A special edition of A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell. Featuring an introduction by James Ellroy. On Valentine's Day, four members of the Coverdale family were murdered in the space of fifteen minutes. Their housekeeper, Eunice Parchman, shot them one by one in the blue light of a televised performance of Don Giovanni. When the police arrest Miss Parchman two weeks later, they discover a second tragedy: the key to the Valentine's Day massacre, a private humiliation Eunice Parchman has guarded all her life. A Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Special Edition
Ruth Rendell Book order
This British author gained acclaim for her psychological thrillers and murder mysteries. Her works masterfully explore the darker aspects of human psychology and the motivations behind crime. With exceptional stylistic skill, she crafts suspenseful plots that draw readers into intricate cases and the pursuit of truth.







- 2022
- 2018
KEYS TO THE STREET
- 384 pages
- 14 hours of reading
Set in and around London's Regents Park, where the city's wealthiest, poorest, kindest, and most vicious citizens all cross paths, this newest novel by the Edgar and Gold Dagger-winning author of Crocodile Bird tells of the deadly thanks a young woman risks receiving in return for an act of selfless generosity.
- 2017
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.
- 2015
Dark Corners
- 288 pages
- 11 hours of reading
"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."
- 2014
In this pre-intermediate level story for grades 7-8, Detective Red Wexford investigates the murder of Angela Hathall, where the only clue is a fingerprint with an L-shaped scar. Wexford suspects her husband, Robert Hathall, and wonders about a mysterious woman he believes Hathall encountered.
- 2014
Anita's narrow white hand with the long nails painted pastel pink, the man's brown hand equally shapely, the fingers slightly splayed.'Beneath the green meadows of Loughton, Essex, a dark network of tunnels has been dug.
- 2013
Archie and Archie
- 54 pages
- 2 hours of reading
A charming story of a cat and a dog who live on the same street for younger readers, from bestselling author Ruth Rendell. 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.
- 2013
No Man's Nightingale
- 352 pages
- 13 hours of reading
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.
- 2012
INCLUDES AN EXCERPT OF RENDELL’S FINAL NOVEL, DARK CORNERSIn the stunning climax to Rendell’s classic 1998 novel A Sight for Sore Eyes, three bodies—two dead, one living—are 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 vault—and 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.
- 2012
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...show more


