Archery proceeds with various lines of enquiry and proposes several alternative solutions to the crime. Wexford is still adamant that the correct murderer was caught and rightly convicted. There are several sub-plots which occur during the course of Archery's amateur efforts which do not appear at first to be related at all to the main plot. Everything becomes clear in the end though with a cleverly devised twist ending which satisfies everyone. Saying anything more would be a major spoiler.

I suppose you’ve looked all over the house?” he asked. He had driven down this road twice a day for a year but he couldn’t remember whether the house he was sitting in had two floors or three. His policeman’s brain tried to reassemble the retinal photograph of his policeman’s eye. A bay window at the bottom, two flat sash windows about it and—yes, two smaller ones above that under the slated eyelids of the roof. An ugly house, he thought, ugly and forbidding. It is still a good read especially coming from my favorite author although I didn’t really enjoy this one. As I’ve suggested before, try to read her latest works before consuming this particular title. Doing this might make you appreciate her body of work like I do.No point in pursuing it, Burden thought. Others would ask him, probe his private life whether he liked it or not, if she still hadn’t got home when the last train came in and the last bus had rolled into Kingsmarkham garage. Margaret Parsons seems like an ordinary housewife who does not know anyone in the area other than her husband, but as time goes on more about her is revealed. Wexford finds books in the Parsons’ attic, all with messages inscribed to Minna and signed with the name Doon. Wexford wonders is Minna and Margaret are the same person and if so, who the mysterious Doon is. Clues lead to suspects, and Wexford and Burden have to untangle the complicated web of connections to figure out who it could have been. Everyone is a suspect, and Wexford and Burden run into many people throughout the case, all of whom could have done it and some of whom may be more closely linked to the case than they realize. To be fair, it has a few things going for it. There is the open-minded attitude Inspector Wexford has towards people who are different from the majority. It is not a picture perfect little town, but is grimy and seedy. The people are not at all charming, and are often more than a little annoying. Also, there is no Hastings or Watson to romanticize the proceedings, and given how much I hate both characters, I'm adding a star just for that. While I did get into Morse in my late teens, I actually never got around to trying Rendell either in print or in the televised adaptations. Given that those starred one of my favorite actors, George Baker, I am not sure quite how I have achieved that. I probably should rectify that…

In his debut outing, Chief Inspector Wexford shows none of the avuncular charm that readers have got used to in the series. At one point, he upbraids his deputy, Mike Burden, for offering him a cigarette while they wait to interview a witness in her home. “This is Sussex, not Mexico,” he thunders. When they discuss the potential guilt of Mr Parsons, Wexford makes the outrageous suggestion that any married man has a motive for killing his wife. In fairness to Rendell (and Wexford), there are far more outmoded opinions to be found in other 50-year-old novels. Wexford’s grumpiness is not endearing, though Rendell made him more likeable as the series progressed. My own thought is that while Wexford receives helpful information that we don’t have, the reader ought to be able to get ahead of him by at least thinking to ask a question. While it is a manipulative move designed to try to add power to his explanation at the end, I think that information is only needed if something does not occur to the reader that they might figure out for themselves. I think the reader ought to be able to come to that conclusion for themselves so while it may technically not be entirely fair, I think the impact is minor.I’d always wanted to write a screenplay for the Rendell Mysteries, so I was delighted to get the opportunity. I don’t think it was easier for me to write From Doon with Death because I was in it. I just tried to think of how Wexford and Burden would act in certain situations. In fact, I never thought of myself as Wexford when I was writing, although I don’t suppose anyone is as well qualified as me—apart from Ruth herself—to know how Wexford thinks by now. I was very pleased with the way it turned out. Mary McMurray and I worked well together. We never had to worry about having the writer on call because I was there all the time! — George Baker But very interesting when it started to consider the effect of the parent on their children. How Tess, considering the fate of her father, was an intelligent woman, with a university education, compared to Lizzie, who had found the body.