Showing results by author "Ruth Rendell" in All Categories

Alan Groombridge had a fantasy. Husband to a woman he didn't like, father of two children he had never wanted,and manager of the second smallest branch of the Anglian-Victoria bank in the country, Alan was doomed to a life of domestic boredom and tedious routine.All that saved him was that 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 there was no more dreaming and no more games.

Sixteen-year-old Elvira's mother is dead. Elvira is sad, of course, but not so sad as her younger sister Spinny. Spinny is afraid their father, Luke, will be heartbroken, but Elvira knows better - after all, Luke has her to take her mother's place. But then Luke brings home a pretty young woman and introduces her as his fiancee, and Elvira decides that she will stop at nothing to stop her father's marriage.

All his life, for almost as far back as he could remember, Victor had had a phobia. In prison, inevitably, he reflected on the grotesque way it had begun, about the panics and violent anger. He asked himself, too, why the child of happily married, middle-class parents should have needed to make motiveless and unreasoning attacks on women. Holed up in that house with the girl, he had not meant to pull the trigger. It was panic.

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 20 years, the puzzles have been his only pleasure, the money his only dream. It has never occurred to Stanley that his mother-in-law would try to outsmart him and the money would 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.

With deceptive economy in these nine short stories, Ruth Rendell indicates hidden depths in ordinary events and creates a sense of profound unease. The stories are: 'A Pair of Yellow Lilies', 'Paperwork', 'Mother’s Hel'p, 'Long Live the Queen', 'Dying Happy', 'The Copper Peacock', 'Weeds', 'The Fish-Sitter', and 'An Unwanted Woman'.

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...

Familien Coverdale havde stor tillid til deres ældre hushjælp Eunice Parchman. Men Eunice havde en hemmelighed, som hun for enhver pris ikke ville have slap ud. Hun kunne hverken læse eller skrive, og hvor mærkeligt det end lyder, så var hun klar til at begå mord for at skjule det. Intet går imidlertid, som Eunice har planlagt, og familien Coverdale lærer på den hårde måde, at man ikke skal byde hvem som helst ind i sit hjem...

Da den unge Patrick Selby dør samme aften, som hans smukke kone holder fødselsdagsfest, vil sladderen ingen ende tage i den ellers så idylliske forstad, Linchester. Hele kvarteret var til stede, da Patrick blev angrebet af en hvepsesværm sidst på aftenen - men var det virkelig stikkene, der slog Patrick ihjel? Det mener lægen, Max Greenleaf, ikke. Og hvepse er jo ikke de eneste væsner, der slår ihjel ved hjælp af gift ...

Resterne af en hånd dukker op af jorden ved et gammelt og forladt hus. Det viser sig, at nogen har ligget begravet der i mere end ti år. Men hvem er det? Og hvem har svøbt den døde krop i et lilla lagen og stedt den til hvile? Liget er en mand, men ellers afslører obduktionen intet om hverken dødsårsag eller identitet, og kriminalkommissær Wexford og hans medarbejdere har kun en liste over forsvundne personer at gå ud fra. Et eller andet sted må der sidde en ulykkelig familie tilbage, der har mistet en far, en bror eller en søn.

Revenge is one of the great themes in literature, from Shakespeare to Poe. This collection contains 18 original stories commissioned for this volume plus a reprint of a classic Ruth Rendell mystery.

Cette nouvelle inédite met en scène Polly qui a coutume de voler les gens qui l'ont contrariée. Jusqu'au jour où, humiliée et épouvantée par un parfait inconnu, elle réagit comme elle l'a toujours fait. Mais jamais elle n'aurait pu imaginer que son désir de vengeance aurait des conséquences aussi terrifiantes.

More of the Greatest Mysteries of All Time is the second in a series featuring the finest short story mystery fiction by the most acclaimed writers, past and present. From Thomas Hardy, O. Henry, Jack London, Vincent Starrett and everyone in between, this unique collection, edited by multi-award winning mystery connoisseur Otto Penzler, is a delightful mixture of mystery and suspense.

Inspektor Wexford steht vor einem Rätsel: Warum musste Margaret Parsons sterben? Die unscheinbare junge Hausfrau hatte keine Feinde – und doch wurde sie brutal erwürgt, ihre Leiche in einem abgelegenen Waldstück zurückgelassen. Als Polizeichef der kleinen Gemeinde Kingsmarkham ist Wexford eisern entschlossen, die Wahrheit herauszufinden – und stößt schließlich auf eine Sammlung seltener Bücher in Margarets Besitz, jedes einzelne davon mit der leidenschaftlichen Widmung eines unbekannten Liebhabers versehen.