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Title: Original, reflective, low key
Review: Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell) gets a lot of flak for writing thoughtful, reflective books. They aren't typical mysteries or suspense thrillers -- I suspect that was the author's point in setting up a new byline. I've read nearly everything she's published under this pseudonym and all of it's good. The books move at a slowly deliberate pace with a lot of time for character development and a momentum that builds slowly as she lets each character reveal a little more and a little more. This one is particularly unique and original in the way it builds the central character and her relations with the others. There's a risk of becoming self-consciously artsy but Vine never crosses that line -- she just keeps on delivering good writing book after book. As a journalist and author myself, I admire what she does ... I have often wished I could do it myself.
