Why were four members of the Coverdale family shot by their housekeeper?

Posted to Book Crossing member Jalna, for a Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine book ring.

I shall enjoy reading this book myself sometime, but I intend to send it out as part of a Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine multi-BookRing. You are invited to join!

I did indeed enjoy reading it. Quite an unusual book - we know all along who dunnit, although the why and the how come near the end and there is a not a great deal of the detective work in the story. It is however, quite an entralling read and full of excellent character studies and wonderful observations of a variety of people. Ruth Rendell at her best.

On its way to RobbiesMum now (14 Oct 2003) and then it will go to YowlYY.

Thanks Jalna for letting me join this bookring! I really enjoyed my first Barbara Vine (Ruth Rendell) and hope I enjoy this one as much. This was a great idea. Thanks for setting it up. I'll read it a.s.a.p.

What a great bookring! I feel I'm really discovering Ruth Rendell! This was a fascinating book because it dealt with the issue of illiteracy. My mum and I have discussed literacy in the past as how it must affect your life, and it was interesting to see a character and how she adapted to conceal her "disability". The mystery of why the Coverdales were murdered rather than who murdered them made a change, and kept me gripped in the psychology of the characters. i looked at cause and effect much more, and will keep this in mind with other murder books. I liked the style of this with the narrator's slight asides knowing the ending. Joan Smith was a great addition as a friend! I also liked the fact that the whole book was set at Lowfield Hall and the Smiths' shop. It felt claustrophobic like the setting away from buses and the next town. Characters drove off and we didn't enter their lives at work, but we became reacquainted when they returned home. This was a good read for me. On to YowlYY.

Posted to YowlYY this morning.

Arrived yesterday, thank you very much!!
I am a bit "swamped" in bookrings/rays at the mo, but I will do my best to read this and return to Jalna asap!! And of course, I haven't forgotten that I have the second part of this bookring that should be sent to Robbiesmum, too... It will be on its way soon-ish, please bear with me :-)

I just finished the book and it was by far the best Ruth Rendell book I've read. I agree with Robbiesmum, the characters are great and the story does feel so claustrophobic at times, especially in the Smith's place and at the gatherings at the Epiphany Temple. Eunice is the coldest character I've encountered on a novel... unlike Olive Martin in THE SCULPTRESS (another monster figure, although...was she really innocent?) she never shows any signs of emotions. One can feel pity for her, but only up to a certain limit...

I found out that Claude Chabrol made a film out of this novel, called La cérémonie, featuring quite big stars like Isabelle Huppert, Jacqueline Bisset, Sandrine Bonnaire, Jean-Pierre Cassel and Virginie Ledoyen... I wonder if anyone saw the film?

This is the end of the mini-ring and the book is returning tomorrow to Jalna...thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to get to know Ruth Rendell better :-)

Thank-you, YowlYY - how did you guess about the chocolate?!

I didn't know about the movie, but one can easily appreciate that it would make a superb film.

The book is up for grabs again now, but I think I will probably release it into the wild if it is not claimed.

Released on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 at No 2 bus, Wrexham to Oswestry in wrexham, Wales United Kingdom.