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zdkb24's review against another edition
3.0
One of the lesser Wexford novels that I've read (it's my 5th or 6th or 7th, I believe), although it has its pleasures. I did appreciate the way that Rendell approached the subject of parenthood, and especially the desire to become a parent, from lots of different angles. Where this one falls off for me is with the insane complexity of the mystery. You need a flow chart to work out the solution and, in the end, the connection between the evil twin brothers and their friend who runs the adoption scam is awfully convenient.
kingfan30's review
3.0
this is the first Ruth Rendell book I have read and I was interested to see what it was like as I enjoy a good crime novel. I found this a bit on the slow side but it did pick up towards the end. There were far to many characters, I don't know if it is easier to follow them all if you have read previous Wexford stories. The plot was quite complicated but interesting and I guess the whole point of a good crime novel is not to guess who done it to the last few pages, which I didn't. Having read a few reviews I get the impression this was not one of her best so I would be prepared to give another book a go.
decembermum's review
4.0
Another great whodunnit from Rendell who keeps you guessing right to the end. I liked the way Wexford's personal life linked in with the case he was working on.
andrewspink's review
3.0
Nice relaxing detective story. Characters well worked out, plot a bit convoluted, but par for the genre with just enough clues dropped to give the reader an idea what it was all about but to leave you wondering if it was yet another red herring.
drsarahgrace's review against another edition
3.0
Mom lent me this book, and I finally got around to reading it. The author's writing style annoyed me--she seems to think that starting every chapter/section by referring to the character under discussion with a pronoun rather than by name is a good thing. It's not. I had an inkling as to whodunnit, but it did take me until the very end to really get it. I thought that the end could've come slightly sooner...
margardenlady's review against another edition
4.0
This audiobook kept us entertained and curious for a couple of long drives. Wexford's fellow investigators are almost as interesting as the mystery to be solved. This story was all about babies - and surrogacy, as a side line. A lot of the baby stuff was pretty hard to swallow - Wexford's own daughter was acting as a surrogate for her ex husband and his new girlfriend...childless women were willingly duped into spending thousands of dollars to magically have a baby with no pregnancy... just too weird to believe. But the mystery - was who killed two young women and why. This was nicely drawn, and yes, there are connections to the baby stories, too.
reggikko's review against another edition
3.0
This one isn't my favorite of the Wexford novels, but it's still better than most in its genre.
redbecca's review against another edition
3.0
The first Ruth Rendell book that I've found disappointing. I thought it was more conventional and formulaic than her other works and I didn't like the whole Helen/Bal storyline.