Ruth Rendell's "The Best Man to Die" … is a sturdy representative of the genus Britannicus detectivus. Charlie Hatton is not well loved—except by Jack Pertree, who wants him to stand up at his wedding. The would-be best man is also too bemoneyed for a lorry driver, and the woods seem flush with suspects for Chief Inspector Wexford of the Kingsmarkham police when Charlie fatally encounters a blunt object one moonlit night. Separating the killer from the merely guilty becomes more perplexing with passing days. Added complications include a curious car accident case and a carnivorous elevator.

Allen J. Hubin, in a review of "The Best Man to Die," in The New York Times Book Review (copyright © 1970 by The New York Times Company; reprinted by permission), August 23, 1970, p. 24.