An Unkindness of Ravens

Written by Ruth Rendell

Narrated by Michael Bryant

Rodney Williams' disappearance seems typical to Chief Inspector Wexford -- a simple case of a man running off with a woman other than his wife. But when another woman reports that her husband is missing, the case turns unpleasantly complex.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio
• Release date: Mar 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780792775287

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.

Reviews for An Unkindness of Ravens

[alanteder · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A Muddle of CluesReview of the Arrow Books paperback edition (1986) of the Hutchinson original hardcover (1985)I read An Unkindness of Ravens as part of my ongoing survey of classic crime writing. Ruth Rendell (1930-2015) is especially known for the psychological elements in her crime fiction. Ravens at No. 13 is exactly in the middle of the pack of the 24 Chief Inspector Wexford novels. Wexford is somewhat of an old fuddy-duddy who is set in his ways and often quotes from theatre or the classics to the befuddlement of his assistant DI Mike Burden. Most of the sources of those quotes or allusions are never explained, so it is flattering to the reader who recognizes them. An example in Ravens is when Wexford refers to a Bunbury alibi with Burden's confused reaction. Bunbury being Algernon's fictitious friend who he uses for excuses in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays (1898).At first you start to think that Ravens is going to be sympathetic to activist feminism which was beginning to rise to prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990's. The female characters though are almost all portrayed as unsympathetic with the final reveal of the murderer being quite diabolical. The red herrings of the case are mostly all related to a local feminist organization named after the rather contradictory historical suicide Arria in ancient Roman history. Then there are various curious Freudian and misogynist subplots, Burden's wife is having a baby and fears that it will be born female etc.So I can't really say that I enjoyed Ravens overall, except for Wexford's classical references and the twistiness of the plot.

[empressreece · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another great book! I think what I like about Rendell's mystery/crime fiction compared to other authors is that she always includes so many twists and turns, murders, accidents etc and her books never follow the same pattern like Carolyn Hart & Anne Perry for ex. With their books, you always know exactly how the book is going to be laid out, what comes next and there is only one or two murders and thats it. Rendell does a great job in the Wexford series of keeping you interested, the action going and your left wanting to read more. Ive read a couple of her stand alones and I honestly havent cared for them like I do the Wexford series. They just seem slower and kind of boring to me. Maybe I havent read the right books. I definitely will continue reading this series though-stay tuned...

[thorold_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rendell has a go at building a murder mystery around an early eighties feminist action group, but the result - whilst technically as efficiently put together as you would expect from her - isn't all that interesting. If anything, it all comes over as rather misogynistic. We never really get the chance to engage sympathetically with any of the female characters: they are all pretty much equally dreadful.

[bookmarque · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I knew there had to be a link to A.R.R.I.A., the feminist group, but I never guessed that the instigator of the killing was as warped as she turned out to be. Nor as manipulative. I like Rendell’s subtle brand of terror. She builds a gradual unease until she strikes with some horrible thing from the closet.

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another classic by Rendell.

[andrewcottingham · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Meant to be one of her worst books but I actually found it a reasonable read with a good finish

[benfulton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found the end-of-chapter cliffhangers or foreshadows a little odd. But I enjoyed Inspector Wexford as a character as well as his sidekick Mike Burden, with all his personal problems. I was not too surprised by the eventual revelation of the murderer, although it was more dependent on a Miss Marple-ish psychological analysis than on any clues the author gave out as hints - those were few and far between. There is a mild surprise twist at the end which today we would dismiss as a clear case of blaming the victim, but if J.K. Rowling can say that Dumbledore is homosexual, surely Ruth Rendell must be given the same benefit of the doubt in knowing the circumstances of her characters.