Murder Being Once Done

 Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford novel feel older than they are - or maybe I just don't realize that 1972, a year in which I have a few memories, is so far in the past. Rendell's and Wexford's, attitudes, though come from a prior era. The poor are always dirty - not just in a squalid neighborhood but lacking in personal hygiene as well. And their criminality is assured

Murder Being Once Done Begins with Wexford on a doctor prescribed break with his nephew in London. Hovered over by his wife and niece, he's bore to tears until he comes across a crime shene while on a walk - a crime where his nephew, Howard, a Detective Superintendent with the Metropolitan Police, is the lead investigator. Lovejoy Morgan appears to be a "good girl," too sheltered to hold all but the most menial job, yet her postmortem shows that she'd given birth within the year. Wexford takes on the task fo finding her identity and her killer. Succeeding through a combination of grunt work and luck - but not after getting a very wrong answer that was somehow connected to the truth. I enjoyed how Rendell placed the surprise twist in an unusual place but found the killer's identity somewhat unbelievable. There's also the psychology. Rendell was known as one of the first mystery writers to bring psychology into the genre, but it feels, dated, simplistic at times, and seen through Rendell's upper-middle class British lens. The Wexford series, and most of Rendell's books, feel like a time capsule - enjoyable but somehow her London is more remote than Miss Marple's St. Mary Mead.