Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
A Sight for Sore Eyes cover art

A Sight for Sore Eyes

By: Ruth Rendell
Narrated by: David Threlfall
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £15.99

Buy Now for £15.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Water's Lovely cover art
Thirteen Steps Down cover art
The Keys to the Street cover art
A Demon in My View cover art
The Bridesmaid cover art
Master of the Moor cover art
The Rottweiler cover art
The Killing Doll cover art
Talking to Strange Men cover art
Shake Hands For Ever cover art
Live Flesh cover art
A Winter Grave cover art
The Girl Before cover art
Rewinder cover art
Wilderness and Other Stories cover art
A Fatal Inversion cover art

Summary

Two damaged children: Teddy Brex, whom no-one loved, and so found it easier to relate to objects or things which never let him down; and Francine Hill, who was discovered sitting by the body of her mother, her skirt red with blood. She couldn’t tell the police or her father anything to help track down the killer.... Children grow up in different ways. Teddy became a handsome young man, Francine was beautiful - a sight for sore eyes. But it was death that brought them together.

©2010 Kingsmarkham Enterprises Ltd (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about A Sight for Sore Eyes

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    601
  • 4 Stars
    202
  • 3 Stars
    81
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    17
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    636
  • 4 Stars
    150
  • 3 Stars
    34
  • 2 Stars
    9
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    534
  • 4 Stars
    188
  • 3 Stars
    73
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    18

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Sight For Sore Eyes

I think that I've read this novel at least twice in its printed form, but it was great to be able to hear David Threlfall's audio performance. The plot centres around Teddy Brex, a young man, hailing from North London whose love-starved upbringing and childhood injury turns him into a damaged adult. The object of Teddy's affections, the beautiful, refined and intelligent Francine Hill, witnessed her mother's murder whilst a child and the later addition of an overbearing stepmother, causes issues in her life.

It's classic Rendell - brilliant, well-crafted and above all, insightful and entertaining. All of the main characters are incredibly believable and in the case of Francine especially, the reader is able to sympathise with her plight.

The narrator, David Threlfall, is brilliant and the range of different accents he is able to provide is fantastic.

Just great. Readers/listeners may be interested to know that one of Rendell's later Wexford novels, 'The Vault' is a sequel to 'A Sight For Sore Eyes'.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Ruth Rendell at her best

I could not stop listening to this enthralling and enjoyable book. A must for everyone

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Ruth Rendell rarely disappoints, and this is one of her best slow burners. The narration was ok, not the best but not the worst either.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Long-running unfold of fate

Wonderfully alive characters playing out their various futures towards a series of tense and convincing endings. You can see all of them in technicolour, listen in on their thinking patterns, understand why they do what they do almost by accident, even the central villain. But the foreboding almost made me put it down and run away, though glad I didn't as all is satisfactorily concluded, in a way.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Classic Ruth Rendell

The author is adept at creating dysfunctional and weird characters and this novel is full of them. A gripping story so effectively written that it makes the reader/listener feel real sympathy for some characters and heartily dislike others. As with many of the author’s books there’s a pervasive feeling of jeopardy and threat.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Twisted plot and clever

Not my favourite. But I love David Threlfall and Ruth Rendell. So good plot and good story!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

grimy miserable characters

struggled to finish. characters were without any positive character traits. the story was soooo slow. Grim! Not my kind of book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping tale and very clever plot

If you enjoy Barbara Vine's/Ruth Rendell's psychological thrillers you'll enjoy this. Good reading by David Threlfall too.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

Loved it as usual, did not want it to end, brilliant can't wait to read the next one

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Classic Ruth Rendell

Well written Interesting tale of murder linking three people.
Well narrated . Well crafted plot

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful