The Water's Lovely

infobox Book |
name = The Water's Lovely
title_orig =
translator =


author = Ruth Rendell
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Crime/Mystery novel
publisher = Hutchinson
release_date = 2006
media_type = Print (Paperback & Hardback)
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0-09-179728-4
preceded_by = The Thief
followed_by = Not in the Flesh

"The Water's Lovely" is a 2006 novel by British writer Ruth Rendell, not part of her Inspector Wexford series.

Plot Summary

Ismay Sealand believes that her younger sister, Heather, murdered their step-father Guy when they were teenagers. Ismay and her mother, Beatrix, returned from shopping for a new school uniform to find Guy drowned in his bath. Although both Ismay and her mother believe Heather drowned Guy - who was weak from a virus - they covered it up from the Police. Ismay thinks Heather has murdered Guy because he made sexual advances to her, Ismay, and Heather wished to protect her. In fact Ismay encouraged Guy's interest and hoped he would come to her bedroom and have sex with her.

Now in their twenties Ismay and Heather live in the same house, but it has now been divided in to two flats. They live together in one, and their mother, who is emotionally traumatised and living in a world of her own lives with her sister Pamela in the other. They all remain haunted by what happened all those years ago. Ismay is despretely in love with Andrew Campbell-Sedge, who looks very like her dead step-father, and who does not get on with Heather.

Meanwhile, Edmund Litton's mother, Irene, tries to set him up with Marion Melville, a thin darting woman who has befriended a number of elderly people in the area. Horrorfied by this idea Edmund sets up a date with a woman who works in the catering department of the hospice where he works, Heather Sealand. Their date is more successful than expected and the two begin to fall in love. This causes a rift with Edmund's mother, espcially when Edmund goes to stay over night at Heather's flat. Ismay worries whether or not she should tell Edmund about Heather's past and, eventually, makes a tape telling him what she thinks happened when Guy drowned. She hides it is a box which formally contained the cassette "Rainy Season Ragas" and puts it out of sight.

Edmund and Heather's relationship causes another rift; this time between Ismay and Andrew. Andrew cannot stand Heather and Edmund being in "our flat". Andrew has a row with Edmund during which Edmund confronts Andrew with his knowledge of Andrew's infidelity. Afterwards Andrew splits-up with Ismay and Edmund never again enters the flat. Edmund proposes to Heather and they become engaged and begin seeking a flat, staying with Irene in the meantime.

Marion takes advantage of Irene's dislike of Heather and spends a lot of time with her, hoping to be included in her will. Marion has morphine sulphate in her bathroom cabinate and hopes to use it on one of her elderly "friends". Irene invites Marion for Christmas, and Marion meets Avice, an elderly lady who frets about leaving her rabbits at home alone. Marion is soon rabbit-sitting for Avice regularly.

Fowler, Marion's homeless brother, sometimes visits her flat for a meal, drink or a bed for the night. On one visit her takes the strongest thing her can find from her bathroom cupboard. Edmund and Heather are married, and after a scene with Irene at the wedding, move out to a rented flat whilst they wait to complete the sale on a flat of their own. Ismay decides to destroy the recording she made for Edmund regarding Guy's death and puts it in to her handbag in order to throw it away somewhere in London.

Ismay is distraught, wandering around the places she and Andrew went at all hours of the night, she is also drinking heavily. She even confronts Andrew and his new flame, socialite Eva Simba and then has her bag stolen on the tube; the bag containing the tape she made for Edmund. Heather, convinced that Andrew would return to Ismay without the presence of Eva, begins to contact the young woman regularly, asking her to leave Andrew. Eva refuses to do so, although she speaks to Heather on the phone quite often all the same.

Marion tries to kill Avice Conroy with her morphine, but discovers Folwer's robbery when Avice says her food tastes like cough mixture. She instead turns her attentions to Irene's neighbour, Barry Fenix, a retired 'civil servant' who loves all things relating to India.

Eva Simba goes for her daily run and is murdered. Ismay discovers Heather had been in contact with her and thinks that Heather has killed Eva in order that Andrew would return to her. Ismay sits with Beatrix quite a lot whilst Pamela goes out with a man she has met on 'romance walks'. Although he will not spend any money to take her out and she does not much like his character, Pamela fancies him enough to become his lover.

Marion tells Fowler that she is to become engaged and he leaves her an engagement present of a Marc Jacobs handbag he found in a West End bin and its contents, which include a tape, "Rainy Season Ragas".

Pamela decides to end things with her lover, but when she does he becomes violent and beats her up and pushes her down the stairs of his flat. She is taken to hospital and Edmund and Heather move in with Beatrix to care for her. Ismay comes home from work to discover Andrew inside her flat, he has returned to her. She hides the fact that Edmund and Heather are currently living upstairs with her mother and the two are reconciled.

Marion listens to the tape to see if it is suitable to play to Barry on a romantic evening and discovers what Ismay has said on it. She decides to blackmail Ismay, who is desprete to keep the pates contence a secrete from Andrew who has decided to move in with her. Marion extorts several hundred pounds from Ismay and becomes engaged to Barry. When Marion boasts that she shall shortly be 'Mrs Barry Fenix', Ismay remembers the name in connection to Guy's death - Barry was the officer who lead the investigation all those years ago. She tells Marion to stop the blackmail or she will tell Barry what she has been up to. Marion gives up her blackmail and she and Barry are married shortly after. Fowler blackmails Marion in to giving him her flat.

Following a teenagers arrest for the murder of Eva Simba, Ismay confronts Heather and asked her whether she killed Eva and Guy. Heather is shocked that Ismay could think she killed Eva but admits to killing Guy, not to protect Ismay but because he was sexually abusing her, Heather. Heather tells Ismay that Guy was no longer interested in pursuing her because she was 'obviously interested' in him and that Guy wanted someone who didn't want him, so turned his attentions to Heather. Guy got in to the bath that day and asked Heather to join him in the bubbles, saying "the water's lovely". Heather also tells Edmund of the murder she committed as a thirteen year-old and he is deeply saddened by the information. The two head off for a belated honeymoon.

Pamela is reconciled with a Michael, a former fiance who left her after Guy's death, and the two plan to move in together and have Beatrix living with them. Ismay and Andrew get engaged and start looking for a shared home, also.

On Boxing Day an earthquake in the Indian ocean triggers a tsunami in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. Fearing for Heather and Edmund, who are honeymooning in Sumatra in Indonesia Ismay asks Andrew to ring a friend who is a diplomat. Heather and Edmund are dead, killed by the water, which was not lovely.