This a strange Rendell book. It also is perhaps, the most emotionally driven in terms of plot. While Rendell, especially when she writes under the Barbara Vine tend to be mysteries of the psyche, this book is more about psyche and emotion. It is also in some ways, the one where you root for what in other cases would be a villain simply because that character really isn’t bad. At the very least, Rendell makes you consider the meaning of the terms bad and good.

Crossposted at Booklikes.

I love books that have multiple plot lines that throw you for a loop until they are all nicely tied together. This is one of those books. It is dark and disturbing and definitely shows the not so nice side of people.

It doesn't have the happy ending, so if you are looking for that look elsewhere.

I really liked this one. So many twists and turns and such insight into human nature and emotion. Ruth Rendell is a remarkable writer. She has a way of writing that no matter how terrible or bizarre her character's behavior, the reader can totally understand and sympathize.

Rendell holds a steadfast niche in the mystery world, not undeservedly because her work is grounded in the ever-potential reality of the story she relates. A Tree of Hands would earn that niche on its own. Defying categorization, creating at once a work of classic fiction, crime, and psychological exploration, Rendell evidences mastery of her craft primarily in the ability to make the horrific tragically personable, hesitatingly inferable and rationally believable, without resorting to extremes. A Tree of Hands is worth far more investment than it requires.

Not suspenseful, not interesting, and just very odd.

I didn’t like the way it ended, and had a lot of questions. Before being halfway through, I was ready for it to be over.

Two separate plot lines and groups of characters slowly beginning to intersect, with the reader seeing things that the characters do not, all done in careful, precise writing. Ruth Rendell at her best. Many strengths appear: the dimensions of personality emerging, the suspense from the inevitability of the unfolding events, the twists, the expert plotting. A dark but thrilling novel.

Wow! If you like a book with twist after twist, this one's for you.

This book is more philosophical and psychological than it is a mystery but it is suspenseful and there are crimes and misdeeds aplenty. Benet's first book was wildly successful and she is now living very comfortably in London with her beloved little son James and working on her second book. At the opposite end of the economic spectrum the waitress? Carol lives with Barry, who adores her, but whom she refuses to marry, and her own little son Jason who is more in the way than beloved. At least Jason is with Carol some of the time but mostly at the babysitters. Terence, Carol's former lover, is unhappily house-sitting in a neighborhood near Benet's for his new lover who is on her own on holiday in the sunny Mediterranean. All are struggling with their circumstances, their consciences and their obsessions. As always it is very well-written and she weaves in and out of the threads of these stories very skillfully.