Miss Rendell, a prolific writer, usually centers her books on commonplace people who find themselves in unusual situations. But the five short stories in "Means of Evil" are in the traditional British mainstream. Yet, competent as they are, they lack the special quality that Miss Rendell is able to get in her full-length novels. There is something gray about the writing; characters are not developed; even Wexford seems a stereotype. Short mysteries take a certain kind of explosive quality that is missing from the skillful Miss Rendell's arsenal. (pp. 30-1)