The Vault by Ruth Rendell 276 pages 9781451624083

Not just one dead body -- four dead bodies are found at the bottom of an unused underground coal storage chamber! To make this mystery even more challenging, the bodies were killed at different times. The identities of the bodies also pose a problem. Recently retired Inspector Wexford is attached to the case. Wexford is dividing his time between a country house and a London coach house given to him by his successful daughter. He is bored with retired life and family problems, but isn't quite sure what authority he has to pursue the suspects. He certainly does not have the ego of Christie's Poirot. Unlike American mysteries, there is not a lot of fighting, weapons and chases, just a bit of an intellectual dilemma. It is nice to sit down with a polished British who-done-it and Ruth Rendell does a nice job with this puzzle. It is the first Wexford mystery that I have read, and I do think that I will catch up with this humble, but clever detective. I just took a first glanse at the book jacket and see this is a sequel to a novel Rendell wrote in 1998, A Sight for Sore Eyes. Guess that I will track that down first!