RUTH RENDELL – Means of Evil: Five Mystery Stor1es by an Edgar-Winning Writer. Doubleday & Company, UK hardcover, 1980. Bantam, US, paperback, 1981; Mysterious Press, US, paperback, 1991. Published earlier in the UK by Hutchinson, hardcover, 1979.

   Of the British detective-story writers who have appeared on the scene since about 1960, only Ruth Rendell has a volume of short stories to her credit. In fact she has two volumes of short pieces, for her Fallen Curtain preceded Means of Evil by two of three years. The former book, however, is made up of crime rather than detective stories, though people who like that sort of thing (a number which does not include me) tell me that Fallen Curtain is a fine book.

   Means of Evil features Chief Inspector Wexford and Inspector Burden of the Kingsmarkham police in five stories that approach the novelette length, On the whole, this is a satisfying volume, but not of the quality of Rendell’s novels. Only two of the stories, “Achilles Heel” and “Ginger and the Kingsmarkham Chalk Circle,” hold up as detective stories. They are well-told, with good problems and generally fair solutions. The other three stories are dependent on specialized knowledge; if the reader does not know the poisonous qualities of certain mushrooms or physical reactions to aspirin or niceties of the calendar, he will not have a fair chance to foresee Wexford’s solutions.

   The strength of Means of Evil, as in Rendell’s novels, is primarily in her sympathetic descriptions of character. The insights contained in the title story and “Ginger” are particularly acute. And one of the stories – I won’t mention which – actually has a motive based on monetary gain, something extremely rare in Rendell. For those following the Kingsmarkham saga, Means of Evil includes the story in which Burden is married. In short, the first (but, let’s hope, not the only) collection about Wexford and Burden is an important book, though without the strength of plot which Rendell is capable of.