This book is as much a character study as it is a novel of murder and justice, although that in an odd way. Stanley (a crossword
puzzle addict, aficianado and expert) and his wife Vera live with Vera''s mother, a well-off old lady with a bitter tongue, a possessive attitude (especially toward her daughter) and a firm determination to break up Vera and Stanley''s marriage. She has come to live with them after having a mild stroke, and is making both of their lives a living hell. If she does not get her way in every tiny thing (and that includes getting Vera to move out with her, leaving Stanley to his own devices, with nothing or less), she delights in taking the joy out of things for anyone concerned. For instance, when her favorite shows and Stanley''s game show come on at the same time, she makes sure he can''t concentrate and enjoy it by fussing the whole time.
One day she gets a letter stating that one of her oldest and dearest friends is coming to visit. Stanley is sure this will mean the end of his marriage to Vera, once both of the old biddies start working on her about leaving him. (His mother-in-law has made a provision in her will
that they only inherit if she dies of a stroke -- otherwise her fortune goes all to her old friend, Emily). Here begins a tale of intrigue, unnecessary concealment, deception and madness -- the tangled web one weaves, as Shakespeare put it, once one begins to walk down the path of lies. Stanley is obviously somewhat mad. He does lose his wife in the end, the very thing that he sought to avoid from the beginning.
Ruth Rendell has done a major tour-de-force in helping to understand strange states of mind and of consciousness, if not to sympathize with them. I''d recommend this book to any student of psychology (especially the abnormal branch thereof) as well as to any who love a good psychological thriller.