Ruth Rendell – författare

A collection of sleek and sinister stories from the creator of Chief Inspector Wexford. “Her range is extraordinary … a shocking fusillade of finales” 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?

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…

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.

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.

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

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?

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?

Another Wexford mystery read by George Baker"We''re all racist in this country" said Wexford. "Without exception. People over 40 are the worst and that''s about all you can say. " 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…..

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…

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….

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 “communication cord”. The train stopped and there had been trouble for everyone involved and her father had been angry and grimly sad.

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….

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…

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.

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…

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.

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. . .

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND CRIME LEGEND DONNA LEON'One of her masterpieces'TELEGRAPH'A classic' THE TIMES'Quite possibly the best crime book I have ever read'READER REVIEW'Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write.'Eunice, the Coverdales' housekeeper, guns down four of her employers in the space of fifteen minutes one Valentine's Day. None of them suspected anything. Her motive remained hidden.As the police investigate, Eunice schemes to escape the blame - desperate to preserve the terrible secret of her illiteracy.But Eunice's blindness to a crucial aspect of the world throws her plans into jeopardy . . .

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.

Completely captivating, this is a spine-tingling page-turner of a mystery from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. Perfect for fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon. 'The most brilliant mystery novelist' -- Patricia Cornwell'Psychologically acute and extremely disturbing, Ruth Rendell's work is outstanding' -- The Times'Stark, edgy and punchy' -- ***** Reader review'This book kept me awake for nights on end!' -- ***** Reader review'I just could not put it down' -- ***** Reader review'Smashing' -- ***** Reader review*********************************************************************************************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...

Martin Urban is a quiet bachelor with a comfortable life, free of worry and distractions. When he unexpectedly comes into a small fortune, he decides to use his newfound wealth to help out those in need. Finn also leads a quiet life, and comes into a little money of his own.Normally, their paths would never have crossed. But Martin's ideas about who should benefit from his charitable impulses yield some unexpected results, and soon the good intentions of the one become fatally entangled with the mercenary nature of the other. In the Lake of Darkness, Ruth Rendell takes the old adage that no good deed goes unpunished to a startling, haunting conclusion.

Readers of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will love this deliciously tense and suspenseful thriller from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. An absolute page-turner you won't be able to stop reading...'The Wexford books clearly display Rendell's great mastery of storytelling at its best' -- Sunday Telegraph'Rendell's detective fiction stands almost alone as a chronicle of the dark side of modern life...' -- Independent'Unputdownable' -- ***** Reader review'Another cracker from Rendell!' -- ***** Reader review'A masterpiece' -- ***** Reader review'When does Ruth Rendell ever write anything other than excellent?' -- ***** Reader review'Thought provoking and absorbing' -- ***** Reader review**********************************************************************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...As a policeman, Chief Inspector Wexford is faced with the effects of violence and prejudice every day. 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...

A crime of passion brought to life by multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. Fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will love this dark and achingly absorbing thriller...'Psychologically acute and extremely disturbing, Ruth Rendell's work is outstanding' -- The Times'Ruth Rendell's books are not only whodunits but whydunits, uncovering the motive roots of murder' -- Mail on Sunday'Do not read before bedtime as you will want to finish it and will go to bed far too late!' -- ***** Reader review 'An entertaining, fast paced read' -- ***** Reader review 'I just couldn't put it down'-- ***** Reader review 'I was totally enthralled by this from start to finish'-- ***** Reader review *******************************************************************************************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...

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.

What is the real price of greed? A spine-tingling and breathtakingly taut thriller full of twists and turns from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. Perfect for fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon.'Rendell's psychological insights are so absorbing, it's easy to forget what a superb plotter she was' -- The Times'Marvellous stuff' -- ***** Reader review'Simply the best!' -- ***** Reader review'Couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review'A masterpiece!' -- ***** Reader review*******************************************************************************************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.

Readers of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will love this gripping crime thriller full of twists and turns from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. 'The most brilliant mystery writer' -- Patricia Cornwell'Probably the greatest crime writer in the world' -- Ian Rankin'Totally gripping with superb twist at the end!' -- ***** Reader review'Fascinating' -- ***** Reader review'Superb on all counts' -- ***** Reader review'Keeps the reader rooted to the spot and in the dark till the very end' -- ***** Reader review************************************************************************************************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...

Who would have believed that Alice Whittaker's life could change? She was thirty-seven, 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 behind a trail of broken questions and confused clues.Now nothing is as it seems - and in this darker world below, anything can be done by anyone. Even murder...'The best woman crime writer since Sayers, Christie, Allingham and Marsh' - SUNDAY TIMES

A psychological thriller about three mothers bound by a thread of terror from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. Readers of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will be hooked...'Rendell's psychological novels remain in a class of their own' -- Sunday Telegraph'The web is spun with fiendish skill' -- Observer'Domestic dramas exploding into deaths and murders...threads are drawn tightly together in a lethal last pattern' -- Sunday Times'A cleverly written and intriguing book' -- ***** Reader review'Ruth Rendell at the height of her powers. This book really merits the description: "unputdownable."' -- ***** Reader review'Allow time to read this as you won't want to put it down' -- ***** Reader review'Compulsive reading - I couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review*******************************************************************************************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 has been some time since Benet had seen her psychologically disturbed mother. So when Mopsa arrives at the airport looking drab and colourless in a dowdy grey suit, Benet tries not to hate her.But when the tragic death of a child begins a chain of deception, kidnap and murder in which three women are pushed to psychological extremes, family ties are strained to the absolute limit...