From Agatha Christie To Ruth Rendell

James and Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine."--BOOK JACKET.

From Agatha Christie to Ruth Rendell is the first book to consider seriously the hugely popular and influential works of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L.Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ngaio Marsh, P.D. James and Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine. Providing studies of forty-two key novels, this volume introduces these authors for students and the general reader in the context of their lives, and of critical debates on gender, colonialism, psychoanalysis, the Gothic, and feminism. It includes interviews with P.D. James and Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine.

From multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell, this is a strange, seductive and suspenseful psychological thriller with a cunning final twist that will get right under the skin. Perfect for fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon. 'She is incapable of writing a sentence that is not invested with mystery and fear... I was totally transfixed. If you read it, you will not sleep well. And it is a marvellous piece of work' -- Today 'Difficult to put down... she begins with the everyday, the ordinary and transmutes it into an almost Gothic tale of suspense and quiet terror' -- Daily Express 'Probably the greatest living crime writer in the world' -- Ian Rankin 'Ruth Rendell's mesmerising capacity to shock, chill and disturb is unmatched.'-- The Times 'Pure genius' -- ***** Reader review 'Gripping throughout' -- ***** Reader review 'Possibly her best' -- ***** Reader review 'A twisted, strange, compelling piece of brilliance' -- ***** Reader review **************************************************************** 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 the schoolboys... And soon the schoolboys are playing more than just a game.

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.

“Ruth Rendell is the best mystery writer in the English-speaking world.”—Time No one admitted to spotting the doctor's missing daughter—even after the murders began. Melanie Akande, eschewing privilege, had insisted on going to the jobsearch office to find employment. But between that office and the bus stop, she vanished. Inspector Wexford hoped someone would have noticed her, since the Akandes were among the few Africans living in Kingsmarkham. Instead, he had found a middle-aged white woman strangled in bed, and a mysterious black girl buried in a shallow grave. Now Wexford, seeking connections among the three women, cast his baleful eye on the changes in once rural Sussex—from a Kuwaiti millionaire's Rolls-Royce to the growing slums and dismal hopelessness of unemployed youth. What he can't see among them is the shocking, blood-chilling motive to kill. And what he has yet to find is a doctor's missing child . . . Praise for Simisola “One of the author's best!”—The New York Times Book Review “Rendell delivers a complex crime deftly unraveled.”—Daily News (New York)

Will you be able to get to the bottom of the mystery multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell presents in No More Dying Then? Fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will devour this with its compelling drama and intricately woven web of murder, mystery, clues and crimes... 'Ruth Rendell has quite simply transformed the genre of crime writing' -- Sunday Times 'Rendell never fails to come up trumps, and her millions of admirers will eagerly consume this offering as they have all the others.' -- The Irish Times 'Didn't want to stop reading it!' -- ***** Reader review 'Excellent book - had me gripped from the start' -- ***** Reader review 'Great writing as always by the mistress of crime novels' -- ***** Reader review 'A must read'-- ***** Reader review ****************************************************************************************** On a stormy February afternoon, little Stella Rivers disappears - never to be seen again. There are no clues, no demands and no traces. And there is nowhere for Wexford and his team to look. All that remains is the cold fear and awful dread that touches 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...

'Tis the season-to be dead... A holiday party takes on a sinister aspect when the colorful assortment of guests discovers there is a killer in their midst. The owner of the substantial estate, that old Scrooge Nathaniel Herriard, is found stabbed in the back. While the delicate matter of inheritance could be the key to this crime, the real conundrum is how any of the suspects could have entered a locked room to commit the foul deed. For Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard, the investigation is complicated by the fact that every guest is hiding something-throwing all of their testimony into question and casting suspicion far and wide. The clever and daring crime will mystify readers, yet the answer is in plain sight all along... Praise for Georgette Heyer: "Miss Heyer's characters and dialogue are an abiding delight to me...I have seldom met people to whom I have taken so violent a fancy from the word 'Go'." - Dorothy L. Sayers "A writer of great wit and style." - Daily Telegraph "Ms. Heyer is one of the most entertaining writers I have ever ready." - Reading Extravaganza "Miss Heyer has the delightful talent of blending humor with mystery." - Boston Evening Transcript Georgette Heyer wrote over fifty books, including Regency Romances, mysteries, and historical fiction. Her barrister husband Ronald Rougier, provided many of the plots for her detective novels, which are classic English country house mysteries reminiscent of Agatha Christie. Heyer was legendary for her research, historical accuracy, inventive plots, and sparkling characterizations.