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  • The Babes in the Wood

  • A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery
  • By: Ruth Rendell
  • Narrated by: Nigel Anthony
  • Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (106 ratings)

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The Babes in the Wood cover art

The Babes in the Wood

By: Ruth Rendell
Narrated by: Nigel Anthony
Free with 2 month trial

AUD $16.45/mo after 2 months. Renews automatically. Cancel anytime.

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Publisher's Summary

With floods threatening both the town of Kingsmarkham and his own home and no end to the rain in sight, Chief Inspector Wexford already has his hands full when he learns that two local teenagers have gone missing along with their sitter, Joanna Troy. Their hysterical mother is convinced that all three have drowned, and as the hours stretch into days Wexford suspects a case of kidnapping, perhaps connected with an unusual sect called the Church of the Good Gospel. But when the sitter's smashed-up car is found at the bottom of a local quarry - occupied by a battered corpse - the investigation takes on a very different hue.

For her 19th Chief Inspector Wexford mystery, Ruth Rendell tells a story that is as taut and atmospheric as anything she has ever written. Ruth Rendell has won many awards, including the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger.

©2004 Ruth Rendell (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"The plot....marches efficiently to its unguessable dénouement while demonstrating Rendell's grasp of the psychological dynamics of seduction and exploitation which lie at the heart of the case." ( The New Yorker)

What listeners say about The Babes in the Wood

Average Customer Ratings
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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good deceive story well narrated

The narration and production by BBC look forward to some more of the same genre

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A bit plodding but with a decent twist

A decent mystery. The characterisation of women & the impact of domestic abuse is pretty poor though.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great plot

A little slow but worth the time. Well done Ruth! I will continue listening to the series.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Cleverly constructed

The only irritating character in this audiobook is the mother...dubbed an 'hysteric'. Perhaps it is just the shrill enactment so reading the print version may not be so grating? I did wonder if this kind of extreme character can actually be found in real life but I guess anything is possible. However, the story is a page turner and all other characters are plausible. A good read.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

boring

story line wasn't exciting enough and story teller was to old to listen too. Story didn't have enough action in the story line.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Another great listen

Once again, i thought i had this figured out and I got some of it but was still surprised at the end.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Babe in the Woods

A bit slow moving but well performed. Not many twists or surprises. very descriptive characters.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • KK
  • 24-04-2022

enjoyable

I enjoyed the mystery but didn’t like what actually happened, once it was revealed, so while I enjoyed listening to the book I was left with a bad taste

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