"The Tree of Hands", a mystery by British author Ruth Rendell, is a fast, short novel. I read one of her other books, "The Killing Doll" a while ago. That book was better, in my opinion.
This book started out very good, but 1/2 way into it, I got lost, a bit confused, and just basically had a lack of interest. However, I did learn much re: London and it's streets and neighborhoods. The novel starts off w/ a successful writer who loses her little boy to a freak illness. Her psychotic mother tries to alleviate the situation by kidnapping another toddler and "giving" him to her daughter as a replacement! The boyfriend of the kidnapped kid's mom is accused of murdering that kid. There's another intertwined story about a guy who leaches off of wealthy older women & he impersonates a dead man in order to sell the deceased's home & collect the $$. 3 stories, intertwined. I wanted more of the writer/mom's plot line developed, as that was my favorite storyline (she showed great love in deciding to keep this stolen boy and wrestled w/guilt in keeping him. She saw signs of abuse on his body and thought she could provide a better home for him) Her crazy mother returns to her home in Spain and escapes punishment; it's never revealed that the boy was kidnapped; all think he was murdered.
This author, Rendell, is very successful, but this particular book was fair, at best.
Therefore, I rate it 3 stars.
