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A review by llynn66
The Birthday Present by Barbara Vine
3.0
The alternative title for Ruth Rendell's latest could be Death Cab for Cutie. Suave Tory MP, Ivor Tesham is indulging in a steamy affair with the lithesome blond, Hebe Furnal, who is married to Gerry, an executive for a charity foundation. Tesham and Hebe enjoy kinky sex and role playing. Tesham plans a special birthday present for Hebe (who, amusingly for me, shares my birth date of May 17th.) This birthday 'gift' is a scenario where Ivor Tesham hires an fledgling actor/cab driver and another associate to "abduct" Hebe from the side of a road, pack her into a cab, bound and gagged, and take her to a house where he is waiting for her. Hebe will be aware that something will happen and that it will involve a game with Tesham, but the details will be a surprise. (Personally, I hope that next May my own spouse will stick with slightly more conventional plans....but that is an aside which is not helpful to other readers.)
Obviously, the mock abduction does not go well. En route to the home where Tesham is waiting, the driver, Dermot Lynch, goes through a red light and collides with a truck. Hebe Furnal is killed in the crash, as is the other man in the car, Lloyd Freeman. Lynch survives but barely. He remains in a coma with severe brain damage and an indefinite future.
Ivor Tesham's role in the scenario is, therefore, covered up for the time being. However, he lives under the constant cloud of apprehension. Who knows the various bits and pieces about his affair with Hebe? How much do they know? Can any one person connect the dots and draw a picture that will lead back to him? His promising political career is at stake and he becomes a haunted man.
Rendell can take characters who are almost uniformly unpleasant and make you want to know what happens to them. The victims in this story are not people I can sympathize with, but this is immaterial. I was interested in their motivations and the repercussions. This is what makes a psychological suspense story so satisfying -- plumbing the murky depths of human nature. The action in Rendell's plots is far more mental than physical (although acts of deadly violence do occur). Rendell also has the uniquely British talent for writing about distasteful subjects and despicable people in a tasteful and understated way. She refrains from going over the top and keeps her characters tightly drawn.
The legion of Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine fans will enjoy The Birthday Present and new readers may want to give it a try as well.
Obviously, the mock abduction does not go well. En route to the home where Tesham is waiting, the driver, Dermot Lynch, goes through a red light and collides with a truck. Hebe Furnal is killed in the crash, as is the other man in the car, Lloyd Freeman. Lynch survives but barely. He remains in a coma with severe brain damage and an indefinite future.
Ivor Tesham's role in the scenario is, therefore, covered up for the time being. However, he lives under the constant cloud of apprehension. Who knows the various bits and pieces about his affair with Hebe? How much do they know? Can any one person connect the dots and draw a picture that will lead back to him? His promising political career is at stake and he becomes a haunted man.
Rendell can take characters who are almost uniformly unpleasant and make you want to know what happens to them. The victims in this story are not people I can sympathize with, but this is immaterial. I was interested in their motivations and the repercussions. This is what makes a psychological suspense story so satisfying -- plumbing the murky depths of human nature. The action in Rendell's plots is far more mental than physical (although acts of deadly violence do occur). Rendell also has the uniquely British talent for writing about distasteful subjects and despicable people in a tasteful and understated way. She refrains from going over the top and keeps her characters tightly drawn.
The legion of Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine fans will enjoy The Birthday Present and new readers may want to give it a try as well.