THE WATER'S LOVELY

Rosalyn Landor can be counted on for a cool, elegant, accomplished delivery, and she does not disappoint in this deliciously creepy mystery from the master. Ismay Sealand has reason to believe that her little sister, Heather, drowned their stepfather in his bath when they were children. Now grown, the sisters share a flat. They have been bound by their shared (if undiscussed) past, but now that they both have grown-up love lives and are planning separate futures, the unspoken keeps bobbing up. Even the abridgment is here masterfully done, which is a lot for this abridgment-averse reviewer to grant. As often with Rendell, the minor characters, Ismay's snobbish upper-crust boyfriend, Heather's horrible future mother-in-law, are the most fun. Landor makes the most of them. B.G. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 07/ JAN 08]