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  • A Demon in My View

  • By: Ruth Rendell
  • Narrated by: Julian Glover
  • Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (387 ratings)
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A Demon in My View cover art

A Demon in My View

By: Ruth Rendell
Narrated by: Julian Glover
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Summary

In a gloomy cellar, the figure of a beautiful, pale woman makes no move when the man advances on her from the shadows, puts his hands around her neck and strangles her. Arthur Johnson is a mild-mannered, shy man who has never known how to talk to women. His resulting loneliness has twisted his yearning for love and respect into a carefully constructed predilection for violence and control. On the floor below him, Anthony Johnson, a scholar studying psychopathic personalities is about to stumble - quite literally - upon one of Arthur's many secrets.

©1976 Ruth Rendell (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

  • Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award, 1976

What listeners say about A Demon in My View

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
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    36
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Story
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A gripping story, a wonderful performance

One of the best Rendell stories I have heard. Glover's performance is masterly. The characters brought to life with incredible vividness. The building atmosphere and plot hold you to the sudden, shocking, breath-taking end. A killer story.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Thrilling!

Wonderfully written. I'll never forget the view into a disturbed mind. Rendell is an exellent writer - Julian Clover is an impressive reader.

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4 people found this helpful

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

A Demon In My View

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

It's classic Rendell - i.e. she paints a vivid picture of rudderless, disparate human beings living in the pre-Gentrified parts of inner London. A myriad of strange character traits predominate in a run-down Victorian terrace.

What did you like best about this story?

The suspense and the build-up to the major plot arcs. The way in which Rendell makes you think that this will happen and often, it's quite the opposite. There's also quite a twist at the end.

Did Julian Glover do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?

He was great at giving the male characters a voice and special mention must be given to the central character, Arthur Johnson and minor voices, Jonathan and Brian. I must admit that his rendition of Lynthia's speech was rather clumsy to say the least. I for one wasn't aware that she was Welsh.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Arthur's strange upbringing by his maiden aunt, Gracie and how this changed the man into a monster. The description of how things were during the years of the mid 1970s when this book is set. Life was clearly changing, but Rendell brings this all to vibrant life in her writing.

Any additional comments?

It's well worth a listen. I'm slowly collecting every single one of Rendell's non-Wexford novels.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Excellent story. Great twist.

I really enjoy Ruth Rendell stories both with and without Insp. Wexford. I could see the characters, hear them, know how they felt. Her descriptions of her darker characters never fail to draw us into their macabre worlds. This story doesn’t disappoint.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Miserable

Gloomy back streets, run down bedsits and stereotypical characters. In the midst of this little world a serial killer skulks around doing his laundry and re-enacting his murderous impulses. I wondered if his prissiness had been modelled on John Reginald Christie? It all felt a little squalid and quite forgettable. Didn’t like the over acted narration either.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Perfectly crafted but dated non pc phrases

I loved this clever well rounded listen but trigger warning it was written in the seventies so wouldn’t pass today although there is nothing insulting or inherently racist just some out of use words. Honestly this is well worth downloading as nothing is without meaning all the strands come together exquisitely. A psychopath is hiding in plain view, you would not give them a second glance, until they get the irresistible urge…

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1 person found this helpful

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

Entertaining but dated and racist

Entertaining story but many of the racist references to non-white people (although probably normal at the time of writing in the 70s) felt very uncomfortable.
Also the narrator’s Jamaican accent is so bad I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It is like a mix of Indian and Welsh and again quite offensive. Would be best if the narrator just used his normal voice rather than a poor caricature.

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1 person found this helpful

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

as always, a great listen.

very satisfying, character development is impressive. nice romantic back story and good tidy ending.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Great story

What a clever, tense start to a book! An unexpected ending, too. The only part I was not happy with was the poor, little mouse. I can handle murders of humans, but poor, defenceless animals........

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1 person found this helpful

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

Enjoyable

This story is set in a large multistorey house divided into rooms and flats.
Many and various characters reside here, including, obviously, this being Rendell, a murderous nutter on the top floor.
This ensemble of characters is a pleasant backdrop to the two main stories - a difficult love affair, and our psychopath. Enjoyable.

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1 person found this helpful