While in Boston for ten days, my reading habits did not get interrupted. My schedule was heavy so the late night, early morning reading was devoted to three detective books, and my slow and pleasurable absorption in the biography of Nelson Mandela. The latter was not yet completed, and will be reported on next week.

As for the lighter detective stories, the news is all good. The prolific Ruth Rendell has blessed us with another of her sharp, witty tales. HARM DONE, published by Crown, brings back her insightful Inspector Wexford. There are disappearances, a murder or two, with a backdrop of a haven for abused wives, and some droll asides. As usual, Ms. Rendell has some wry and pungent observations about social mores, in this instance about ill-informed members of the public rising up against sexual improprieties (prompted by irresponsible journalists), and also a real glimpse of what appears to be irrational behavior by women who are pummeled by the men in their lives. To say that Ruth Rendell is in top form with HARM DONE is redundant. She is always in top form.

And, I have a new name to add to the growing list of American mystery writers. I read two books by Harold Adams, featuring his laconic private eye, Carl Wilcox. Both AWAY WITH WIDOWS and NO BADGE, NO GUN (published by Walker) take place in small towns in South Dakota. I don't recall any specific mention of the years, but it felt like post World War II. Wilcox has done a little time, paints signs for a living, and occasionally gets hired to figure out some mayhem that has taken place. If Harold Adams' writings were paintings, they would be by Edward Hopper. There is a Spartan aspect to the lives of the people inhabiting these tales. They don't waste words and they are suspicious of outsiders. There is also a boiling violence just below the surface. The dialogue is sharp, often funny and always compelling. Look to your local bookstore's mystery paperback section and discover Harold Adams. You might be pleasantly surprised.