Tight plots and unexpected twists are central to Ruth Rendell’s distinctly British mysteries. But it’s her mastery of psychological tension that sets her work apart. In “Thirteen Steps Down,” Rendell explores the facets of obsession, finding some relatively harmless and others absolutely deadly.
Michael “Mix” Cellini’s smooth exterior hides the fixations that drive him. He spends his days repairing fitness equipment and devotes his off time to two unrelated fascinations, Nerissa Nash and Reginald Christie. Nash is a London-based supermodel, as out of reach as the moon to a working- class man. Christie was a notorious serial killer who began his career in London in 1938.
Cellini does nothing halfway. In addition to amassing a literary collection on Christie’s career, he’s found a flat on the third floor of an old house in the neighborhood where the killer worked. Cellini has followed the killer’s path as best he can, mourning the fact that the house he once operated from has been torn down and replaced by a soulless modern unit. Cellini can name each victim, how she died and how Christie disposed of the body.
His mind may belong to Christie, but his heart is clearly with Nash. Cellini has assembled a scrapbook of press clippings and photographs of his love, and a life-sized poster hangs in his spotless flat. He is convinced that the fate that now keeps them apart will eventually bring them together, and that all it will take is a single meeting to seal their love.
The rich inner life of her boarder is not at all apparent to Gwendolen Chawcer, the owner and other occupant of St. Blaise House. Chawcer was educated by her father and, after her mother died in 1953, stepped into the caregiver role. She’d fallen in love once, with Dr. Stephen Reeves, who cared for her mother; the infatuation seemed to be one-sided.
At 66, she now lives in a house too big to clean, immersed in the books of her youth. But when she chances upon an obituary for Reeve’s wife, hope kindles that she may yet have a shot at happiness.
While the general turns of the plot are expected, the way in which they unfold is not. Cellini is a nasty, self-deluded man who starts the story 13 short steps away from madness. Neither will Chawcer be mistaken for anyone’s doting grandmother; she’s a woman of short temper and sharp tongue. Early on it is clear that things will not end well for either character. But unlikable does not equal predictable, and there lies the zest of “Thirteen Steps Down.”
If there is a weakness in the novel, it’s that the ending comes with more of a whimper than a bang, though it includes an unexpected ironic twist. This does not detract from the overall power of the work.
Rendell tells her story from a dispassionate distance, in an even tone that only deepens the foreboding. As Cellini comes closer to his love interest, the feeling that arises is akin to viewing a horror movie and wanting to tell a character, “Don’t go into that room.” But Rendell’s characters will do what they are meant to do. The elements of surprise, combined with the richness of the story, make “Thirteen Steps Down” a riveting and seductive read.
Robin Vidimos is a freelance writer who reviews books for The Denver Post and Buzz in the ‘Burbs.
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Thirteen Steps Down
By Ruth Rendell
Crown,
352 pages, $25
