Means of Evil
1979 short story collection by Ruth Rendell
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Means of Evil is a collection of short stories by British writer Ruth Rendell.
 First edition | |
| Author | Ruth Rendell |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Crime, mystery |
| Publisher | Hutchinson |
Publication date | 8 October 1979 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 174 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | 0-09-139630-1 (first edition, hardback) |
| OCLC | 6167185 |
| Preceded by | Make Death Love Me |
| Followed by | The Lake of Darkness |
Contents
The collection contains five stories, all featuring Inspector Wexford:
- "Means of Evil"
- "Old Wives Tales"
- "Ginger and the Kingsmarkham Chalk Circle"
- "Achilles Heel"
- "When the Wedding Was Over"
Of these short stories, three were the basis of episodes in the Inspector Wexford television series - "Means of Evil", "Ginger and the Kingsmarkham Chalk Circle" (filmed as No Crying He Makes) and "Achilles Heel".[citation needed]
Reception
Kirkus Reviews described the book as "Five Inspector Wexford stories that show Rendell at her least distinctive - the full-length Wexfords and non-Wexford novels and stories are all superior" but added that "Rendell never sinks below a certain, remarkably high, level" and concluded "Second-string Rendell, then - which means, by any other standards, perfectly solid and tremendously intelligent, invisibly stylish work".[1]
In a 2007 review of Rendell's Collected Stories, The Guardian notes that Wexford "appears in the late 1970s' Means of Evil, as a man defiantly out of time with the decade of IRA bombs and bent coppers".[2]
