The Face of Trespass by Ruth Rendell was published in 1974. It’s donkey’s years since I read anything by Ruth Rendell, I don’t know why but I have always got mixed up between her and P.D. James.

Anyway, I did like this one although it takes almost the whole book to get to the crime. I really prefer it when there’s a murder on the first or second page, so I did get a bit frustrated at what I regarded as a lot of scene setting. This does lead to an atmosphere of menace though, you just know that things are not going to go well for the main character.

Graham, generally known as Gray had written a very well-received novel two years previously and everybody had great hopes of him having a very successful career as a writer, but he hadn’t been able to replicate his success and didn’t even seem to be trying now.

He’s living in a small rural cottage not very far from London which is known as ‘the hovel’ as it’s just about falling down. It belongs to Mal, a friend who is travelling at the moment and is happy for Gray to live in the cottage – and stop it from falling down.

Gray has an obsession though, he’s having an affair with a married woman  who is rich – well her husband is rich. Apparently she always gets her own way but the relationship breaks down when Gray refuses to be manipulated by her.

There’s an atmosphere of danger and tension, especially towards the end of the book, and I enjoyed it despite its structure not being my favourite style.