Location: Home > Art, Architecture & Photography > Rendell, Ruth > Not in the Flesh

Not in the Flesh

Author: Ruth Rendell
Publisher: Hutchinson
Category: Book

List Price: ~~Ł17.99~~
Buy New: Ł9.21
You Save: Ł8.78 (49%)

New (26) Used (6) Collectible (1) from Ł5.80

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

13 reviews
Sales Rank: 34688

Media: Hardcover
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.2

ISBN: 0091920590
EAN: 9780091920593
ASIN: 0091920590

Publication Date: August 2, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new book dispatched from stock in the UK

Similar Items:

•	The Chameleon's Shadow
•	Beneath the Bleeding
•	The Water's Lovely
•	A Cure for All Diseases
•	Dying to Sin

Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.co.uk
The wait is over: here's a new Wexford novel. And Not in the Flesh is one of the sharpest, most astringent outings for Ruth Rendell's doughty copper in some time. Rendell's studies in dark psychology (which have at their centre characters who appear only in individual novels) are the most highly regarded among aficionados of her wok, but the unalloyed good feeling prompted by a fresh appearance for her long-term protagonist Inspector Wexford is something to be savoured, and we are once again in safe hands here.

A man taking his dog for a walk in a wooded area stumbles across a grim object -- a severed human hand. The body to which it belongs has been hidden from sight for years, as Wexford subsequently finds out. Of course, with the uncountable numbers of missing persons in police files, Wexford is well aware it will be an uphill struggle tracking down the identity of the body. Shortly after, in the basement of a disused cottage, another victim of violence is discovered, and Wexford and his reliable team find themselves attempting to discover connections between the murders.

Readers might wonder if the production of these utterly surefire Wexford books is an east task for Rendell (as opposed to the rigours of the grimmer psychological novels written under her own name, or the nom de plume Barbara Vine), but there's never a sense of the author on autopilot; this is professional, well-honed, engrossing stuff. --Barry Forshaw

Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

An enjoyable if unexceptional outing for Inspector Wexford April 6, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Despite the fact that most of her admirers would doubtless choose one of her other guises (the non-Wexford Rendell books or the Barbara Vine novels) as representing her best work, the Inspector Wexford series remains Ruth Rendell's most popular output. There have certainly been some very good Wexford stories over the forty-odd years since his first appearance, but the conventions of writing a police procedural sometimes seem to stifle Ms Rendell's fervid imagination, which is given free reign in her other books. Obviously both the public and her publishers still want her to produce Wexford novels on a regular basis, but it seems as if her interest in her most famous creation has waned over the years, and in some of her recent Wexfords such as 'Babes In the Wood' it really felt she was writing out of duty and obligation rather than choice. However, the Chief Inspector's last case, 'End In Tears', was a marked improvement, and although 'Not In The Flesh' isn't its equal, I'd still rate it as one of the better Wexford novels of the past decade or so.

The central crime - the discovery of two bodies on a plot of land which have remained undiscovered for a decade - is intriguing, although perhaps the motive behind the crimes won't come as a shock; I had a rough idea of what lay behind the mystery long before the Chief Inspector himself did. Nevertheless, it manages to keep the reader engrossed until the end. As usual, there is a sub-plot which involves Wexford's family, and this time it concerns the horrifying practice of female circumcision. Ms Rendell handles the subject as thoughtfully and sensitively as long-time fans would expect, and the climax to this story strand is nail-biting. However, usually these side issues are cleverly woven in to the main plotline, and that just isn't the case here. As well-written and important as it is, it still feels tacked-on and completely at odds with the tone of the rest of the book.

My other problem with 'Not In The Flesh' is the tiresome carping about 'political correctness'. I really expected better of Ms. Rendell than this. The issue of over-zealous political correctness was covered by many other authors years ago when it might actually have been considered a newsworthy topic. These days the only people who use the phrase are lazy journalists who work for right-wing tabloids like the Mail and the Express - and even they are only pandering to their readers' prejudices. I have always admired Ruth Rendell's strong stand against all kinds of social injustice, and to find her wasting her words on a non-issue that only the most small-minded of Middle Englanders would consider worth mentioning is both disappointing and embarrassing.

Still, despite these misgivings, 'Not In The Flesh' remains a mostly enjoyable read and I'd still recommend it to anyone who liked previous Wexford novels. Nevertheless, I must confess to wondering whether it wouldn't be better for the Chief Inspector to finally hand in his warrant card for good, leaving his creator free to concentrate on her other, more interesting work.

1 out of 5 stars

A disappointment April 5, 2008
There are already reviews saying what I also feel about this Wexford. To put it in a nutshell: cobbled-together, not convincing, not out from the heart. It hurts to sa this, you can be sure. I AM such a Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine fan.

3 out of 5 stars

Workmanlike but tired January 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

A characteristic of the Wexford books has always been that they are very much of their time and focus on crimes touching the concerns of the day. This always gave Rendell an opportunity through the highly moral Wexford to examine the zeitgeist and ask some timely questions.

But this novel, competent though it is, could be set in any period. There's nothing about it that says 2007, except for the two tacked-on themes of female circumcision and political correctness. Rendell's social comment is usually made integral to the mystery, but this time they really don't fit.

It feels as though the Wexford series is getting tired now, and not just because Wexford has been on the brink of retirement for at least 20 years. This novel simply doesn't have the relevance that used to be characteristic of the series.

5 out of 5 stars

Rendell, Wexford return in top form! December 12, 2007
7 out of 10 found this review helpful

"Prolific" is easily a descriptive of Ruth Rendell, as she spans the realm of the crime, suspense, and mystery genres and in her latest, "Not in the Flesh," Rendell is at the top of her abilities. In yet another Chief Inspector Wexford police procedural, the author seems to have pulled herself out of the slump of the last two or three Wexford stories and scored a "hit" with this one.

Always one to address social issues (this time, the illegal practice of female genital mutilation), Rendell multitasks her literary efforts here. Of course, the central theme is "who done it" and why? The books opens when a local man is out hunting truffles (in England!) with his dog, who, in its eagerness to get a treat, unearths the body of an unidentified man, whom, it turns out, has been there for some eleven years. Wexford and his crew waste no time getting "into" the scene and, professionals they are, soon have several leads, some of which seem to go nowhere. Who was this man and how did he die? Soon after this discovery, another body is found on the same property, this time, buried in the coal cellar of an abandoned house. Are these deaths related?

Well, of course, they are, as Rendell is completely in charge of her plot developments, as always. And as always, it is a delight to follow Rendell/Wexford from A to Z. Wexford is as household name among the police procedural readers and never disappoints. Logic, level-headedness, and common sense rule his life, despite, at various times and in previous books, some "irregularities" with his family (wife and two daughters). As in all the other Wexford books, he is ably assisted by his Kingsmarkham police staff and especially Mike Burden, sometimes Wexford's counter ego, sometimes his conscience, sometimes his straight man in a time when some of the actions and atrocities of their fellow human beings become more farsical than human.

Before long, the investigation becomes full time, as we meet various (and unusual) neighbors, a famous novelist who's in his dying stages, and, woven into the main storyline, the situation of female genital mutilation, involving one of the local Somali families. Needless to say, Rendell's views on this subject needs no interpretation (nor should it). Rendell's writing style, whether she's writing under her own name or as Barbara Vine, is straightforward, no nonsense, and moves quite rapidly. "Not in the Flesh" is one police procedural that is difficult to put down and it is a refreshing return to the "good" Wexfords of old!

4 out of 5 stars

a tale of murder and greed November 29, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful

The story begins when a truffle hunter unearths a human hand near an abandoned property, a tale of murder and greed is uncovered. A terminally ill, former publisher and small time writer claims another man's work as his own and his wife and former wife go to extraordinary lengths to cover up the fact, to satisfy their own greed for money.

At the same time as these events are coming to life, the people of the town of Kingsmarkam are horrified by the revelations that, amongst their own small population of Somalis, the practice of female genital mutilation is still being accepted as the norm. Inspector Wexford and his Sergeant, DS Hannah Goldsmith, a determinedly politically correct young woman, are plunged into a controversy about what is considered protection of children and the view that people's religions and rites of passage should be left alone.

I found this book to be a thoroughly satisfying read and recommend it to all Inspector Wexford fans!! Also, if you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, go and read it.