Piranha to Scurfy: And Other Stories
These short fictions showcase Ruth Rendell's many gifts, among them the  ability to evoke a mood and trap a reader in the deepest recesses of a  character's psyche. The title story (its odd name comes from the volume of the  encyclopedia her character uses in venting his spleen at published authors whose  work suffers from a lack of precision) draws us into the mind of a lonely man  whose inability to please his mother makes him vulnerable to self destruction.  "The Wink" and "Walter's Leg," two stories about revenge, demonstrate that it is  indeed a meal best eaten cold. "The Professional" is a small gem with an ironic  twist, notable for its acute insights into social class and status in England.  In these and other pieces in this collection, Rendell's powers of invention and  acute psychological insight remind one of the chilling tales she writes as  Barbara Vine. But the best is saved for last, "High Mysterious Union," a tale  that's like the weather in Rendell's typical English landscape: sunny at the  start but increasingly dark and threatening as the plot thickens. A translator  rents a cottage in a village that seems like Lake Wobegon. Everyone is  beautiful, strong, and kind, especially the women, who seduce the newcomer with  their charms and then abandon him when he fails to see the rightness of their  unique, bizarre ways. He gets away with his life, but it will take days before  he (and his creator) give you back your own.--Jane Adams--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.