Ruth Rendell - Author

The Girl Next Door

The dazzling new novel from Ruth Rendell. When the bones of two severed hands are discovered in a box, an investigation into a long buried crime of passion begins. And a group of friends, who played together as children, begin to question their past. 'For Woody, anger was cold. Cold and slow. But once it had started it mounted gradually and he could think of nothing else. He knew he couldn't stay alive while those two were alive. Instead of sleeping, he lay awake in the dark and saw those hands. Anita's narrow white hand with the long nails painted pastel pink, the man's brown hand equally shapely, the fingers slightly splayed.' Before the advent of the Second World War, beneath the green meadows of Loughton, Essex, a dark network of tunnels has been dug. A group of children discover them. They play there. It becomes their secret place. Seventy years on, the world has changed. Developers have altered the rural landscape. Friends from a half-remembered world have married, died, grown sick, moved on or disappeared. Work on a new house called Warlock uncovers a grisly secret, buried a lifetime ago, and a weary detective, more preoccupied with current crimes, must investigate a possible case of murder. In all her novels, Ruth Rendell digs deep beneath the surface to investigate the secrets of the human psyche. The interconnecting tunnels of Loughton in The Girl Next Door lead to no single destination. But the relationships formed there, and the incidents that occurred, exert a profound influence - not only on the survivors but in unearthing the true nature of the mysterious past.

The Girl Next Door

A dark, sad, slightly depressing tale of old age.  We start in the late thirties when the crime was committed (so this is no whodunit) and then leap to the present where a group of children, who used to play together, are now all in their seventies and eighties and mostly miserable.  The connection between now and the original crime is really not the point of this tale.  It is more about the psychological nature and interconnection of the group.  All very pensive.  

No Man's Nightingale (A Wexford Case)

No Man's Nightingale: the eagerly anticipated twenty-fourth title in Ruth Rendell's bestselling Detective Chief Inspector Wexford series. The woman vicar of St Peter's Church may not be popular among the community of Kingsmarkham. But it still comes as a profound shock when she is found strangled in her vicarage. Inspector Wexford is retired, but he retains a relish for solving mysteries especially when they are as close to home as this one is. So when he's asked whether he will assist on the case, he readily agrees. By why did the vicar die? And is anyone else in Kingsmarkham in danger? What Wexford doesn't know is that the killer is far closer than he, or anyone else, thinks.

From Doon with Death A Wexford Case - 50th Anniversary Edition

A 50th anniversary edition of the first Inspector Wexford novel, with an introduction by Ian Rankin and a new afterword by Ruth Rendell. An ordinary life. An extraordinary death. The trampled grass led to the body of Margaret Parsons. With no useful clues and a victim known only for her mundane life, Chief Inspector Wexford is baffled until he discovers Margaret's dark secret - a collection of rare books, each inscribed from a secret lover and signed only as 'Doon'. Who is Doon? And could the answer hold the key to Wexford solving his first case?

The Saint Zita Society

'Someone had told Dex that the Queen lived in Victoria. So did he, but she had a palace and he had one room in a street off Warwick Way. Still he liked the idea that she was his neighbour.' Dex works as a gardener for Dr Jefferson at his home on Hexam Place in Pimlico: an exclusive street of white-painted stucco Georgian houses inhabited by the rich, and serviced by the not so rich. The hired help, a motley assortment of au pairs, drivers and cleaners, decide to form the St Zita Society (Zita was the patron saint of domestic servants) as an excuse to meet at the local pub and air their grievances. When Dex is invited to attend one of these meetings, the others find that he is a strange man, seemingly ill at ease with human beings. These first impressions are compounded when they discover he has recently been released from a hospital for the criminally insane, where he was incarcerated for attempting to kill his own mother. Dex's most meaningful relationship seems to be with his mobile phone service provider, Peach, and he interprets the text notifications and messages he receives from the company as a reassuring sign that there is some kind of god who will protect him. And give him instructions about ridding the world of evil spirits...Accidental death and pathological madness cohabit above and below stairs in Hexam Place.

The Vault

Tigerlily's Orchids

When Stuart Font decides to throw a house-warming party in his new flat, he invites all the people in his building. After some deliberation, he even includes the unpleasant caretaker and his wife. There are a few other genuine friends on the list, but he definitely does not want to include his girlfriend, Claudia, as that might involve asking her husband. The party will be one everyone remembers. But not for the right reasons. All the occupants of Lichfield House are about to experience a dramatic change in their lives...Living opposite, in reclusive isolation, is a young, beautiful Asian woman, christened Tigerlily by Stuart. As though from some strange urban fairytale, she emerges to exert a terrible spell. And Mr and Mrs Font, the worried parents, will have even more cause for concern about their handsome but hopelessly naive son.

A Spot of Folly Ten and a Quarter New Tales of Murder and Mayhem

A Spot of Folly Ten Tales of Murder and Mayhem

New and uncollected tales of murder, mischief, magic and madness. Ruth Rendell was an acknowledged master of psychological suspense: these are ten (and a quarter) of her most chillingly compelling short stories, collected here together for the first time. In these tales, a businessman boasts about cheating on his wife, only to find the tables turned. A beautiful country rectory reverberates to the echo of a historical murder. A compulsive liar acts on impulse, only to be lead inexorably to disaster. And a wealthy man finds there is more to his wife's kidnapping than meets the eye. Atmospheric, gripping and never predictable, this is Ruth Rendell at her inimitable best. The stories are: Never Sleep in a Bed Facing a Mirror; A Spot of Folly; The Price of Joy; The Irony of Hate; Digby's Wives; The Haunting of Shawley Rectory; A Drop Too Much; The Thief; The Long Corridor of Time; In the Time of his Prosperity; and Trebuchet. Introduction from Sophie Hannah.

Put On By Cunning (A Wexford Case)

The eleventh book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. Sir Manuel Camargue, Kingsmarkham's very own celebrity flautist, dies tragically on a snowy night. His death is met with a ruling of misadventure and appears to be an open-and-shut-case. However Wexford, as the investigating officer, has a few niggling doubts. Nineteen years later, Camargue's entrancing daughter, Natalie, now a considerable heiress, suddenly reappears in Kingsmarkham. When her fiance appeals to Wexford for help, believing that Natalie is using a false identity, the case of the Camargues is once more under investigation. Events soon take a gruesome twist and the pressure is on for Wexford to discover Natalie's true identity and to solve the mystery of the Camargue family, once and for all.

A Spot of Folly Ten Tales of Murder and Mayhem

New and uncollected tales of murder, mischief, magic and madness. Ruth Rendell was an acknowledged master of psychological suspense: these are ten (and a quarter) of her most chillingly compelling short stories, collected here together for the first time. In these tales, a businessman boasts about cheating on his wife, only to find the tables turned. A beautiful country rectory reverberates to the echo of a historical murder. A compulsive liar acts on impulse, only to be lead inexorably to disaster. And a wealthy man finds there is more to his wife's kidnapping than meets the eye. Atmospheric, gripping and never predictable, this is Ruth Rendell at her inimitable best. The stories are: Never Sleep in a Bed Facing a Mirror; A Spot of Folly; The Price of Joy; The Irony of Hate; Digby's Wives; The Haunting of Shawley Rectory; A Drop Too Much; The Thief; The Long Corridor of Time; In the Time of his Prosperity; and Trebuchet. Introduction from Sophie Hannah.

Cotloane intunecate

O poveste extrem de captivanta despre santaj, crima si destine implacabileDupA ce tatA l sA u moare, Carl Martin moE teneE te o casA mare E i frumoasA n centrul Londrei. Ca sA nu trebuiascA sA lucreze E i sA aibA timp de scris, nchiriazA etajul primei persoane pe care o intervieveazA , Dermot McKinnon.Face astfel prima mare greE ealA .A doua mare greE ealA este faptul cA a pA strat colecE ia bizarA de remedii"e; homeopatice a tatA lui sA u, pe care a gA sit-o n dulA piorul de medicamente, mpreunA cu niE te pastile de slA bit dubioase.A treia greE ealA este sA vndA cincizeci de astfel de pastile unei prietene, care ulterior este gA sitA moartA .Ruth Rendell este nentrecutA n a spune poveE ti despre obsesii, labilitate E i coincidenE e nefaste."e; - Stephen Kingmpletind ingenios douA fire narative ce se ntlnesc n deznodA mntul E ocant, Ruth Rendell descrie vrtejul ameE itor care-l poartA pe Carl ntr-o lume ntunecatA E i l mpinge apoi la crimA , n timp ce cade victimA unui duE man invizibil de care nu poate sA scape.DacA nu eE ti familiarizat cu romanele lui Ruth Rendell, dacA , ntr-un fel sau altul, i-ai ratat cele peste E aizeci de cA rE i, dar ai deschis-o acum pe aceasta felicitA ri: viaE a ta de cititor va deveni infinit mai bogatA ."e; - Los Angeles TimesRuth Rendell a mbogA E it cu dimensiuni psihologice profunde E i sofisticate literatura poliE istA clasicA din Marea Britanie."e; - Washington PostScrisul lui Ruth Rendell are intimitatea neliniE titoare a unei atingeri strA ine n ntuneric."e; - The New York Times Book Review

Dark Corners

When Carl sells a box of slimming pills to his close friend Stacey, inadvertently causing her death, he sets in train a sequence of catastrophic events which begin with subterfuge, extend to lies, and culminate in murder. In Rendell's dark and atmospheric tale of psychological suspense, we encounter mistaken identity, kidnap, blackmail, and a cast of characters who are so real that we come to know them better than we know ourselves. Infused with her distinctive blend of wry humour, acute observation and deep humanity, this is Rendell at her most memorable and best.

Dark Corners

A tragic accident. A blackmail plot. A house of cards. And murder. In his late father's house, Carl finds a hoard of pills, 'wonder drugs' and herbal remedies. He sells a box of slimming pills to his close friend Stacey. She dies. And Carl's new tenant is now scheming to blackmail him, imposing more and more demands on an increasingly unstable Carl, pushing him to the point of no return... _________________________ Ruth Rendell's final novel is a dark and atmospheric tale of psychological suspense, full of mistaken identity, kidnap, blackmail, and a cast of normal people driven to do abnormal things. Infused with her distinctive blend of wry humour, acute observation and deep humanity, this is Rendell at her most memorable and best.

The Keys To The Street

London's wealthiest, poorest, kindest and most dangerous citizens all cross paths in Regent's Park. All it takes to bring them together is a series of brutally gruesome murders... Mary Jago has donated her bone marrow to save the life of a complete stranger; a generous act of kindness that culminates in a horrible break-up with her abusive boyfriend. Moving to the affluent edge of London's famous Regent's Park, Mary believes she has finally escaped the threat of violence. She never thought that one simple act of kindness could put her own life in mortal danger...

Dark Corners

A brilliantly dark and sinister novel of psychological suspense by Ruth Rendell, "e;unequivocally the most brilliant crime-writer of our time"e; (Patricia Cornwell).When Carl sells a box of slimming pills to his close friend Stacey, inadvertently causing her death, he sets in train a sequence of catastrophic events which begin with subterfuge, extend to lies, and culminate in murder. In Rendell's dark and atmospheric tale of psychological suspense, we encounter mistaken identity, kidnap, blackmail, and a cast of characters who are so real that we come to know them better than we know ourselves. Infused with her distinctive blend of wry humour, acute observation and deep humanity, this is Rendell at her most memorable and best.

Dark Corners

A spectacularly compelling story of blackmail, accidental murders, and of one lifes fateful unraveling from Ruth Rendellone of the most remarkable novelists of her generation (People)writing at her absolute best.When his father dies, Carl Martin, a philosophy graduate and struggling novelist, inherits a house in a trendy London neighborhood. Carl needs cash, however, so he rents the upstairs room and kitchen to the first person he interviews, Dermot McKinnon. That was colossal mistake number one. Mistake number two was keeping his fathers bizarre collection of homeopathic cures that he found in the medicine cabinet, including a stash of controversial diet pills. Mistake number three was selling fifty of those diet pills to a friend, who is then found dead. Now Dermot seizes a nefarious opportunity and begins to blackmail Carl, followed by his refusal to pay rent, and a truly creepy invasion of Carls space. Ingeniously weaving together two storylines that finally merge in one shocking turn, Ruth Rendell describes one mans spiral into darknessand murderas he falls victim to a diabolical foe he cannot escape. This is masterful storytelling that gets under your skin, brilliant psychological suspense from Ruth Rendell.

The Girl Next Door

The dazzling new novel from Ruth Rendell. When the bones of two severed hands are discovered in a box, an investigation into a long buried crime of passion begins. And a group of friends, who played together as children, begin to question their past. 'For Woody, anger was cold. Cold and slow. But once it had started it mounted gradually and he could think of nothing else. He knew he couldn't stay alive while those two were alive. Instead of sleeping, he lay awake in the dark and saw those hands. Anita's narrow white hand with the long nails painted pastel pink, the man's brown hand equally shapely, the fingers slightly splayed.' Before the advent of the Second World War, beneath the green meadows of Loughton, Essex, a dark network of tunnels has been dug. A group of children discover them. They play there. It becomes their secret place. Seventy years on, the world has changed. Developers have altered the rural landscape. Friends from a half-remembered world have married, died, grown sick, moved on or disappeared. Work on a new house called Warlock uncovers a grisly secret, buried a lifetime ago, and a weary detective, more preoccupied with current crimes, must investigate a possible case of murder. In all her novels, Ruth Rendell digs deep beneath the surface to investigate the secrets of the human psyche. The interconnecting tunnels of Loughton in The Girl Next Door lead to no single destination. But the relationships formed there, and the incidents that occurred, exert a profound influence - not only on the survivors but in unearthing the true nature of the mysterious past.

Girl Next Door

In this psychologically explosive story from one of the most remarkable novelists of her generation (People), the discovery of bones in a tin box sends shockwaves across a group of long-time friends.In the waning months of the second World War, a group of children discover an earthen tunnel in their neighborhood outside London. Throughout the summer of 1944until one father forbids itthe subterranean space becomes their secret garden, where the friends play games and tell stories. Six decades later, beneath a house on the same land, construction workers uncover a tin box containing two skeletal hands, one male and one female. As the discovery makes national news, the friends come together once again, to recall their days in the tunnel for the detective investigating the case. Is the truth buried among these aging friends and their memories? This impromptu reunion causes long-simmering feelings to bubble to the surface. Alan, stuck in a passionless marriage, begins flirting with Daphne, a glamorous widow. Michael considers contacting his estranged father, who sent Michael to live with an aunt after his mother vanished in 1944. Lewis begins remembering details about his Uncle James, an army private who once accompanied the children into the tunnels, and who later disappeared. In The Girl Next Door Rendell brilliantly shatters the assumptions about age, showing that the choices people makeand the emotions behind themremain as potent in late life as they were in youth.

The Girl Next Door

The dazzling new novel from Ruth Rendell. When the bones of two severed hands are discovered in a box, an investigation into a long buried crime of passion begins. And a group of friends, who played together as children, begin to question their past. `For Woody, anger was cold. Cold and slow. But once it had started it mounted gradually and he could think of nothing else. He knew he couldn't stay alive while those two were alive. Instead of sleeping, he lay awake in the dark and saw those hands. Anita's narrow white hand with the long nails painted pastel pink, the man's brown hand equally shapely, the fingers slightly splayed.' Before the advent of the Second World War, beneath the green meadows of Loughton, Essex, a dark network of tunnels has been dug. A group of children discover them. They play there. It becomes their secret place. Seventy years on, the world has changed. Developers have altered the rural landscape. Friends from a half-remembered world have married, died, grown sick, moved on or disappeared. Work on a new house called Warlock uncovers a grisly secret, buried a lifetime ago, and a weary detective, more preoccupied with current crimes, must investigate a possible case of murder. In all her novels, Ruth Rendell digs deep beneath the surface to investigate the secrets of the human psyche. The interconnecting tunnels of Loughton in THE GIRL NEXT DOOR lead to no single destination. But the relationships formed there, the incidents that occurred, exert a profound influence - not only on the survivors but in unearthing the true nature of the mysterious past.

No Man's Nightingale (A Wexford Case)

No Man's Nightingale: the eagerly anticipated twenty-fourth title in Ruth Rendell's bestselling Detective Chief Inspector Wexford series. The woman vicar of St Peter's Church may not be popular among the community of Kingsmarkham. But it still comes as a profound shock when she is found strangled in her vicarage. Inspector Wexford is retired, but he retains a relish for solving mysteries especially when they are as close to home as this one is. So when he's asked whether he will assist on the case, he readily agrees. By why did the vicar die? And is anyone else in Kingsmarkham in danger? What Wexford doesn't know is that the killer is far closer than he, or anyone else, thinks.

From Doon with Death A Wexford Case - 50th Anniversary Edition

A 50th anniversary edition of the first Inspector Wexford novel, with an introduction by Ian Rankin and a new afterword by Ruth Rendell. An ordinary life. An extraordinary death. The trampled grass led to the body of Margaret Parsons. With no useful clues and a victim known only for her mundane life, Chief Inspector Wexford is baffled until he discovers Margaret's dark secret - a collection of rare books, each inscribed from a secret lover and signed only as 'Doon'. Who is Doon? And could the answer hold the key to Wexford solving his first case?

Damon hinter Spitzenstores

Arthur Johnson versucht, ein nach auen hin untadeliges Leben zu fuhren. Der Junggeselle treibt sich nicht in Kneipen herum, hat keine Damenbekanntschaften, erscheint immer punktlich im Buro und erledigt seine Arbeit mit peinlicher Genauigkeit. Aber hinter der Maske des Biedermanns verbergen sich seelische Abgrunde. Da zieht ein neuer Mieter ein, der den gleichen Namen wie Arthur Johnson tragt. Zufall? Seit dem Einzug fuhlt sich Arthur mehr und mehr bedroht. Belauert der Neue ihn nicht standig? Was sollen die versteckten Drohungen? Plotzlich wird aus der Konfliktsituation eine Katastrophe ...

Die Grausamkeit der Raben

Als sie das Opfer des Uberfalls fanden, lag es halb auf dem offentlichen Fuweg und blutete aus einer Wunde an der Schulter. Noch wahrend sie sich uber den Mann beugten, tauchte unter den Baumen des Waldchens auf der Nordseite des Wegs ein junges Madchen auf. Sie erklarte, sie heie Edwina Klein, und reichte den Polizisten ein Federmesser, von dem sie das meiste Blut abgewischt hatte.

Die Masken der Mutter

Benet Archdale hat sich endlich ihr eigenes Leben aufgebaut. Die durch die geisteskranke Mutter bedingten Kindheitserlebnisse scheint sie verarbeitet und uberwunden zu haben. Als erfolgreiche junge Schriftstellerin lebt sie heute in London allein mit ihrem kleinen Sohn James, ihrem groten Gluck. Doch der Frieden wird gestort. Benets an Schizophrenie leidende Mutter kommt nach Jahren zu Besuch. Sie scheint vllig geheilt und normal. Umso unvermuteter bricht die Katastrophe ber Benet herein

Die neue Freundin

"e;Es ist Ihnen vielleicht nicht klar"e;, sagte sie, "e;aber wenn Colin mich heiratet, ist das ein Glucksfall fur ihn. Er braucht mich namlich, um ein Mann zu werden."e;Mutter ttschelte Moiras Knie. "e;Ich begreife durchaus, dass das eine fast unlsbare Aufgabe fr Sie sein knnte."e;"e;Die neue Freundin"e; ist eine Sammlung von erschreckenden, erbarmungslosen Kurzgeschichten, komdiantisch und makaber und von brutaler Gerechtigkeit.

Durch das Tor zum Himmlischen Frieden

Chief Inspector Wexford wird von seinem Neffen zu einer Chinareise eingeladen. Zuerst geniet er das Abenteuer. Doch dann ist er beunruhigt: Standig taucht vor ihm eine alte Chinesin mit gebundenen Fuen auf, ebenso schnell verschwindet sie wieder. Warum verfolgt ihn diese alte Frau durch halb China?Als Wexford und die anderen Mitglieder der kleinen Reisegruppe auf dem Li-schuei entlangschippern, geht ein Mann ber Bord. Wong kann nicht schwimmen. Er stirbt. Wexford ist geschockt. Er hatte Wong schon vor der Schiffsfahrt gesehen. Verfolgte der ihn auch?

Der Pakt

Peter ist fast sechzehn und hat nur eine Sorge: Er ist der Kleinste in seiner Klasse. Nach der Lekture von "e;Doktor Faustus"e; kommt ihm eine glanzende Idee: Er wird dem Teufel seine Seele verkaufen, wenn der ihn dafur wachsen lasst. Also vollzieht er die entsprechende Zeremonie. Und es funktioniert: Er wachst. Von da an praktiziert er fleiig okkulte Rituale. Als seine Stiefmutter lastig wird, will Peter sie aus dem Weg raumen. Und aus dem Spiel mit schwarzer Magie wird blutiger Ernst.

Archie and Archie

A charming story of a cat and a dog who live on the same street for younger readers, from bestselling author Ruth Rendell. Archie the cat and Archie the dog live next door to each other on a street full of feline friends and foes. Read about their adventures - including Archie the cat spending a scary night trapped in a neighbour's attic - in this gentle, lyrical, completely charming book for younger readers. Perfect for all animal lovers.

No Man's Nightingale

A Simon & Schuster audiobook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every listener.

The Saint Zita Society

'Someone had told Dex that the Queen lived in Victoria. So did he, but she had a palace and he had one room in a street off Warwick Way. Still he liked the idea that she was his neighbour.' Dex works as a gardener for Dr Jefferson at his home on Hexam Place in Pimlico: an exclusive street of white-painted stucco Georgian houses inhabited by the rich, and serviced by the not so rich. The hired help, a motley assortment of au pairs, drivers and cleaners, decide to form the St Zita Society (Zita was the patron saint of domestic servants) as an excuse to meet at the local pub and air their grievances. When Dex is invited to attend one of these meetings, the others find that he is a strange man, seemingly ill at ease with human beings. These first impressions are compounded when they discover he has recently been released from a hospital for the criminally insane, where he was incarcerated for attempting to kill his own mother. Dex's most meaningful relationship seems to be with his mobile phone service provider, Peach, and he interprets the text notifications and messages he receives from the company as a reassuring sign that there is some kind of god who will protect him. And give him instructions about ridding the world of evil spirits...Accidental death and pathological madness cohabit above and below stairs in Hexam Place.

No Man's Nightingale (A Wexford Case)

No Man's Nightingale: the eagerly anticipated twenty-fourth title in Ruth Rendell's bestselling Detective Chief Inspector Wexford series. Sarah Hussain was not popular with many people in the community of Kingsmarkham. She was born of mixed parentage - a white Irishwoman and an immigrant Indian Hindu. She was also the Reverend of St Peter's Church. But it comes as a profound shock to everyone when she is found strangled in the Vicarage. A garrulous cleaner, Maxine, also shared by the Wexfords, discovers the body. In his comparatively recent retirement, the former Detective Chief Inspector is devoting much time to reading, and is deep into Edward Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He has little patience with Maxine's prattle. But when his old friend Mike Burden asks if he might like to assist on this case as Crime Solutions Adviser (unpaid), Wexford is obliged to pay more precise attention to all available information. The old instincts have not been blunted by a life where he and Dora divide their time between London and Kingsmarkham. Wexford retains a relish for solving puzzles and a curiosity about people which is invaluable in detective work. For all his experience and sophistication, Burden tends to jump to conclusions. But he is wise enough to listen to the man whose office he inherited, and whose experience makes him a most formidable ally.

St. Zita Society

From three-time Edgar Award-winning mystery writer Ruth Rendell comes a captivating and expertly plotted tale of residents and servants on one block of a posh London streetand the deadly ways their lives intertwine.Life in the well-manicured London locale of Hexam Place is not as placid and orderly as it appears. Behind the tranquil gardens and polished entryways, relationships between servants and their employers are set to combust. Henry, the handsome valet to Lord Studley, is sleeping with both the Lords wife and his university-age daughter. Montserrate, the Still familys lazy au pair, is helping to hide Mrs. Stills illicit affair with a television actorfor a small fee. June, the haughty housekeeper to a princess of dubious origin, is hard at work forming a society for servants to address complaints about their employers. Meanwhile, a disturbed gardener, Dex, believes a voice in his cellphone is giving him godlike instructionsthat could endanger the lives of all who reside in Hexam Place. A deeply observed and suspenseful update to the upstairs/downstairs genre, The St. Zita Society is Ruth Rendall at her incisive best.

Thirteen Steps Down

A classic Rendellian loner, Mix Cellini is superstitious about the number 13. Living in a decaying house in Notting Hill, Mix is obsessed with 10 Rillington Place, where the notorious John Christie committed a series of foul murders. He is also infatuated with a beautiful model who lives nearby - a woman who would not look at him twice. Mix's landlady, Gwendolen Chawcer is equally reclusive - living her life through her library of books. Both landlady and lodger are caught up in their own psychologically twisted parallel worlds. But when reality intrudes into Mix's life, a long pent-up violence explodes.

The Vault (A Wexford Case)

The twenty-fourth book in the bestselling Detective Chief Inspector Wexford series, from the author of classic detective fiction and gripping psychological thrillers including End in Tears and Thirteen Steps Down. The impossible has happened. Chief Inspector Reg Wexford has retired from the crime force. He and his wife, Dora, now divide their time between Kingsmarkham and a coachhouse in Hampstead, belonging to their actress daughter, Sheila. Wexford takes great pleasure in his books, but, for all the benefits of a more relaxed lifestyle, he misses being the hand of the law. But a chance meeting in a London street, with someone he had known briefly as a very young police constable, changes everything. Tom Ede is now a Detective Superintendent, and is very keen to recruit Wexford as an adviser on a mysterious murder case. The bodies of two women and a man have been discovered in the old coal hole of an attractive house in St John's Wood. None of the corpses carry identification. But the man's jacket pockets contain a string of pearls, a diamond and a sapphire necklace as well as other jewellery valued in the region of GBP40,000. To Wexford, this is definitely a case worth coming out of retirement for. He is intrigued and excited by the challenge, but unaware that this new investigative role will bring him into extreme physical danger...

A New Lease of Death Intermediate Level Readers Pack

The Macmillan Readers series are carefully graded from Starter to Upper Intermediate (A1-B2) to help students choose the right reading material for their ability. Our list of titles includes great stories from both contemporary and classic authors. Chief Inspector Wexford had been sure that the murder of an old lady was carried out by her employee, Herbert Painter, and the courts had agreed with him. But then Henry Archery, whose son is engaged to marry Painter's daughter, starts questioning the case...

A New Lease of Death Intermediate Level Readers Pack

The Macmillan Readers series are carefully graded from Starter to Upper Intermediate (A1-B2) to help students choose the right reading material for their ability. Our list of titles includes great stories from both contemporary and classic authors. Chief Inspector Wexford had been sure that the murder of an old lady was carried out by her employee, Herbert Painter, and the courts had agreed with him. But then Henry Archery, whose son is engaged to marry Painter's daughter, starts questioning the case...

Expectations / Lizzie's Lover / Shreds and Slivers / The Carer / Unacceptable Levels (Storycuts)

In 'Expectations', when George, a seemingly virtuous, well-born and well-educated man, is murdered, his wife reflects on their life together. She married George for love despite knowing he only wanted her fortune. Now he is dead, she no longer has to resemble the psychologically disturbed Miss Haversham.In 'Lizzie's Lover' a poetically-minded man woos his lover with quotes of verse. He is so obsessed with poetry that he determines to bring the words to life, regardless of the fatal consequences.In 'Shreds and Slivers' an aggrieved man plots his deadly revenge with sinister cheer. This chilling tale will make you think twice the next time you're buying dinner.In 'The Carer' nosy neighbour Angela looks after people's houses when they're away. Sometimes she likes to go through their possessions, searching their drawers to uncover their secrets... Until she uncovers a real life skeleton in a closet.In 'Unacceptable Levels' a smoker has tried, and failed, to quit. When he's outside, he smokes to keep the mosquitoes away. When he gets mosquito bites, he can't sleep so he smokes some more, caught in a vicious psychological cycle.Part of the Storycuts series, these five short stories were previously published in Blood Lines, a collection of murder mysteries and crimes thrillers.

Blood Lines (Storycuts)

Wexford has a headache: no-one seems to have witnessed the murder, and there is no evidence of any grudges being held against the victim. Nevertheless, the statements of the locals just don't make sense. It is up to Wexford to track down the rat. Whilst he is doing so, a series of hit-and-runs afflict the town centre. Is there a link?Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Blood Lines.

Burning End (Storycuts)

A short story about the shocking revelations of the realities that lie concealed behind day-to-day family life: an ailing woman's covert cruelty to her caring daughter-in-law; a desire to escape the family shackles; and resignation to loss.Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Blood Lines.

Clothes (Storycuts)

Addicted to buying clothes, Alison shops until she steals, pulls a scarf around her neck and, quite literally, drops . . . Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Blood Lines.

In All Honesty (Storycuts)

Beatrix, an old lady with frequent, irrational phobias, changes her will after she has an argument with her daughter, leaving her daughter nothing, her son a little, and her servants Clive and Gwenda with the majority. When Beatrix dies shortly after she's hit by a painting (one of her irrational fears), everyone wonders if Clive and Gwenda are to blame.Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Blood Lines.

Man Who Was The God of Love (Storycuts)

Fiona meets Henry when temping for his company and is immediately impressed by his intellect. He takes pride in his achievements, but after they marr, Fiona finds out that this intellect was all just a pretence. Little does Fiona know the consequences of finding out a secret of pride . . .Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Blood Lines.

Strawberry Tree (Storycuts)

When Petra's brother and his girlfriend vanish on holiday, her parents seek desperately to find them. Upon the death of her parents though, Petra is left with a fortune, her supposed friend Will, and feels entirely alone. So, when two people claiming to be her brother and his wife step forward years later, will Petra accept them as her lost loved ones?Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Blood Lines.

Computer Seance / Fair Exchange (Storycuts)

In 'Computer Seance', Sophia is credited with the 'spiritualist renaissance' in London, conducting s ances for the bereaved residents of West London. So she is not at all surprised to meet her dead brother at a bus stop. She has, after all, encountered other deceased family members before. Only this time the encounter is more disturbingly real.In 'Fair Exchange' a meeting of two old acquaintances leads to the shocking revelation of a mutual friend's death. What unfolds is a tragic story of one life being sacrificed for another.Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were previously published in Piranha To Scurfy, a collection of psychological thrillers and murder mysteries.

Catamount / The Wink (Storycuts)

In 'Catamount' the spectacular natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains has Nora, an English visitor, in awe. She yearns to immerse herself more fully in it and wishes particularly to lay eyes on the elusive mountain lion. But even knowing the dangers, she will be surprised by nature's own violence.In 'The Wink' Jean is old and has seen a lot in life. But as simple a thing as a man winking at her has an upsetting effect, transporting her back to the trials and tribulations of her life, beginning with one sexual scandal at the edges of her memory....Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were previously published in the collection Piranha To Scurfy.

Myth / The Astronomical Scarf / Walter's Leg (Storycuts)

In 'Myth' the shame of being made redundant seems to have robbed David Meacher of vitality. Then, on a trip abroad, he becomes fascinated with an ancient map of the Garden of Eden. Returning to England, his obsession only increases and even re-energises him...but it is not a force for good.In 'The Astronomical Scarf' a magnificent silk scarf, deepest blue and with the constellations of the night-sky patterned in silver across it, is weirdly destined to pass through many hands, and to shape many destinies.In 'Walter's Leg' his grandchildren's persistent questioning leads Walter to reminisce on a distant childhood escapade - in which he was shot in the leg. The memory provokes a desire to track down the perpetrator, but without a thought for the consequences.Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Piranha To Scurfy.

Beach Butler / The Professional (Storycuts)

In 'The Beach Butler' Alison's holiday is proving underwhelming. She has had to take her holiday on her own, and finds the seaside a bore - except for the attentions of the remarkably handsome 'beach butler'. A chance discovery, however, radically alters the atmosphere.In 'The Professional' a young man has a menial job in the department store which is not particularly fulfilling, although it pays a wage and provides a chance to talk to the pretty shop-girls. But when a woman is murdered in the store, far more profound truths surface than would otherwise have been suspected.Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were previously published in the collection Piranha To Scurfy.

High Mysterious Union (Storycuts)

Strange events occur in a village in England, where the villagers themselves are endowed with an almost elfish beauty. Discoveries are made by a man who moves into a local cottage, for a writing retreat, also hoping to escape the woes of a recent divorce. He is especially susceptible to the nymph-like charms of the young women - and becomes increasingly bound up in their intrigues.Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Piranha To Scurfy.

Piranha to Scurfy (Storycuts)

In a house filled floor to ceiling with books, a lonely middle-aged man scrutinises new publications for editing errors. He is obsessive, writing angry letters to each author he finds fault with. Books are his life - and in an unexpected way have led a terrible guilt to fester inside him. Just when he thinks that all is buried and forgotten, a work of fiction with uncanny resemblances to his own story sends him back to the dark precipice.Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Piranha To Scurfy.

Vault

In the stunning climax to Rendell's classic 1998 novel A Sight for Sore Eyes, three bodiestwo dead, one livingare entombed in an underground chamber beneath a picturesque London house. Twelve years later, the house's new owner pulls back a manhole cover, and discovers the vaultand its grisly contents. Only now, the number of bodies is four. How did somebody else end up in the chamber? And who knew of its existence?With their own detectives at an impasse, London police call on former Kingsmarkham Chief Inspector Wexford, now retired and living with his wife in London, to advise them. Wexford, missing the thrill of a good case, jumps at the chance to sleuth once again. His dogged detective skills and knack for figuring out the criminal mind take him to London neighborhoods, posh and poor, as he follows a complex trail leading back to the original murders a decade ago. But just as the case gets hot, a devastating family tragedy pulls Wexford back to Kingsmarkham, and he finds himself transforming from investigator into victim. Ingeniously plotted, The Vault is a masterful (The Seattle Times) sequel to A Sight for Sore Eyes that will satisfy both longtime Wexford fans and new Rendell readers alike.

Tigerlily's Orchids

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A Sight For Sore Eyes

In traditional fairy tales the handsome prince rescues the beautiful princess from her wicked stepmother, and the couple live happily ever after. But in Ruth Rendell's dark and damaged contemporary universe, innocent dreams can turn into the most terrible living nightmares. Teddy Brex emerges from a loveless, isolated childhood as a handsome but autistic young man. Francine Hill, emotionally and mentally scarred by the murder of her mother, grows into a beautiful young woman, who must endure the overprotectiveness of an increasingly obsessive stepmother. Teddy Brex does ride to her rescue, but he is a man who has already committed two murders. In Rendell's dark criminal London, can anyone be trusted?

Tigerlily's Orchids

When Stuart Font decides to throw a house-warming party in his new flat, he invites all the people in his building. After some deliberation, he even includes the unpleasant caretaker and his wife. There are a few other genuine friends on the list, but he definitely does not want to include his girlfriend, Claudia, as that might involve asking her husband. The party will be one everyone remembers. But not for the right reasons. All the occupants of Lichfield House are about to experience a dramatic change in their lives...Living opposite, in reclusive isolation, is a young, beautiful Asian woman, christened Tigerlily by Stuart. As though from some strange urban fairytale, she emerges to exert a terrible spell. And Mr and Mrs Font, the worried parents, will have even more cause for concern about their handsome but hopelessly naive son.

Fatal Inversion

When a young man moves into a recently inherited Suffolk manor house, he falls into a summer idyll that gathers friends and strangers alikeand concludes in murderWhen the new owners of Wyvis Hall go to bury a dear pet dog, they stumble upon a ghastly relic left by the home's previous occupants: the bones of a woman and a small child, hastily interred. So opens a mystery set in motion a decade before when nineteen-year-old Adam Verne-Smith inherited the property and spent one debauched summer there with friends and a few aimless drifters. While most of Wyvis Hall's visitors that summer would go on to live respectable lives, two would never leave.Now, investigators must piece together not only whodunit, but also to whom it was done, in this brilliantly constructed thriller.

Dark-Adapted Eye

In the Edgar Awardwinning classic, a niece investigates the shocking secrets that condemned her once proud familyFaith Severn has never understood why the willful matriarch of her high-society family, aunt Vera Hillyard, snapped and murdered her own beloved sister. But long after Vera is condemned to hang, a journalist's startling discoveries allow Faith to perceive her family's story in a new light.Set in postWorld War II Britain, A Dark-Adapted Eye is both a gripping mystery and a harrowing psychological portrait of a complex woman at the head of a troubled family.

House of Stairs

When Lizzie and Bell meet for tea after nearly two decades apart, the topic of conversation is murderone that Bell herself committedWhen Elizabeth Vetch spots Bell for the first time in seventeen years, she chases her down in order to learn why her old friend committed a terrible murder all those years ago. Bell has been in prison ever since the mysterious events that took place at the House of Stairs, a London mansion full of over-privileged, overstuffed, and somewhat sinister boarders, landed her there. Now it's up to Lizzie to put together the pieces of her friend'sand her ownfateful past.As the story behind Bell's crime unfolds, master of suspense Barbara Vine keeps readers guessing at the victim and the motive, letting the sword of Damocles hang over the heads of a fascinating and richly drawn cast of characters.

King Solomon's Carpet

In the Gold Dagger Awardwinning crime novel, a young man writing a history of London's Underground must contend with a killer living under his own roof All his young life, Jarvis Stringer has obsessed over the London Underground. Now he's writing a detailed history of the subway, and to make money in the meantime he rents out cheap rooms in the crumbling former schoolhouse he's inherited, all to desperate single mothers, buskers, subway vigilantes, and assorted misfits. But when one of his boarders turns out to be a murderer, Jarvis becomes distracted from his workto say the very least.King Solomon's Carpet is an absorbing depiction of London's subterranean landscape and of those eking out invisible lives beneath society's surfaces.

Asta's Book

A century-old diary points to the truth behind a notorious murder, if only its writer's granddaughter can unlock its riddles Lonely, ignored by her husband, a stranger in a strange land, Asta Westerby turns to her diary for comfort shortly after moving from Denmark to East London. Starting in 1905, she records the details of her new life and the development of her newborn daughter, Swanny. In the end, her journal spans five decades and becomes a literary sensation, offering an intimate view of an Edwardian life. But though the diaries are well known, few are acquainted with the dark tale hidden in their deleted passages.Asta's Book is at once a crime novel, a historical romance, and a psychological portrait told through the diary itself and through the voice of Ann, the granddaughter bent on unlocking the diary's excised mystery.

Chimney Sweeper's Boy

A daughter setting out to write a biography of her author father uncovers deadly secrets in his pastAfter celebrated author Gerald Candless dies of a heart attack, his daughter Sarah sets out to write his life story. But Sarah soon learns that although Gerald passionately loved his two daughters, he had a complicated and mysterious private life. The more she uncovers, the deeper Sarah's fascination grows for a man who was always present in her life but was never what he seemed. If Sarah can get to the bottom of her father's past, she stands a chance of healing her family and saving her own divided soul.An ingeniously plotted mystery, The Chimney Sweeper's Boy tells of the secrets we keep hidden even from those we love.

Brimstone Wedding

An elderly nursing home patient tells stories of her past that seem to mirror her caregiver's life to a disturbing degreeand that's before the stories take a deadly turnStuck in a loveless marriage and mired in a troubled affair, Genevieve Warner doesn't have a friend in the worlduntil she meets Stella, a patient at the nursing home where she works as a caregiver. Whip smart and deeply familiar, Stella confides in Genevieve the story of her life, a story that builds toward a horrifying confession. As Genevieve's own life slips helplessly down the same path, she desperately tries to turn away from a fate that seems inevitable.Sensitive and heartbreaking, The Brimstone Wedding is a mysterious tale of mistakes repeated.

Unkindness of Ravens

When a man disappears, two wives search for their missing husband, and all the young women in Kingsmarkham seem to have a motive, Chief Inspector Wexford must untangle a complex web of secretsChief Inspector Wexford finds nothing unusual in the disappearance of Rodney Williams, a husband and father who likely has run off with another woman. But when the man's car and suitcase are discovered abandoned, can a body be far behind? Confounded by a string of violent stabbings, a strident schoolgirl clique, and the seemingly placid domesticity of his neighbors, Wexford's detective instincts must take flight in order to bring down a murderer.With a keen wit and even sharper plot, Rendell weaves a suspenseful web of ever-tangling secrets, double-crosses, and double-lives.

Veiled One

Chief Inspector Wexford, injured in a car bombing, must rely on Detective Mike Burden to catch a killer in what appears to be a murder without motiveChief Inspector Wexford couldn't know that the bundle of rags in the parking garage concealed a bodyhe'd just been doing a bit of light shopping, after all, not looking for dead housewives. Wexford won't be on the case for long; a car bomb sends him to the hospital, and Inspector Mike Burden must match wits with a would-be murderer. But just how close to the edge of madness must Burden go to catch a killer?With rich characterization Rendell plumbs the depths of human character, revealing the secrets that lie hidden in the most ordinary lives.

Killing Doll

A young recluse, believing in the occult power of magic, will do anything to keep her family together as they grow apartWhen Dolly's motherher only frienddies, twenty-three-year-old Dolly becomes a second mom to her younger brother, Pup. Socially isolated and booze-addled, Dolly believes that Pup's occult power, and a talisman he's made for her, will give her the life she wants. But as Pup grows older and her father takes a new wife, her carefully constructed home begins to fall apartand those around her begin to die. Is it coincidence, magic, or murder?With careful plotting and unnerving ease, Rendell delves into the inner life of an outcast.

Tree of Hands

A young boy dies, another goes missing, and one mother's choice will forever alter many livesWhen Benet's young son dies on the operating table, she cannot be comfortednot even by her mother who cares for a young boy just about the same age. Meanwhile, another mother's son goes missing, and police circle around possible suspects in what must be murder. These three mothersthe schizophrenic Mopsa, upwardly mobile Benet, and gold-digging Carolbecome forever entwined by death, delusion, kidnapping, and murder, and one woman's loss becomes another's gain.With deft characterization and keen insight, Rendell presents a complex, real exploration of morality and a mother's love in this Crime Writers' Association Macallan Silver Dagger awardwinning novel.

Talking to Strange Men

A man yearns to win back his wife's love and wreak vengeance on her lover with the help of a secret ring of spiesDead drops, coded messages, and a safe houseit's all make-believe for a teenage spy ring. But when John Creevey intercepts the messages and believes them to be the work of a real crime syndicate, the spy games turn deadly serious in a fiery cocktail of obsession and revenge.Ruth Rendell expertly layers her narrative to reveal the grotesque truths behind her characters' ordinary lives.

Live Flesh

As their worlds collide, an ex-con and his victim struggle to make sense of their violent past and forge a new futureWhen Victor Jenner emerges from prison he finds himself inexorably drawn to the man who put him therethe policeman he'd shot a bullet through and paralyzed for life. But it seems that David Fleetwood isn't the sort to hold a grudge, and neither is his ravishing girlfriend, Clare. But can an ex-con like Victor create a new life, or are these three newfound friends treading into the dangerous waters of the past?Showcasing her unwavering mastery of the psychological thriller, Ruth Rendell's Crime Writers' Association Macallan Gold Dagger awardwinning novel peers fearlessly into the hidden recesses of a criminal mind.

Bridesmaid

A man falls under the spell of a mysterious woman, a marble statue, and a lover's promiseand must confront his role in the violence and death that followMeeting Senta, a woman who looks like a certain marble statue of the goddess Flora, is just about the most extraordinary thing that has happened to otherwise ordinary Philip, who dutifully cares for his mother and sisters in the London suburbs. But as their secret trysts evolve into an all-consuming passion, Philip learns that reality and fantasy cannot be easily separated in Senta's mysterious, clouded world of secretsand a deadly lover's pact.Rendell's effortless fusion of hidden truths and little white lies builds into a taut psychological thriller of obsession, delusion, and desire.

Crocodile Bird

A young woman, sheltered from the outside world, comes to terms with her deluded, murderous motherand what she must do to surviveWhen the police come to the door at the gatehouse of a remote British estate, sixteen-year-old Liza and her mother know that their lives are about to change forever. After all, Liza watched her mother kill a manwell, more than just one. Having lived as a virtual hermit on the estate, Liza knows nothing of the outside world, but she sets off to find her way with the help of a newly won lover. As she learns about those around her, she begins to discover herselfand just how alike she and her mother might be.Rendell carefully unravels this tale of an obsessive bond between mother and daughter and of hope for a new life in a strange land.

Going Wrong

A street hustler-turned-wealthy businessman races to extricate his childhood sweetheart from the arms of her fiance before it's too lateWhen Guy Curran, a streetwise hustler from the wrong side of the tracks, falls in love with good-girl Leonora, he knows that one day she will be his wife. But as life leads the two down different paths, Guy's obsessive love takes a murderous turn. Convinced that Leonora's respectable family has conspired against him, Guy struggles to extricate himself from a complex web of half-truths and artful lieswith a hit man's bullet.With expert pacing and rich characterization, Rendell artfully constructs an ever-widening spiral of paranoia and desire.

Wolf to the Slaughter

Chief Inspector Wexford tries to solve a murder with no evidence, not even a body. Read by the star of the TV series. Anita Margolis had vanished. There was no body, no crime - nothing more than an anonymous letter and the intriguing name of Smith. According to HQ, it wasn't to be a murder enquiry at all. In fact, Inspector Burden has no trouble seeing a pattern in the Margolis case. Anita was wealthy, flighty, and thoroughly immoral. Decent women had clean, tidy homes, and were either married or had jobs, or both - they didn't live with eccentric brothers and bring lovers home in the afternoon. And they knew better than to keep their money in their handbags. It was clear as daylight to Inspector Burden what had happened to Anita Margolis. Chief Inspector Wexford however, had other ideas.

Vanity Dies Hard

Another Wexford mystery read by George BakerWho would have believed that Alice Whittaker's life could change? She was 37, rich and dowdy with no career. Her life a lonely failure, she had got by with the one thing she did have - money. Then handsome Andrew Fielding came into her life and suddenly her beautiful friend Nesta vanished from it, leaving behind a trail of broken questions and confused clues. Now nothing is at is seems- and in this darker world below, anything can be done by anyone. Even murder

Unkindness of Ravens

When a local Romeo goes missing and two more young men are attacked, Chief Inspector Wexford begins to suspect murder. Rodney Williams was neither handsome nor wealthy, but he had an unerring eye for a pretty girl and when he disappeared and two other men were later attacked by a young woman, Chief Inspector Wexford couldn't help wondering if there was a connection. If there wasn't, where was Rodney Williams and why had he vanished? He had committed no crime, though he had certainly lied to his wife about both his job and his salary. Wexford was convinced Williams was dead .

Tree of Hands

From the writer of the Wexford novels and read by Isla Blair. Once, when Benet was about fourteen, they had been in a train together, alone in the carriage, and Mopsa had tried to stab her with a carving knife. Threatened her with it, rather. Benet had been wondering why her mother had brought such a large handbag with her, a red one that didn't go with the clothes she was wearing. Mopsa had shouted and laughed and said wild things and then she had put the knife back in her bag. But Benet had been very frightened by then. She lost her head and pulled the emergency handle that Mopsa had called the "e;communication cord"e;. The train stopped and there had been trouble for everyone involved and her father had been angry and grimly sad.

Speaker of Mandarin

Another Wexford mystery read by George Baker and available for the first time on digital download. China both delighted and frustrated Wexford; the beauty, the history, all of that brought immense pleasure. But the unending attention of Mr Sung of the Chinese Tourist Board was hugely irritating - and that an old woman with bound feet should haunt him was puzzling and slightly frightening, without explanation. Back home, he found an answer to the last and then a whole new mystery opened up when he found himself in charge of yet another murder investigation, this time of one of his fellow tourists. And suddenly an apparently accidental death in China no longer seemed so accidental.

Sleeping Life

The body found under the hedge was that of a middle-aged woman, biggish and gaunt. The grey eyes were wide and staring, and in them Detective Chief Inspector Wexford thought he saw a sardonic gleam, a glare, even in death, of scorn. But that must have been his imagination, and imagination was almost all he had to go onThe body found under the hedge was that of a middle-aged woman, biggish and gaunt. The grey eyes were wide and staring, and in them Detective Chief Inspector Wexford thought he saw a sardonic gleam, a glare, even in death, of scorn. But that must have been his imagination, and imagination was almost all he had to go on. The woman was a stranger. Her handbag held little more than three keys on a ring and forty-two pounds in a new wallet. There was nothing to give him her address, her occupation or even her identity - let alone any clues that might lead to her killer. The woman was dead, but, as Wexford knew only too well, death, by murder is, in a way, not an end but a beginning

Simisola

Another Wexford mystery read by George Baker "e;We're all racist in this country"e; said Wexford. "e;Without exception. People over 40 are the worst and that's about all you can say. "e; But until he became involved with the Akandes, whose daughter had gone missing, Wexford hadn't applied that reality to himself. Melanie Akande was black, one of only eighteen black people living in Kingsmarkham, and her father Raymond was Wexford's doctor. So he had a personal interest in the case. Melanie was also unemployed, like Wexford's son-in-law Neil. A point in common. But as the case developed, Wexford discovered things hidden inside himself that he didn't like, found his own, unthinking attitudes prejudicing the case...

Shake Hands for Ever

Most people would have screamed. Mrs Hathall made no sound. She had seen death many times before, but she had never before seen a death by violence. Heavily, she plodded across the room and descended the stairs to where her son waited. 'There's been an accident', she said. 'Your wife's dead.' Chief Inspector Wexford could discover no motive, no reason and no suspect - all he had were his intuitive suspicions. Probably he was reading meaning where there was none; probably Angela Hathall really had picked up a stranger, and that stranger had killed her. But why such doubt? Was Wexford becoming cynical and untrusting - or was this simply one of the most ingenious crimes he had ever tackled?

Put on by Cunning

The great flautist's death seemed to Chief Inspector Wexford an open-and-shut case of misadventure, but with the return of his daughter after an absence of 19 years come a couple of niggling doubts Read by ITV's Inspector Wexford, George Baker. Sir Manuel Camargue, one of the greatest flautists of his time, was dead. Misadventure. An old man, ankle-deep in snow, he lost his foothold in the dark, slipping into water to be trapped under a lid of ice. Only a glove remained to point to where he lay, one of its fingers rising up out of the drifts. There's nothing Chief Inspector Wexford likes better than an open-and-shut case. They're so restful. And yet there are one or two niggling doubts - and the disturbing return of Camargue's daughter, now a considerable heiress, after an absence of nineteen years. Is Wexford going to listen to that naggin inner voice of his? and if he does, what exactly does he plan to do?

New Lease of Death

15 years after the Painter case had been closed someone wants the case re-examined, history changed, and Wexford proved wrong15 years after the Painter case had been closed someone wants the case re-examined, history changed, and Wexford proved wrong

Needle for the Devil and Other Stories

A collection of compelling short stories by the author of the Wexford novels - A Needle for the Devil, The Dreadful Day of Judgement, A Glowing Future, A Case of Coincidence, The Wrong Category and Paint Box PlaceWhen Alice Gibson married Lieutenant Colonel Clarigate (Retd.) she discovered that her mother had been right. The devil does indeed find work for idle hands to do.

Murder Being Once Done

Sent to London for a rest by his doctor, Wexford can't resist getting involved in the investigation of a mysterious murder. Read by TV's Chief Inspector Wexford. In a vast and gloomy overgrown London cemetery, a girl is found murdered. A girl with a name that isn't hers, and little else that is. A girl with no friends, no possessions and no past. Chief Inspector Wexford has been sent to London by his doctor for a rest - no late nights, no rich food, no alcohol and above all, no criminal detective work. To add insult to injury, it is Wexford's own nephew Howard who is leading the investigation into the macabre mystery. Even though Howard and his subordinates might think he's out of his league, and even though his doctor won't approve, Wexford can't resist just taking a look at things for himself.

Demon in My View

Another Wexford mystery read by George BakerHer white face, beautiful, unmarked by any flaw of skin or feature, stared blankly back at him. He fancied that she had cringed, her slim body pressing further into the wall behind her. He didn't speak. He had never known how to talk to women. There was only one thing he had ever been able to do to women, and, advancing now, smiling, he did it. Then, when it was all over, he straightened her against the wall so that she would be ready to die for him again. It was the best thing in his life, just knowing that she was there, waiting until the next time...But one day, she wasn't waiting wasn't there.

Dark Blue Perfume and Other Stories

A collection of sleek and sinister stories from the creator of Chief Inspector Wexford. "e;Her range is extraordinary a shocking fusillade of finales"e; Sunday Times. Read by Isla Blair and George Baker, TV's Inspector Wexford. A Dark Blue PerfumeA man with a gun and nothing left to live for brings this chilling tale to afatal, but unexpected, climax. Hare's HouseCould simply knowing about the first murder in Hare's house really have led Norman to a copy-cat crime?

Guilty Thing Surprised

By the writer of the Wexford novels and read by George BakerSomeone must have had good reason to murder Mrs Elizabeth Nightingale on a dark September night. And as Detective Chief Inspector Wexford investigates, he discovers sinister undercurrents and dramatic secrets beneath the placid surface of the Nightingales' lives...

Veiled One

Another Wexford mystery read by George BakerShe was a wonderful, lovely lady, according to her niece. But Gwen Robinson had died in a bleak, underground carpark, murdered by someone who knew just how to use a garrotte. But was she the intended victim? Or had Gwen died of mistaken identity? Mike Burden was convinced he knew who the killer was, and all he had to do was break him. Wexford wasn't so sure. They were missing something, he was sure of it.....With the delicacy of a surgeon wielding a scalpel, Ruth Rendell excises layer after layer of deception and deceit to reveal the rottenness that lies at the core of the killer's soul.

Portobello

Ruth Rendell is widely considered to be crime fiction's reigning queen, with a remarkable career spanning more than forty years. Now, in Portobello, she delivers a captivating and intricate tale that weaves together the troubled lives of several people in the gentrified neighborhood of London's Notting Hill.Walking to the shops one day, fifty-year-old Eugene Wren discovers an envelope on the street bulging with cash. A man plagued by a shameful addictionand his own good intentionsWren hatches a plan to find the money's rightful owner. Instead of going to the police, or taking the cash for himself, he prints a notice and posts it around Portobello Road. This ill-conceived act creates a chain of events that links Wren to other Londonerspeople afflicted with their own obsessions and despairs. As these volatile characters come into Wren's lifeand the life of his trusting fianceethe consequences will change them all.Portobello is a wonderfully complex tour de force featuring a dazzling depiction of one of London's most intriguing neighborhoodsand the dangers beneath its newly posh veneer.

Tigerlily's Orchids

When Stuart Font decides to throw a house-warming party in his new flat, he invites all the people in his building. After some deliberation, he even includes the unpleasant caretaker and his wife. There are a few other genuine friends on the list, but he definitely does not want to include his girlfriend, as that might involve asking her husband. The party will be one everyone remembers. But not for the right reasons. All the occupants of Lichfield House are about to experience a shocking change in their lives as Tigerlily casts her terrible spell...

The Monster in the Box (A Wexford Case)

The twenty-second book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. Wexford had almost made up his mind that he would never again set eyes on Eric Targo's short, muscular figure. And yet there he was, back in Kingsmarkham, still with that cocky, strutting walk. Years earlier, when Wexford was a young police officer, a woman called Elsie Carroll had been found strangled in her bedroom. Although many still had their suspicions that her husband was guilty of her violent murder, no one was convicted. Another woman was strangled shortly afterwards, and every personal and professional instinct told Wexford that the killer was still at large. And that it was Eric Targo. A psychopathic murderer who would kill again... As the Chief Inspector investigates a new case, Ruth Rendell looks back to the beginning of Wexford's career as a detective, even to his courtship of the woman who would become his wife. The villainous Targo is not the only ghost from Wexford's past who has re-emerged to haunt him in the here and now...

Means Of Evil And Other Stories (Wexford)

What connects a kidnapped baby, a woman's body left to rot in a cove in Yugoslavia, a suspicious suicide and the century-old case of a wife who poisons her husband? The answer: British crime fiction's favourite detective, DCI Reg Wexford. In the first of five cases, Wexford is brought in to deal with a distraught mother whose baby girl has been swapped with an unknown baby boy. When a local priest discovers the missing baby, safe and sound, on the church steps, the hunt for the missing girl is quickly over. Mother and daughter are happily reunited, but the mystery of the baby boy remains unsolved. Then Wexford discovers Paddy Jasper has returned to Kingsmarkham, a man previously investigated by Wexford for violently abusing a child. Now Wexford fears the next reunion may not be as happy as the last...

Shake Hands For Ever (A Wexford Case)

The ninth book to feature the classic crime-solving Detective Chief Inspector Wexford. Angela Hathall is found strangled in her bed but, shockingly, the murder of this meek and solitary woman sparks little emotion from her husband. Called in to investigate, Wexford's curiosity only deepens when he discovers that the Hathall household has been meticulously cleaned but for a single distinctive palm print. As the case develops Wexford is increasingly frustrated by the seemingly pointless nature of the murder. There is no motive, no weapon and no suspect. Nothing except the unidentified print. But despite the sparse evidence, Wexford is convinced Hathall is hiding something. So when Wexford is taken off the case he decides to take matters into his own hands...

A Sleeping Life (A Wexford Case)

The tenth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. On a sultry August evening, the bloody body of a middle-aged woman is discovered beneath a hedge by a small boy. There are only two things that surprise Wexford about the murder scene. One, that the only contents of the woman's handbag are some keys and a wallet containing nothing but some money. And two, how even in death, her deathly grey eyes possess a scornful glare. The woman turns out to be Rhoda Comfrey, but there's no murder weapon, no apparent motive, and no one who actually cares that she died. Wexford's only hunch is that the clues to her murder must lie in her solitary London life. But her existence there becomes frustratingly impossible to trace.

Murder Being Once Done (A Wexford Case)

The seventh book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. It seems fitting that the final resting place of a girl's body should be in a graveyard. But this is no peaceful burial. This is a brutal murder scene. Under strict orders from his doctor to indulge in no criminal investigation, Wexford is sent to London for a break away from the pressures of the Kingsmarkham police force. But then he discovers that his nephew Howard is heading the investigation into the macabre murder of Loveday Morgan, whose body was found abandoned in Kenbourne Cemetery. Despite opposition from Howard and his team, Wexford is drawn to the case. And when he unearths Loveday's connection to a religious cult whose leader was imprisoned for sexual absue, he relentlessly pursues this sinister new lead...

Some Lie And Some Die (A Wexford Case)

The eighth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. When the body of a brutally beaten girl is found in a quarry during a hedonistic hippy festival near Kingsmarkham, Wexford is first on the scene. The victim's face has been pulped by the back-end of a bottle, but who, in this atmosphere of peace and love, could be capable of such violence? The body is that of local girl turned stripper Dawn Stonor, but it is the unlikely link between this ill-fated girl and the mysterious folk-singer Zeno Vedast that piques Wexford's interest. Through an intricate web of lies and deceit, Wexford uncovers a history of love and hate that began years earlier. In all his years of police work, he has never been faced with a crime of such desperate passion...

The Best Man To Die (A Wexford Case)

The fourth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. Nothing is ever quite what it seems... A man and his daughter lie dead after a car accident. Strangely, no other car was involved and no cause has been found. Wexford's only option is to wait and hope that the one surviving victim - the mother, Mrs Fanshawe - regains consciousness. But when she finally awakens six weeks later, Wexford's attention has already been distracted by a new and very violent case. Walking by the canal that same morning, Wexford discovered the bloody body of Charlie Hatton. The two cases are obviously unrelated, although something is bothering Wexford and he can't work out why or what. But just as he begins to wonder whether there could in fact be a connection, the unexpected occurs: the Fanshawe daughter, believed to be killed in the accident, appears at her mother's beside very much alive...

The Monster in the Box (A Wexford Case)

'He had never told anyone. The strange relationship, if it could be called that, had gone on for years, decades, and he had never breathed a word about it. He had kept silent because he knew no one would believe him. None of it could be proved, not the stalking, not the stares or the conspiratorial smiles, not the killings, not any of the signs Targo had made because he knew Wexford knew and could do nothing about it.' Wexford had almost made up his mind that he would never again set eyes on Eric Targo's short, muscular figure. And yet there he was, back in Kingsmarkham, still with that cocky, strutting walk. Years earlier, when Wexford was a young police officer, a woman called Elsie Carroll had been found strangled in her bedroom. Although many still had their suspicions that her husband was guilty, no one was convicted. Another woman was strangled shortly afterwards, and every personal and professional instinct told Wexford that the killer was still at large. And it was Eric Targo. A psychopath who would kill again... As the Chief Inspector investigates a new case, Ruth Rendell looks back to the beginning of Wexford's career, even to his courtship of the woman who would become his wife. The past is a haunted place, with clues and passions that leave an indelible imprint on the here and now.

A Guilty Thing Surprised (A Wexford Case)

The second book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. Even the dead have something to hide... The discovery of Elizabeth Nightingale's broken body in the woods near her home could not have come as a bigger shock. Called in to investigate, Chief Inspector Wexford quickly determines that the Nightingales were considered the perfect couple - wealthy, attractive and without an enemy in the world. However, someone must have been alone with Elizabeth that night in the woods. Someone who hated - or perhaps loved - her enough to beat her to death. The case seems straightforward. But Wexford soon learns that beneath the placid surface of the Nightingales' lives lie undercurrents and secrets no one ever suspected.

From Doon With Death (A Wexford Case)

The first book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. An ordinary life. An extraordinary death. The trampled grass led to the body of Margaret Parsons. With no useful clues and a victim known only for her mundane life, Chief Inspector Wexford is baffled until he discovers Margaret's dark secret - a collection of rare books, each inscribed from a secret lover and signed only as 'Doon'. Who is Doon? And could the answer hold the key to Wexford solving his first case? 'If crime fiction is currently in rude good health, its practitioners striving to better the craft and keep it fresh, vibrant and relevant, this is in no small part thanks to Ruth Rendell.' Ian Rankin

No More Dying Then (A Wexford Case)

The sixth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. On a stormy February afternoon, little Stella Rivers disappears - never to be seen again. There were no clues, no demands and no traces. And there was nowhere else for Wexford and his team to look. All that remained was the cold fear and awful dread that touched everyone in Kingsmarkham. Just months later, another child vanishes - five-year-old John Lawrence. Wexford and Inspector Burden are launched into another investigation and, all too quickly, they discover chilling similarities to the Stella Rivers case. Then the letters begin. The horrifying, evil, threatening letters of a madman. And suddenly Wexford is fighting against time to find the missing boy, before he meets the same fate as poor Stella...

A New Lease Of Death (A Wexford Case)

The second book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. Some cases are impossible to bury. It's impossible to forget the violent bludgeoning to death of an elderly lady in her home. Even more so when it's your first murder case. Wexford believed he'd solved Mrs Primero's murder fifteen years ago. It was no real mystery. Everyone knew Painter, her odd-job man, had done it. There had never been any doubt in anyone's mind. Until now... Henry Archery's son is engaged to Painter's daughter. Only Archery can't let the past remain buried. He wants to prove Wexford wrong, and in probing into the lives of the witnesses questioned all those years ago, he stirs up more than old ghosts.

Wolf To The Slaughter (A Wexford Case)

The third book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. Passion can be lethal. Anita Margolis has vanished. Dark and exquisite, Anita's character is as mysterious as her disappearance. There was no body, no crime - nothing more concrete than an anonymous letter and the intriguing name of Smith. According to headquarters, it wasn't to be considered a murder enquiry at all. With the letter providing them with only one questionable lead to follow, Wexford and his sidekick Inspector Burden are compelled to make enquiries. They soon discover Anita is wealthy, flighty, and thoroughly immoral. The straight-laced Burden has a very clear idea of what happened to her. But Wexford has his own suspicions...

Portobello

The Portobello area of West London has a rich personality - vibrant, brilliant in colour, noisy, with graffiti that approach art, bizarre and splendid. An indefinable edge to it adds a spice of danger. There is nothing safe about Portobello... Eugene Wren inherited an art gallery from his father near an arcade that now sells cashmere, handmade soaps and children's clothes. But he decided to move to a more upmarket site in Kensington Church Street. Eugene is fifty, with prematurely white hair. He is, perhaps, too secretive for his own good. He also has an addictive personality. But he has cut back radically on his alcohol consumption and has given up cigarettes. Which is just as well, considering he is going out with a doctor. For all his good intentions, though, there is something he doesn't want her to know about... Eugene's secret links the lives of a number of very different people - each with their own obsessions, problems, dreams and despairs. And through it all the hectic life of Portobello bustles on...

Portobello

The Portobello area of West London has a rich personality - vibrant, brilliant in colour, noisy, with graffiti that approach art, bizarre and splendid. An indefinable edge to it adds a spice of danger. There is nothing safe about Portobello... Eugene Wren inherited an art gallery from his father near an arcade that now sells cashmere, handmade soaps and children's clothes. But he decided to move to a more upmarket site in Kensington Church Street. Eugene was fifty, with prematurely white hair. He was, perhaps, too secretive for his own good. He also had an addictive personality. But he had cut back radically on his alcohol consumption and had given up cigarettes. Which was just as well, considering he was going out with a doctor. For all his good intentions, though, there was something he didn't want her to know about... On a shopping trip one day, Eugene, quite by chance, came across an envelope containing money. He picked it up. For some reason, rather than report the matter to the police, he wrote a note and stuck it up on lamppost near his house: 'Found in Chepstow Villas, a sum of money between eighty and a hundred and sixty pounds. Anyone who has lost such a sum should apply to the phone number below.' This note would link the lives of a number of very different people - each with their obsessions, problems and dreams and despairs. And through it all the hectic life of Portobello would bustle on.

Not in the Flesh (A Wexford Case)

The twenty-first book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. Searching for truffles in a wood, a man and his dog unearth something slightly less savoury - a human hand. The corpse, as Chief Inspector Wexford is informed later, has lain buried for ten years or so, wrapped in a purple cotton sheet. The post mortem can not reveal the precise cause of death. The only clue to solving this mysterious murder is a crack in one of the dead man's ribs. Wexford knows it will be a difficult job to identify the dead body. Although it covers a relatively short period of time, the police computer stores a long list of missing persons. People disappear at an alarming rate - hundreds each day. And then, only about twenty yards away from the woodland burial site, in the cellar of a disused cottage, another body is found. The detection skills of Wexford, Burden and the other investigating officers of the Kingsmarkham Police Force are tested to the utmost to discover whether the murders are connected and to track down whoever is responsible.

Collected Stories 2

The New Girl Friend was published in 1985, and the title story earned Rendell her second Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe award. 'Every tale is carefully crafted and climaxed, her feel for lurking malevolence is as assured as ever.' -The Times Then came The Copper Peacock in 1991, a collection of nine short horror stories in which 'the macabre potential of blameless situations such as village fetes, aquariums and even the broom cupboard are explored to provoke maximum unease in readers.' -Sunday Times Blood Lines, first published in 1995, includes the long title story and a novella, The Strawberry Tree, as well as nine short murder mystery stories. 'Ruth Rendell remains one of the most stylish, chilling and challenging writers around.' -Tribune Piranha to Scurfy, a collection of disturbing psychological short stories followed in 2000. 'Horror does not shake its gory locks directly at us, but hovers on the periphery of our inner vision, hidden among the ordinary, the everyday.' - Jane Shilling, Sunday Telegraph

Not in the Flesh (A Wexford Case)

Searching for truffles in a wood, a man and his dog unearth something less savoury - a human hand. The body, as Chief Inspector Wexford is informed later, has lain buried for ten years or so, wrapped in a purple cotton sheet. The post mortem can not reveal the precise cause of death. The only clue is a crack in one of the dead man's ribs. Although it covers a relatively short period of time, the police computer stores a long list of missing persons. Men, women and children disappear at an alarming rate, something like 500 every day nationwide. So Wexford knows he is going to have a job on his hands to identify the corpse. And then, only about twenty yards away from the woodland burial site, in the cellar of a disused cottage, another body is found. The detection skills of Wexford, Burden and the other investigating officers of the Kingsmarkham Police Force are tested to the utmost to discover whether the murders are connected and to track down whoever is responsible.

Water's Lovely

When Ismay thinks of that terrible day, and she often does, she remembers Heather coming down the stairsher dress wet, her face as still and white as a porcelain mask. Sometimes the memories return in a dream: climbing the stairs, following her dripping-wet sister to the upstairs bathroombut when Heather opens the door they are standing in a marble chamber on the edge of a glassy lake. Ismay watches as a white thing floats toward them, its face submerged. She looks into the water and sees her stepfather Guys face, his lifeless, frightened eyes, staring up at her.Now, nine years after Guy was found dead in the bathtub, she and Heather still live in their childhood home, and to this day the two sisters never talk about what happened. Although Ismay finds herself feeling intensely protective of her little sister and of the secret they share, their lives move placidly, even happily, forward. It seems as if the mysterious death of their stepfather is behind them. But when Heather becomes seriously involved with a man for the first time, Ismays long-repressed memories can no longer be ignored. With painful inevitability, the surprising truth will emerge whether Ismay wants it to or not.

End in Tears

At first there was no reason to link the killings. The first one, months earlier, seemed totally random: a lump of concrete pushed off an overpass onto a passing car. By contrast, the gruesome bludgeoning death of Amber Marshalson, returning home late from a night out clubbing with friends, was obviously calculated. The killer had been seen waiting for the girl in a nearby wood. But when Chief Inspector Wexford discovers that Amber had been the driver right behind the crushed carand that shed been driving a silver Honda, while the car in front of her was a gray Hondahe knows that someone wanted the teenager dead badly enough to kill twice to get the job done. And as it turns out, this murderers plans are only just getting underway. Can Wexford unravel the complex knots that connect these murders in time to save future victims? Or is he, as he begins to fear, losing his touch and fast becoming a relic of another time?Long beloved by readers for her deft weaving of wonderfully meticulous characterization, dark humor, and trenchant social commentary into gripping and fast-paced plots, Ruth Rendell is in top form with End in Tears. Taking off from the first page with back-to-back murders and ending with one of Wexfords own officers in mortal danger, End in Tears touches on issues of class, race, parenthood, aging, and gender roles as it brings the traditional British whodunit into the twenty-first century.Also available as a Random House AudioBook, Large Print edition, and eBookFrom the Hardcover edition.

The Water's Lovely

'Weeks went by when Ismay never thought of it at all. Then something would bring it back or it would return in a dream. The dream began in the same way. She and her mother would be climbing the stairs, following Heather's lead through the bedroom to what was on the other side, not a bathroom in the dream but a chamber floored and walled in marble. In the middle of it was a glassy lake. The white thing in the water floated towards her, its face submerged, and her mother said, absurdly, Don't look! ' The dead man was Ismay's stepfather, Guy. Now, nine years on, she and her sister, Heather, still live in the same house in Clapham. But it has been divided into two self-contained flats. Their mother lives upstairs with her sister, Pamela. And the bathroom, where Guy drowned, has been demolished. But Death will rear its ugly head once more... Ismay and Heather get on well. They always have. They never discussed the changes to the house, still less what had happened that August day. But as their love lives start to develop, someone is murdered along the way, and long buried suspicions re-emerge with potentially tragic results.

Collected Stories

Three classic Ruth Rendell stories: Means of Evil, The Fallen Curtain and The Fever Tree. Ruth Rendell is unequalled in her ability to weave stories that challenge our preconceptions and prejudices. From Wexford and Burden's investigation of a wife's apparent suicide, with all the evidence pointing to the husband in Means of Evil to the unsettling psychology behind a man's friendship with a boy in The Fallen Curtain and the paranoia that plagues two people who no longer know how to trust, in The Fever Tree.

The Water's Lovely

Weeks went by when Ismay never thought of it at all. Then something would bring it back or it would return in a dream. The dream began in the same way. She and her mother would be climbing the stairs, following Heather's lead through the bedroom to what was on the other side, not a bathroom in the dream but a chamber floored and walled in marble. In the middle of it was a glassy lake. The white thing in the water floated towards her, its face submerged, and her mother said, absurdly, Don't look! ' The dead man was Ismay's stepfather, Guy. Now, nine years on, she and her sister, Heather, still live in the same house in Clapham. But it has been divided into two self-contained flats. Their mother lives upstairs with her sister, Pamela. And the bathroom, where Guy had drowned, has disappeared. Ismay works in public relations, and Heather in catering. They get on well. They always have. They never discuss the changes to the house, still less what happened that August day... But even lives as private as these, where secrets hang in the air like dust, intertwine with other worlds and other individuals. And, with painful inevitability, the truth will emerge.

The Thief

What you do in childhood may come back to haunt you Stealing things from people who had upset her was something Polly did quite a lot. There was her Aunt Pauline; a girl at school; a boyfriend who left her. And there was the man on the plane... Humiliated and scared by a total stranger Polly does what she always does. She steals something. But she never could have imagined that her desire for revenge would have such terrifying results. Quick Reads are brilliant, short books by bestselling writers and celebrities. These exciting, dramatic and funny stories are ideal for adults who've stopped reading or find reading tough, and for regular readers who want a short, fast book by one of the best authors writing today. Quick Reads have helped hundreds of thousands of people to pick up books and enjoy reading again. For more information, please go to www.quickreads.org.uk. Books available at bookshops and libraries. Books and downloads available at online book retailers.

The Rottweiler

The first murder victim had a bite mark on her neck. When the tabloids got hold of the story, they immediately called the deranged killer 'The Rottweiler', and the name stuck. The latest body was discovered very near Inez Ferry's antique shop in Marylebone. Someone spotted a shadowy figure running away past the station, but couldn't say for sure if it was a man or a woman. There were only two other clues. The murderer seemed to have a preference for strangling his victims and then removing something personal - like a cigarette lighter or a necklace. Trinkets very similar to those mysteriously appearing in Inez's shop. . . Since her actor husband died, too early into their marriage, Inez supplemented her modest income by taking in tenants above the shop. As her collection of antique trinkets grows, so does Inez's fear that she is harbouring a psychopathic murderer.

The Babes In The Wood (A Wexford Case)

The nineteenth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. 'A woman phoned to say she and her husband went to Paris for the weekend, leaving their children with a - well, teen-sitter, I suppose, got back last night to find the lot gone and naturally she assumes they've all drowned.' There hadn't been anything like this kind of rain in living memory. The River Brede had burst its banks, and not a single house in the valley had escaped flooding. Even where Wexford lives, higher up in Kingsmarkham, the waters had nearly reached the mulberry tree in his once immaculate garden. The Subaqua Task Force could find no trace of Giles and Sophie Dade, let alone the woman who was keeping them company, Joanna Troy. But Mrs Dade is convinced her children are dead. As he embarks upon this mysterious investigation, Wexford is forced to question many of his core assumptions about society, even about his own family...

Three Cases For Chief Inspector Wexford

KISSING THE GUNNER'S DAUGHTER A sergeant in the Kingsmarkham police force is tragically killed. Ten months later, Wexford enters a bloodbath of a crime scene, where a family has been brutally murdered. 'Her most brilliant Wexford mystery to date- The plot is complicated and elaborately detailed but, as usual, there is not one superfluous word- stunning imagery' Kate Saunders, Cosmopolitan 'Beyond praise, completely compelling - will delight all Wexford's admirers' Allan Massie, The Scotsman SIMISOLA When a young black woman is murdered, Wexford must overcome his prejudices to allow his investigative skills to succeed... 'Impressive and courageous- Rendell's psychological and social insights are so absorbing, it's easy to forget what a superb plotter she is. As a mystery, Simisola is exceptional- pace, surprise, tension and a climax of stunning unexpectedness' The Times ROAD RAGE When Wexford's wife goes missing, the detective is in a race against time to solve a murder case, before Dora Wexford is placed in mortal danger... 'The book could hardly be more readable- A brilliant evocation of place, character and mood' Evening Standard 'With immaculate control, Ruth Rendell builds a menacing crescendo of tension and horror that keeps you guessing right up to the brilliantly paced finale' Good Housekeeping

Adam And Eve And Pinch Me

Jock Lewis died in the Paddington train crash. His fiancee Minty even received a letter from Great Western. But she never heard from the police, and Jock had left with all her savings. When a mysterious dark-haired man appears at Minty's home, at work, even in the cinema, she knows it must be Jock's ghost. But ghosts are grey and don't wear leather jackets... Five women, all unknown to each other, are the simultaneous unwilling victims of one man, a morally corrupt criminal who exploits them all and then suddenly, suspiciously, disappears. As this mystery man of shadows returns, and five women are haunted by a living nightmare, Minty begins to wonder... Can you kill a ghost?

Piranha To Scurfy And Other Stories

The long title story is about a man whose life, in a sense, is a book. There are shelves in every room, packed with titles which Ambrose Ribbon has checked pedantically for mistakes of grammar and fact. Life for Ribbon, without his mother now, is lonely and obsessive, filled with psychoses and neuroses, with the ever-present possibility of a descent into violent madness. He still keeps his mother's dressing table exactly as she had left it, the wardrobe door always open so that her clothes can be seen inside, and her pink silk nightdress on the bed. There is one book too that he associates particularly with her - volume VIII of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, Piranha to Scurfy. It marked a very significant moment in their relationship. In the other stories, Ruth Rendell deals with a variety of themes, some macabre, some vengeful, some mysterious, all precisely observed. The second novella, High Mysterious Union, explores a strange, erotic universe in a dream-like corner of rural England, and illustrates very atmospherically what range Ruth Rendell has as a writer, expanding beyond her famous sphere of crime writing.

Harm Done (A Wexford Case)

The eighteenth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. A young girl disappears, then another. A notorious paedophile is released back into the community. The residents of the Muriel Campden Estate are up in arms, and even prepared to take the law into their own hands... Chief Inspector Wexford is faced with the effects of violence and prejudice every day as a policeman, and he is also involved with a new programme to help victims of domestic violence. His daughter, Sylvia, has come to work nearby in a refuge for battered women. Her marriage is not a happy one, although her husband has never raised a hand to her. They are merely incompatible. Other women in Kingsmarkham are not so lucky... Wexford is soon called upon to investigate two extremely serious crimes which will affect the lives and attitudes of police and innocent villagers alike...

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to The Romans

Paul was the most influential figure in the early Christian church. In this epistle, written to the founders of the church in Rome, he sets out some of his ideas on the importance of faith in overcoming mankind's innate sinfulness and in obtaining redemption. With an introduction by Ruth Rendell.

Road Rage (A Wexford Case)

The seventeenth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. A by-pass is planned in the sleepy village of Kingsmarkham, a move that would destroy its peace and natural habitat forever. Wexford's wife Dora joins the protest movement, but Wexford must be more circumspect. Trouble is expected. Before the protesters even have a chance to make their presence felt, the badly decomposed body of a young woman is discovered. Burden believes he knows the identity of the murderer, but Wexford is not convinced. Just as Wexford is about to investigate the murder, a number of people disappear - including Dora Wexford. The Chief Inspector must battle with his powerful emotions and solve the case immediately, before his wife is placed in any mortal danger...

The Keys To The Street

Mary Jago donates her bone marrow to save the life of a complete stranger; a generous act of kindness that culminates in a violent break-up with her brutish boyfriend. Moving to the affluent edge of London's famous Regent's Park, Mary believed she had finally escaped the threat of violence. She never thought that one simple act of kindness could put her own life in mortal danger. When the bodies of local homeless people are found impaled on the park's railings, violently murdered by a deranged serial killer, Mary could not have suspected a connection to herself. But on the dark and mysterious streets of Rendell's labyrinthine London, everyone is trapped in her tightly woven web of murder and mystery.

Blood Lines Long and Short Stories

'I think you know who killed your stepfather', said Wexford, and so begins this scintillating collection of long and short stories by the world's best living crime writer, Ruth Rendell. It was clear both to Wexford and Burden that Tom Peterlee was not killed for GBP360, but various people would have liked them to believe the lie. It is a case which reminds the Chief Inspector that there is only a thin line dividing the policeman from the criminal. The criminal impulse may be present in the most routine or intimate situation. The book ends with The Strawberry Tree, a disturbingly evocative novella-length tale of lost innocence, set on the island of Majorca. It is a triumphant conclusion to a collection of horror stories that linger in the mind.

Simisola (A Wexford Case)

The sixteenth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. When a young, black woman goes missing in Kingsmarkham, Wexford must respond to a test not only of his powers of deduction, but of his basic beliefs and prejudices. Only eighteen black people live in Kingsmarkham. One of them is Wexford's new doctor, Raymond Akande. When the doctor's daughter, Melanie, goes missing, the Chief Inspector takes more than just a professional interest in the case. Melanie, just down from university but unable to find a job, disappeared somewhere between the Benefit Office and the bus stop. Or at least no one saw her get on the bus when it came... When the body of a young black woman is discovered, Wexford must overcome his underlying prejudices to allow his investigative skills to succeed.

To Fear A Painted Devil

Like any small community, Linchester has its intrigues: love affairs, money problems, unhappy marriages. But the gossip is elevated to new heights when young Patrick Selby dies on the very night of his beautiful wife's birthday party. The whole neighbourhood was there, witness to the horrible attack of wasp stings Patrick suffered at the end of the evening. But did Patrick die of a wasp sting? Dr. Greenleaf thinks not. Heart failure, more likely . Still, Greenleaf isn't at peace about his death. After all, everyone in Linchester hated Patrick. With the help of a certain naturalist, Dr. Greenleaf begins to think about murder.

Second Ruth Rendell Omnibus

An omnibus edition of three Ruth Rendell murder mysteries - To Fear a Painted Devil, Vanity Dies Hard and The Secret House of Death.

The Crocodile Bird

Liza is not your average teenager. Sixteen years old, she lives with her mother, Eve, in a secluded gatehouse, which she has never been allowed to leave. There was only enough room for two in their cocoon; intruders entered at their peril, only to mysteriously disappear... Liza is not the only one to discover the truth behind her mother's pathological violence, or the dead bodies. When the police arrive on their doorstep, Eve throws her daughter into the real world, to protect her from the consequences of her own chilling crimes. As Liza runs into the arms of her secret lover, she begins to see the logic behind her mother's gruesomes crimes, and must accept the possibility that she has inherited Eve's lust for murder...

Tree Of Hands

Once when Benet was about fourteen she and her mother had been alone in a train carriage - and Mopsa had tried to stab her with a carving knife. It was some time since Benet had seen her psychologically disturbed mother. So when Mopsa arrived at the airport looking drab and colourless in a dowdy grey suit, Benet tried not to hate her. But then the tragic death of a child begins a chain of deception, kidnap and murder in which three women are pushed to their psychological limit. Winner of the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger in 1984 and shortlisted for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Awards. Adapted into a hit thriller film starring Lauren Bacall.

The Copper Peacock

The Copper Peacock: a hideous bookmark given to Bernard, a writer, by his attractive cleaning lady, Judy. She had brought order to a hitherto chaotic life, but now the bookmark destroys all this, shattering his razor sharp sensibilities. If only she had given herself, then she might have lived... In this, and eight other landmark short stories, including the Wexford tale An Unwanted Woman, Ruth Rendell once again proves she is the mistress of crime and mystery genres.

Ruth Rendell Omnibus

An omnibus edition of three Ruth Rendell crime novels - A Demon in My View, A Judgement in Stone and The Face of Trespass.

Kissing The Gunner's Daughter (A Wexford Case)

The fifteenth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. The thirteenth of May is famously the unluckiest day of the year. Sergeant Caleb Martin of Kingsmarkham CID had no idea just how terminally unlucky it would prove, as he embarked upon his last day on earth... Ten months later, Wexford is confronted with a murder scene of horrific brutality. At first the bloodbath at Tancred House looks like the desperate work of a burglar panicked into murder. The sole survivor of the massacre, seventeen-year-old Daisy Flory, remembers the events imperfectly, and her confused account of the fatal night seems to confirm this theory. But more and more, Chief Inspector Wexford is convinced that the crime lies closer to home, and that it has sinister links to the murder of Sergeant Martin...

Going Wrong

In Rendell's evocative portrayal of West London, the slums of Notting Hill Gate and the mews houses of Holland Park are not streets, but worlds, apart. When these two worlds collide, the repercussions are fatal. Guy and Leonora were childhood sweethearts, and belonged to the same criminal gang. But as the wealthy Leonora grew older, they grew apart, and Guy's innocent love turned into a dangerous, psychopathic obsession. When Leonora announces her engagement , Guy knows there must be some mistake - and he is determined to right it, at any cost. As he becomes the victim of his own murderous madness, nobody is safe...

Ruth Rendell Mysteries,The:The Best Man to Die,AnUnkindness of Ravens and The Veiled One

A omnibus edition of three Ruth Rendell crime mysteries featuring Inspector Wexford - The Best Man to Die, An Unkindness of Ravens and The Veiled One.

The Bridesmaid

Philip Wardman had more than just the ordinary squeamishness where death was concerned. Yet he could hardly avoid the suspicious disappearance of his sister's friend Rebecca Neave, especially when everyone was ascribing the cause to murder. Philip's feminine ideal is the statue of the Roman goddess Flora in his mother's garden. His marble Flora doesn't fade, doesn't alter, doesn't die. But then he meets Senta Pelham, a beautiful, sensual, childlike actress and a living incarnation of the statue. The two embark on a passionate affair that soon becomes dangerous when Senta sets Philip a test; to prove their love, they must each commit murder.

The Second Wexford Omnibus A Guilty Thing Surprised,No More Dying Then and Murder Being Once Done

An omnibus edition of three of Ruth Rendell's Wexford mysteries. They feature the discovery of sinister undercurrents when an apparently respectable woman is murdered, evil letters that make unspoken imaginings a brutal reality, and the killing of a girl in a gloomy London cemetery.

The Speaker Of Mandarin (A Wexford Case)

The twelfth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. Wherever Reggie Wexford goes, death and intrigue are close on his heels. Having just returned from a once-in-a-lifetime holiday in China, Wexford finds himself haunted by memories of the old woman with bound feet who mysteriously followed him from one city to the next and the man who tragically drowned. Now, back in England, he finds himself investigating the murder of a fellow tourist. Knowing that the clue to these three mysteries lies in the East, Wexford turns his investigative skills to that place of unfathomable and sinister depths...

The Veiled One (A Wexford Case)

The fourteenth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. Concealed by a shroud of dirty brown velvet, looking like a heap of rags, the woman's dead body lay between a silver Escort and a dark-blue Lancia. In the desolate shopping centre car park, Wexford has been too preoccupied to notice anything out of the ordinary - only the teenage girl in the red car, driving past him rather too fast. It was Burden who called him at home with the grim news later that evening: the woman had been attacked from behind, perhaps with a thin length of wire. But before Wexford can delve any deeper into this curious murder, he, too, faces death... Can Burden solve this mysterious crime without the help of his worldly Chief Inspector?

Talking To Strange Men

Safe houses and secret message drops, double crosses and defections - it sounds like the stuff of sophisticated espionage, but the agents are only schoolboys engaged in harmless play, unaware of the danger awaiting them if their messages were intercepted... John Creevey doesn't know the truth behind the mysterious codes he is reading. To him, the messages he decodes with painstaking care are the communications of dangerous and evil men. As he comes face to face with the reality of his beloved wife Jennifer's defection, he begins to see a way to get back at the man she left him for, a man with a disturbing connection to schoolboys... And soon the schoolboys are playing more than just a game.

Collected Short Stories

Four collections of Ruth Rendell stories, originally published separately - 'The Fallen Curtain' and other stories (1976), 'Means of Evil' and other stories (1979), 'The Fever Tree' and other stories (1982), and 'The New Girlfriend' and other stories (1985).

Heartstones

In a college town two schoolgirls live with their widowed father Luke, a gentle well-educated man, meticulous and orderly. Elvira and Spinny are watchful however for Luke plans to remarry and has chosen Mary. The threat to the girls world is removed, however, when Mary falls to her death.

Wexford: An Omnibus

Three bestselling Detective Chief Inspector Wexford murder mysteries in one volume: FROM DOON WITH DEATH Margaret Parsons was a predictable, ordinary woman, but now she had met a mysterious death of passion and violence for which there seemed no motive or clue... 'One of the best' - SUN A NEW LEASE OF DEATH There was no doubt in Chief Inspector Wexford's mind... Painter had commited the brutal crime and he'd been hanged for it. But now, fifteen years later, someone wants history changed and they are determined to prove the detective wrong, at any cost... 'A cause for celebration' - SPECTATOR THE BEST MAN TO DIE Was it just a coincidence that Charlie Hatton, a cocky little lorry driver, had been killed on the day following that of Mrs Fanshawe's regaining consciousness? And was it murder or not? 'The mistress of mystery' - DAILY MIRROR

Live Flesh

Victor Jenner is a sociopath. After ten years in prison for shooting - and permanently crippling - a young policeman, Victor is released to a strange new world and told to make a new life for himself. It's hard to adjust to civilian life, but at least there's one blessing - he was never convicted for all those rapes he committed. Then Victor meets David, the policeman he shot, and David's beautiful girlfriend, Clare. And suddenly Victor's new life is starting to look an awful lot like the old one.

The New Girlfriend And Other Stories

Murder, corruption, blackmail. All these are part of someone else's world, not part of the everyday lives of ordinary people...or are they? This is a collection of sinister stories from the bestselling author who won The Sunday Times Literary Award for 1990.

An Unkindness Of Ravens (A Wexford Case)

The thirteenth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. The raven: not a particularly predatory bird, but far from soft and submissive, adopted as the symbol of a militant feminist group... Detective Chief Inspector Wexford thought he was merely doing a neighbourly good deed when he agreed to talk to Joy Williams about her missing husband. He certainly didn't expect to be investigating a most unusual homicide. Rodney Williams was neither handsome nor wealthy - but he had an unerring eye for a pretty girl and when he disappeared and two other men were later attacked by a young woman, Wexford couldn't help wondering if there was a connection. If there wasn't, where was Rodney Williams and why had he vanished? He had committed no crime - apart from telling his wife the occasional lie...

The Killing Doll

The winter before he was sixteen, amateur magician Pup made a Faustian pact and sold his soul to the devil. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to get in exchange. Pup's older sister, Dolly, is manically obsessed with her birthmark, believing it is responsible for her status as a social outcast. She becomes pathologically transfixed by Pup's dabbling in magic, desperate to believe he has occult powers that can cure her disfigurement, improve their lives, and kill their stepmother. As Dolly's obsession grows, a young mentally disturbed Irishman lurks just around the corner, inseparable from his sharpened set of knives... In this intense and deeply disturbing novel, Ruth Rendell explores a haunted world of obsession, delusions and murderous fantasy, with dazzling virtuosity.

Vanity Dies Hard

Alice Whittaker was 37, rich but dowdy, with no career. Her life a lonely failure, she had got by with the one thing she did have - money. Then handsome Andrew Fielding came into her life, and just as suddenly her beautiful friend, Nesta, vanished from it - leaving a trail of confusing clues.

One Across, Two Down

There are only two things in life that interest Stanley: solving crossword puzzles, and getting his hands on his mother-in-law's money. For twenty years, nearly all his adult life, the puzzles have been his only pleasure; his mother-in-law's money his only dream. And in all those years it has never once occurred to Stanley that she would try to outsmart him and the money might never be his. Until now. It is only now that Stanley, so clever at misleading double-meanings and devious clues, decides to construct a puzzle of his own - and so give death a helping hand.

Master Of The Moor

Stephen Whalby loves to walk the moor. It is a dark and forbidding place, but it is his. When the body of a young blonde woman is found there, her face horrifically disfigured, the victim of a merciless murderer, his beloved moor is tainted with suspicion and terror. Then a second woman goes missing on the moor and Stephen watches as the search party make their way across the treacherous murder scene. Not to be usurped by a killer or a victim; he, and only he, is the master of the moor.

The Secret House Of Death

It was his third visit to the gloomy house on Orchard Drive. Each time, he parked in the same place. Each time, he carried a briefcase. And each time, Louise North greeted him at the door. Susan Townsend was the only resident with no interest in the affair going on next door, or in the neighbourhood gossip about it. Yet it was Susan who found the murdered bodies of the lovers, locked not in passion, but in death. And it was Susan whose own life would be imperilled by a monstrous crime far beyond the imaginings of the vilest gossiping tongues. A classic Rendellian murder mystery.

The Lake Of Darkness

A Ruth Rendell mystery, first published in 1980. Martin Urban wins the pools and decides to help those less fortunate. Finn also comes into money and wants to help people - but only if the price is right. The good intentions of the one become fatally entangled with the macabre madness of the other.

Make Death Love Me

A Ruth Rendell mystery, first published in 1979 and shortlisted for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best crime novel in 1980. Alan Groombridge is trapped. Husband to a woman he doesn't like, father to two children he never wanted, and manager of a tiny branch of the Anglian-Victoria bank, he is doomed to a life of domestic boredom and tedious routine. All that keeps him afloat is his one fantasy: stealing enough of the bank's money to allow him just one year of freedom - one year in which to live a different sort of life. But one day the bank is robbed, the manager and cashier disappear and what was once a place of dull and dreary repetition becomes the scene of a brutal, chilling nightmare that might never end...

The Fallen Curtain And Other Stories

A collection of Ruth Rendell mysteries. A wife plots her husband's psychological destruction - then his murder; a son is ruined by his mother's obsession; a man marries the woman he rescues from suicide, only to become the victim of her obsessiveness; and a family feud brings unimaginable horror.

A Demon In My View

Arthur Johnson doesn't look like a murderous psychopath; he is a mild-mannered man who has never known how to talk to women. Years of loneliness has warped his mind, turning his desire for a woman's love and respect into a pathological need for carefully controlled violence. Locked in the cellar of his building is the perfect willing victim, a woman who can be murdered over and over again, a woman who waits for Arthur every night... When a young scholar of psychopathic personalities moves in downstairs and Arthur's mannequin disappears, where will he turn to satisfy his urgent craving for violence? The crime novel that won Rendell the first of her six Gold Dagger awards, this is a haunting insight into the mind of a pathological criminal.

The Face Of Trespass

Two years ago he had been a promising young novelist. Now he survived - you could hardly call it living - in a near derelict cottage with only an unhooked telephone and his own obsessive thoughts for company. Two years of loving Drusilla - the bored, rich, unstable girl with everything she needed, and a husband she wanted dead. The affair was over. But the long slide into deception and violence had just begun. . .

Bridesmaid, The & Going Wrong

Love and death are the principal players in these two BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations of chilling Ruth Rendell stories. In 'The Bridesmaid', when Philip embarks on an affair with Senta, his sister's bridesmaid, she reminds him of the stone statue he adored as a child. Yet Senta is married, and Philip's overwhelming aversion to violence leads indirectly to murder and horror as he is drawn into erotic but murderous complicity. Starring Jamie Glover and Rachel Lewis. In 'Going Wrong', natural born villain Guy Curran has youth, good looks and charm, but not the one thing he longs for: Leonora, the sophisticated girl he has loved since childhood. When Guy learns that she's about to get married, his growing obsession convinces him that if Leonora can't be his, nor can she be anyone else's - ever. Starring Peter Wingfield and Oona Beeson.