Product Description

So begins this scintillating collection of long and short stories by Ruth Rendell. It was clear to both Wexford and Burden that Tom Peterlee was not killed for £360, but various people would have liked them to think he was. . . It is a case which reminds the Chief Inspector that there is only a thin line dividing the cop from the criminal.

In the second story, poetry is the inspiration for murderous passion. In "Shreds and Slivers," the accidental discovery of Amanita phalloides (a poisonous mushroom) leads to a game of Russian Roulette in a supermarket. In all the stories, Ruth Rendell probes behind the patterns of everyday life to pinpoint the frailties, the desires and deceptions, the guilty secrets of human beings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4030534 in Books
• Published on: 1996-06-01
• Released on: 1996-06-01
• Formats: Audiobook, Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 3
• Binding: Audio Cassette

From Library Journal
This collection of contemporary, subtle, and sometimes horrific stories by that most cerebral of English mystery writers, Rendell (e.g., Put On by Cunning, LJ 6/1/96), is a listener's delight. A cast of readers including Michael Page and Sharon Williams represent a chorus of perfect voices performing the various tales, which range from country working-class acts of passion to restrained, clinical murder among calculating members of Britain's upper crust. One story, "Unacceptable Levels," is so subtle that listeners may find themselves rewinding their cassettes in order to catch the unspoken murder plot. Another, "The Strawberry Tree," is beautiful in its pacing, as slow and embracing as a Majorcan breeze from the island upon which the story is set. The Rendell style has never been more affecting than here. Recommended.?Mark P. Tierney, The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap
Hailed by Patricia Cornwell as "unequivocally the most brilliant mystery writer of our time, " Ruth Rendell now delivers an all-new collection of long- and short-story mysteries. As always with Rendell, these stories of mystery and wrongdoing shine their light into the dark places of the human psyche.

About the Author
Ruth Rendell is the recipient of several awards, including three Edgars and four Gold Daggers from the UK’s Crime Writers’ Association. Simisola, Blood Lines, Keys to the Street, and The Brimstone Wedding (written as Barbara Vine) are available from Brilliance Audio. She lives in England.