I just finished, back-to-back, two Inspector Wexford mysteries by Ruth Rendell, both in my beloved Black Lizard imprint. I had previously read two Rendell books, but none in the Wexford series. These are: "No More Dying Then" and "Some Lie and Some Die."

I find Rendell ponderous to read. She's not particularly wordy, and her plots are very good; in neither book did I figure things out until the final revelations. But she's--well, she's British. And the Brit mystery writers take it slow and serious and very literate. And there's virtually no action. The initial murder happens off-screen. Then Wexford goes about his work, never drawing a gun or clenching a fist or hardly even raising his voice. Makes me long for Jack Bauer.

Rendell is a gifted writer. Her style just doesn't connect well with me. I found myself looking to see how many pages were left, wanting to get the book done, even while wondering who done it. And that's never a good thing.