13 Steps Down by Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell is among the top British mistresses of mystery, ranking alongside P.D. James, and serving as an exemplar to a younger group of British women mystery writers who include Minette Walters and Frances Fyfield. Ruth Rendell writes under her own name and also under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. Her Barbara Vine books are usually psychological thrillers, while her Ruth Rendell books alternate between Inspector Wexford mysteries and standalone mysteries.

13 Steps Down is a standalone mystery, and it is as psychological as any Barbara Vine novel. It tells the stories of three interconnected people. Gwendolyn Chawcer is an elderly spinster who lives in a large, old, and neglected house in London that she inherited from her father. Mix Cellini is a 30ish man who repairs exercise equipment and has a fascination for a long-dead serial killer. Nerissa Nash is a mixed-race fashion model whose grandmother is a friend to Gwendolyn Chawcer. Nerissa Nash is also the object of Mix Cellini's unrequited affections.

13 Steps Down is more of a thriller than a mystery, since we are never in any doubt as to "whodunnit", but there is definitely more to it than is initially evident. Both Gwendolyn Chawcer and Mix Cellini harbor delusions about their love objects and more generally about their lives and stations. Nerissa Nash also harbors delusions about a love object, but she is much more of a realist than either Gwendolyn or Mix.

And then there are the others involved: the ghost of Reg Christie (a real serial killer--John Reginald Christie--on whom Mix is fixated), the charlatan fortuneteller who "accidentally" tells the truth, and the friends and acquaintances of Mix, Gwendolyn, and Nerissa.

This is a quick-to-read and very enjoyable book. If you like it, you may well like other books by Ruth Rendell:

http://www.gusworld.com.au/books/rendell/default.htm

P.D. James

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/pdjames/

Minette Walters

http://www.minettewalters.co.uk/

and Frances Fyfield

http://www.twbooks.co.uk/authors/francesfyfield.html