The Lake Of Darkness

by Ruth Rendell

Martin Urban is a quiet bachelor with a comfortable life, free of worry and distractions. When he unexpectedly comes into a small fortune, he decides to use his newfound wealth to help out those in need. Finn also leads a quiet life, and comes into a little money of his own.

Normally, their paths would never have crossed. But Martin's ideas about who should benefit from his charitable impulses yield some unexpected results, and soon the good intentions of the one become fatally entangled with the mercenary nature of the other. In the Lake of Darkness, Ruth Rendell takes the old adage that no good deed goes unpunished to a startling, haunting conclusion.

• ISBN10: 0099255308
• ISBN13: 9780099255307
• Publish Date: 6 October 1994 (first published 1 January 1980)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Cornerstone
• Imprint: Arrow Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (A-Format (178x111 mm))
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[Cameron Trost]

Yet another astounding novel from Ruth Rendell. The characters followed (or perhaps "stalked" is a more appropriate word) in this tale are so very different from each other and yet their worlds become so fatefully entangled. Without giving anything away, what is bound to happen doesn't come as a surprise - at least, the general direction of the plot seemed quite obvious to me. What really makes this tale one of her best is the chilling way in which the inescapable chain of events is presented to us and the finer details that make it all seem so tragically plausible. Furthermore, and as always with Ruth Rendell, there is more than just a clever and gripping storyline and intriguing cast of characters. We also have a study of good and evil intentions, and of greed and generosity, and Rendell shows us how unfortunate it all is when they get mixed up together.