letter in a book which could be an important clue, he deliberately sticks it in his pocket rather than turn it over to the police and then promptly forgets about it.Still, this is a Ruth Rendell novel and although Wexford may not be at the top of his form, Rendell has not lost her keen powers of observation of the human condition warts and all. There are plenty of quirky characters and red herrings galore and she manages to keep the identity of the murderer hidden right to the end. The pacing of the story is rather slow, more invigorating stroll than fast train and, like most of Rendell's books, the mystery is more of a mind tease than a gory in-your-face throw'em down and shoot 'em up thriller. But nobody does this better than Rendall and, if this isn't her best novel, it is still a heck of a good read.