Quick read, mesmerizing book
Heartstones, the novel, is the only portion of this book that I have read so my review does not address the commentaries included in some editions. In this delicious Rendell novel, Elvira is the narrator. Her mother has just died of cancer and now it is just she, her sister and her beloved father, Luke. When Luke announces plans to remarry, Elvira plots to kill her future step-mother, Mary. Mary indeed dies, in a terrible but unwitnessed fall. This event, is fore-shadowed by the recurrent appearance of cat ghost and eating disorders in the two sisters. As time passes, Luke grows more morose and eventually commits suicide--or was he perhaps murdered? The sisters, haunted and immobilized by their house and situation only have each other to rely on. And one of them or both may be crazy. Another great, and very, very quick Rendell read.