Again, I am disappointed in a Rendell mystery. This is another one where the 3-episode yawner ends in suicide. He should have put himself out of our misery in the first 30 minutes and ended it there. "Vanity Dies Hard" starts well with a relationship between two women and jealousy over the man one is marrying. A fairly typical plot line. From there, it disintegrates into weird suspicions, possible poisonings, implied affairs of the heart, and doctors running to and fro. There is no rising tension, no great protagonist to root for, no murder that we are sure of, only musings of a rich woman and her pouting husband. Sound interesting? No? Then you would be correct. Find something better to do.
Review of Vanity Dies Hard: Part 3
