Ruth Rendell
AUTHOR

Ruth Rendell

Crime & Thrillers

Ruth Rendell was an exceptional crime writer, and will be remembered as a legend in her own lifetime. Her groundbreaking debut novel, From Doon With Death, was first published in 1964 and introduced the reader to her enduring and popular detective, Inspector Reginald Wexford, who went on to feature in twenty-four of her subsequent novels. With worldwide sales of approximately 20 million copies, Rendell was a regular Sunday Times bestseller. Her sixty bestselling novels include police procedurals, some of which have been successfully adapted for TV, stand-alone psychological mysteries, and a third strand of crime novels under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. Very much abreast of her times, the Wexford books in particular often engaged with social or political issues close to her heart. Rendell won numerous awards, including the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger for 1976’s best crime novel with A Demon in My View, a Gold Dagger award for Live Flesh in 1986, and the Sunday Times Literary Award in 1990. In 2013 she was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence in crime writing. In 1996 she was awarded the CBE and in 1997 became a Life Peer. Ruth Rendell died in May 2015. Her final novel, Dark Corners, is scheduled for publication in October 2015.

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Best Sellers

  • From Doon with Death cover art

    • From Doon with Death

    • A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery, Book 1  (Unabridged)
    • By: Ruth Rendell
    • Narrated by: Terrence Hardiman
    • Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 219
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 184
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 186

    When Margaret Parsons disappears, it's assumed that she's run off with another man. But then the missing woman's body is found and a startling discovery is made....

    • 4 out of 5 stars

    • Vintage Rendell

    • By Kirstine on 30-06-10

    Regular price: £13.49

    Free with 30-day trial
  • The Rottweiler cover art

    • The Rottweiler

    • By: Ruth Rendell
    • Narrated by: Nigel Anthony
    • Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 135
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 122
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 122

    The first girl had a bite mark on her neck, but they traced the DNA to her boyfriend. But the tabloids got hold of the story and called the killer 'The Rottweiler'....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • The Rottweiler

    • By Susan Random on 28-02-16

    Regular price: £19.69

    Free with 30-day trial
  • A New Lease of Death cover art

    • A New Lease of Death

    • A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery, Book 2
    • By: Ruth Rendell
    • Narrated by: Nigel Anthony
    • Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 66
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 51
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 49

    Wexford had every reason to remember the Painter case - it was the first murder he'd ever handled on his own. There had been no doubts about the case, until now....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Unmistakable Ruth Rendell

    • By Susan on 24-08-09

    Regular price: £14.69

    Free with 30-day trial
  • The Best Man to Die cover art

    • The Best Man to Die

    • A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery, Book 4
    • By: Ruth Rendell
    • Narrated by: Robin Bailey
    • Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 41
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 31
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 33

    Chief Inspector Wexford couldn't understand why a fatal car crash kept upsetting his concentration on a murder....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • excellent story superbly reas

    • By john harris on 13-09-16

    Regular price: £14.69

    Free with 30-day trial
  • Put on by Cunning cover art

    • Put on by Cunning

    • A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery, Book 11
    • By: Ruth Rendell
    • Narrated by: Charles Kay
    • Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 20
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 15
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 15

    Sir Manual Camargue had just announced his intention of taking a second wife, 50 years his junior. On the same cold winter's day, he died as a result of what was surely a tragic accident....

    • 3 out of 5 stars

    • Implausible!

    • By CJ on 29-09-18

    Regular price: £14.69

    Free with 30-day trial
  • The Monster in the Box cover art

    • The Monster in the Box

    • A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery, Book 22
    • By: Ruth Rendell
    • Narrated by: Nigel Anthony
    • Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 104
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 45
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 44

    Wexford had almost made up his mind that he would never again set eyes on Eric Targo. And yet there he was, back in Kingsmarkham, still with that cocky, strutting walk....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Riveting listening

    • By Annie on 04-09-10

    Regular price: £9.19

    Free with 30-day trial
  • Not in the Flesh cover art

    • Not in the Flesh

    • A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery, Book 21 (Unabridged)
    • By: Ruth Rendell
    • Narrated by: Nigel Anthony
    • Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 70
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 35
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 36

    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....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Ruth Rendell at her best

    • By Kirstine on 12-08-10

    Regular price: £18.49

    Free with 30-day trial
  • No Man's Nightingale cover art

    • No Man's Nightingale

    • A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery, Book 24 (Unabridged)
    • By: Ruth Rendell
    • Narrated by: Nigel Anthony
    • Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 155
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 129
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 125

    Sarah Hussain was not popular in the community of Kingsmarkham. She was born of mixed parents - a white Irishwoman and an immigrant Indian Hindu....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Back on form!

    • By barjil on 04-08-13

    Regular price: £17.19

    Free with 30-day trial
  • The Crocodile Bird cover art

    • The Crocodile Bird

    • By: Ruth Rendell
    • Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
    • Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 80
    • Performance
      5 out of 5 stars 64
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 63

    Eve and Liza, Mother and Daughter, live a quiet life in their remote home; a rustic gatehouse of a country mansion....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • Unexpected

    • By Slubberd on 11-02-17

    Regular price: £19.69

    Free with 30-day trial
  • End in Tears cover art

    • End in Tears

    • A Chief Inspector Wexford Mystery, Book 20
    • By: Ruth Rendell
    • Narrated by: Nigel Anthony
    • Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 52
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 40
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 38

    A lump of concrete dropped deliberately from a little stone bridge kills the wrong person. The young woman in the car behind is spared. But only for a while....

    • 3 out of 5 stars

    • too many characters and too many stories

    • By Mrs Kim Hutchings on 26-01-16

    Regular price: £19.69

    Free with 30-day trial

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