Ruth Rendell (1930–2015)
Author of From Doon with Death
About the Author
Ruth Rendell (1930-2015) Ruth Rendell was born in Essex, England on February 17, 1930. She was educated at Loughton County High School. Rendell began her career as a journalist. She wrote six novels before sending her work in to a publisher. She writes crime novels and psychological thrillers, and show more is best known for her Inspector Wexford books. Rendell also writes under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. Rendell has received many awards for her writing, including the Silver, Gold, and Cartier Diamond Daggers from the Crime Writers' Association, three Edgars from the Mystery Writers of America, The Arts Council National Book Awards, and The Sunday Times Literary Award. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Many of her titles have been made into films and made-for-tv movies. Rendell died on May 2, 2015. She was 85 years old. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Ruth Rendell en 2008
Series
Works by Ruth Rendell
The Second Wexford Omnibus: No More Dying Then / Guilty Thing Surprised / Murder Being Once Done (1994) 95 copies
Wexford Omnibus: From Doon With Death / A New Lease of Death / The Best Man to Die (1988) 88 copies, 1 review
The Third Wexford Omnibus: Some Lie and Some Die / Shake Hands for Ever / Sleeping Life (1989) 72 copies, 1 review
The Fourth Wexford Omnibus: Wolf to the Slaughter / Put on by Cunning / The Speaker of Mandarin (1990) 54 copies
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries: The Best Man to Die / An Unkindness of Ravens / The Veiled One (1992) 37 copies, 1 review
Inspector Wexford Omnibus: A New Lease of Death / The Best Man to Die / Wolf to the Slaughter / Put on by Cunning (1994) 29 copies
From Doon with Death / Some Lie and Some Die / Shake Hands for Ever / A Sleeping Life (1993) 21 copies
Inspector Wexford: The Speaker of Mandarin / An Unkindness of Ravens / The Veiled One (1995) 15 copies
Three Barbara Vine Mysteries: A Dark-Adapted Eye, The Chimney Sweeper's Boy, and The Brimstone Wedding (2017) 9 copies
A New Lease of Death / The Speaker of Mandarin / Wolf to the Slaughter / Put on by Cunning (1997) 6 copies
Ruth Rendell Omnibus 3: Murder Being Once Done / One Across, Two Down / The Face of Trespass (1990) 5 copies
Selected Stories 4 copies
Ruth Rendell omnibus. [5] 3 copies
Dämon hinter Spitzenstores / Das geheime Haus des Todes - A Demon in My View / The Secret House of Death (1990) 3 copies
TENTATIA 2 copies
Monster in Box, The 2 copies
De dief / Kattenkruid 2 copies
Au nom du père 2 copies
Dämon hinter Spitzenstores /Das geheime Haus des Todes (rororo / Rowohlts Rotations Romane) 2 copies
Oeuvres choisies de Ruth Rendell : l'été de Trapellune, un enfant pour un autre, l'homme à la tortue, la maison aux escaliers,la gueule du loup (1992) 2 copies
Occhi senza vita 1 copy
HIl Isegreto della casa 1 copy
The Fallen Curtains 1 copy
Lopott élet 1 copy
The Second Omnibus 1 copy
De obsessie 1 copy
Tigerlilys Orchid 1 copy
A árvore das mãos 1 copy
Harm Done r 1 copy
As trevas da noite 1 copy
O Homem da Borboleta Livro 1 1 copy
Computer Séance [SS] 1 copy
Fen Hall [SS] 1 copy
Inspector Wexford 1-24 1 copy
Sins of the Fathers r 1 copy
Death Notes r 1 copy
LES DAMES DU CRIME 1 copy
From Doom With Death 1 copy
Casi humanos 1 copy
Mord am Polterabend - The Best Man to Die (Wexford 4); Mord ist ein schweres Erbe - A New Lease of Death (Wexford 2) (1996) 1 copy
Zahalena závojem 1 copy
Krokodilo nasruose: romanas 1 copy
The giving tree 1 copy
Saint Zita Society, The 1 copy
Eine entwaffnende Frau / Mord ist ein schweres Erbe. Zwei Inspector-Wexford-Romane in einem Band. (2003) 1 copy
Lhůta pro smrt 1 copy
The Fever Tree [short story] 1 copy
Sodba v kamnu 1 copy
Ruth Rendell 4 book Set - Means of Evil, Sins of the Fathers, An Unkindness of Ravens & Death Notes (1981) 1 copy
Lapsukesed metsas 1 copy
Ruth Rendell Collection: Live Flesh, Going Wrong, Thirteen Steps Down, the Rottweiler, No More Dying Then (2011) 1 copy
Sinistra Obsessão 1 copy
Feitiço Mortal 1 copy
Dd̜elig hilsen 1 copy
Rendell Ruth 1 copy
Puzzle Mortal 1 copy
Wolfchen 1 copy
O Tapete do Rei Salomão 1 copy
Portobello Road 1 copy
Deadly Feasts 1 copy
Uma Despedida para Sempre 1 copy
Associated Works
Great Detectives: A Century of the Best Mysteries from England and America (1984) — Contributor — 406 copies, 4 reviews
A Moment on the Edge : 100 Years of Crime Stories by Women (2002) — Contributor — 294 copies, 6 reviews
The New Gothic: A Collection of Contemporary Gothic Fiction (1991) — Contributor — 273 copies, 2 reviews
Murder on the Menu: Cordon Bleu Stories of Crime and Mystery, Volume 1 (1984) — Contributor — 213 copies, 2 reviews
The Pleasure of Reading: 43 Writers on the Discovery of Reading and the Books That Inspired Them (2015) — Contributor — 104 copies, 2 reviews
Lethal Kisses: 18 Tales of Sex, Horror, and Revenge (1996) — Contributor, some editions — 76 copies, 5 reviews
Murder by the Book: Literary Mysteries from Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (1995) — Contributor — 73 copies
The Web She Weaves: An Anthology of Mystery and Suspense Stories by Women (1983) — Contributor — 60 copies, 2 reviews
Women of Mystery II: Stories From Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (1994) — Contributor — 56 copies, 1 review
Murder at Teatime: Mysteries in the Classic Cozy Tradition (1996) — Contributor — 56 copies, 2 reviews
Ladies of the Gothics: Tales of Romance and Terror by the Gentle Sex (1975) — Contributor — 48 copies, 1 review
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories: Third Annual Collection (2002) — Contributor — 46 copies
A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925) — Introduction, some editions — 46 copies, 1 review
Simply the Best Mysteries: Edgar Award Winners and Front-Runners (1998) — Contributor — 45 copies, 1 review
Ellery Queen's murdercade: 23 stories from Ellery Queen's mystery magazine (Mystery annual ; 29) (1975) — Contributor — 25 copies
Tales of Obsession: Mystery Stories of Fatal Attractions and Deadly Desires (1994) — Contributor — 18 copies
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: First Annual Edition (1992) — Contributor — 16 copies
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Second Annual Edition (1993) — Contributor — 13 copies
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Third Annual Edition (1994) — Contributor — 10 copies
Reader's Digest Condensed Books: The Hammer of Eden • A Sight for Sore Eyes • The Kremlin Device • Firebird (1998) — Contributor — 9 copies
Reader's Digest Condensed Books: The Keys to the Street • Rose • White Viper • Anything Considered (1996) — Author — 6 copies
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Sixth Annual Edition (1997) — Contributor — 5 copies, 1 review
Livros Condensados: O homem da estrela branca | Uma família para Cathy Cameron | As chaves da rua | O caderno diário (1997) 4 copies
Great Mystery Series: Eight of the Best Mysteries by the Top Women Writers [audiobook] (2000) — Contributor — 3 copies
Murder Most British [abridged audio] — Contributor — 1 copy
Gallowglass [1993 TV series] — Original book — 1 copy
Kirjavaliot - Kaukolaukaisin, Rakkaus ei katoa, Kadun hämärässä — Author — 1 copy
Appendici in giallo 1 — Contributor — 1 copy
Urlaubsträume. Geschichten für die schönste Zeit des Jahres — Author — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Rendell, Ruth Barbara, Baroness Rendell of Babergh
- Other names
- Vine, Barbara
- Birthdate
- 1930-02-17
- Date of death
- 2015-05-02
- Gender
- female
- Education
- County High School, Loughton, Essex, England, UK
- Occupations
- journalist
Member of the House of Lords (Labour)
author
writer
novelist - Organizations
- Detection Club
- Awards and honors
- MWA Grand Master (1997)
Order of the British Empire (Commander, 1996)
Cartier Diamond Dagger (1991)
Life Peerage (1997)
Gumshoe Award (Lifetime Achievement, 2004)
Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence (1990) (show all 8)
Rivertonprisen ( [1991])
Blue Plaque - Agent
- Charles Walker (United Agents)
- Short biography
- Ruth Barbara Rendell, née Grasemann, was the only child of two schoolteachers. She got her first job as a reporter for a South Woodford newspaper and married her boss, editor Don Rendell, at age 20. The couple had one son. She published her first novel, From Doon with Death, in 1964. Ms. Rendell was a prolific writer of police procedurals and psychological suspense/crime novels exploring such themes as romantic obsession, family secrets, miscommunication, and the impact of chance and coincidence. After years of writing such critically acclaimed works and receiving many awards, in 1986 she created the pseudonym Barbara Vine. The Barbara Vine novels are more oblique and have a recurring theme of consequences from events that occurred in the past. She was made a life peer as Baroness Rendell of Babergh in 1997.
- Cause of death
- complications of a stroke
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- South Woodford, London, Middlesex, England, UK
- Places of residence
- London, Middlesex, England, UK
Groton, Suffolk, England, UK
Polstead, Suffolk, England, UK
Loughton, Essex, England, UK - Place of death
- London, Middlesex, England, UK
- Burial location
- St. Bartholomew's Churchyard Groton, Babergh District, Suffolk, England, UK
- Map Location
- England, UK
Members
Discussions
Found: mystery based on a bone marrow transplant in Name that Book (June 2024)
Fiction - boy kills partly because he thinks it will help his girlfriend in Name that Book (April 2013)
Reviews
Finally!
I don't know what has kept me coming back to this series, but I'm glad I held on. Perhaps it was the strength of the later, stand-alone novels I'd read of Rendell's, but this series had so many problems in the first five volumes. What made the difference? Two things: characters, and technology.
Primarily, this series is about what all good series (hold on a sec, maybe I'm jumping the gun on "good" for the Wexford series) are: the characters. What has been odd at times is the focus show more Rendell places on Burden, the nudge-winkingly named understudy of the titular Wexford who seems to be so much more interesting to the author. Yet, the books are a part of the Wexford series. Still, I'm starting to see what she's doing now, even if she wasn't aware of it in the beginning. Much like Doyle's detective, these stories are really about Burden, much as the Holmes stories are about Watson (Really, they are). Wexford comes in to make the intuitive leap (Holmes never really deduces anything-- he's really all about inductive reasoning) and the human drama centers around Burden, who in this novel is still grieving the loss of his wife, who apparently died in between books. The focus on Burden becomes necessary because Rendell's made Wexford too perfect; the worst you can say about him is he can be a bit prickly. Burden, who is so stoic and conservative in the earlier novels, here reveals a vulnerability, even a recklessness, that while not Rebus in nature by any stretch, gives us a chance to see a more dimensional character. Finally. I'm still digesting, but it seems as though Rendell has created (at least in this novel, but it seems to be pointing in a particular direction--we'll see how it goes) Wexford as a comic foil to Burden's pathos.
The second thing that makes this book so much better is a minor thing, but it goes far in correcting a near-fatal error for me. Rendell largely avoids technology. More than anything else, technology can date a story, and in the earlier books Rendell clearly, obviously, places her stories in the 60s. I kid you not, the installation of an elevator plays centrally in the previous novel as an intruding, unwanted advancement, and the novel instantly becomes a period piece as a result. This novel? No technology. It could have happened (almost) at any time. It almost makes up for the fact that Wexford is a grandfather in this book and, 40 years later is newly retired. How old is this guy?
OK, rambling. This is a welcome change, and I can only hope it is a trend going forward. We'll see tonight... show less
I don't know what has kept me coming back to this series, but I'm glad I held on. Perhaps it was the strength of the later, stand-alone novels I'd read of Rendell's, but this series had so many problems in the first five volumes. What made the difference? Two things: characters, and technology.
Primarily, this series is about what all good series (hold on a sec, maybe I'm jumping the gun on "good" for the Wexford series) are: the characters. What has been odd at times is the focus show more Rendell places on Burden, the nudge-winkingly named understudy of the titular Wexford who seems to be so much more interesting to the author. Yet, the books are a part of the Wexford series. Still, I'm starting to see what she's doing now, even if she wasn't aware of it in the beginning. Much like Doyle's detective, these stories are really about Burden, much as the Holmes stories are about Watson (Really, they are). Wexford comes in to make the intuitive leap (Holmes never really deduces anything-- he's really all about inductive reasoning) and the human drama centers around Burden, who in this novel is still grieving the loss of his wife, who apparently died in between books. The focus on Burden becomes necessary because Rendell's made Wexford too perfect; the worst you can say about him is he can be a bit prickly. Burden, who is so stoic and conservative in the earlier novels, here reveals a vulnerability, even a recklessness, that while not Rebus in nature by any stretch, gives us a chance to see a more dimensional character. Finally. I'm still digesting, but it seems as though Rendell has created (at least in this novel, but it seems to be pointing in a particular direction--we'll see how it goes) Wexford as a comic foil to Burden's pathos.
The second thing that makes this book so much better is a minor thing, but it goes far in correcting a near-fatal error for me. Rendell largely avoids technology. More than anything else, technology can date a story, and in the earlier books Rendell clearly, obviously, places her stories in the 60s. I kid you not, the installation of an elevator plays centrally in the previous novel as an intruding, unwanted advancement, and the novel instantly becomes a period piece as a result. This novel? No technology. It could have happened (almost) at any time. It almost makes up for the fact that Wexford is a grandfather in this book and, 40 years later is newly retired. How old is this guy?
OK, rambling. This is a welcome change, and I can only hope it is a trend going forward. We'll see tonight... show less
No More Dying Then: a hugely absorbing and captivating Wexford mystery from the award-winning queen of crime, Ruth Rendell (Inspector Wexford series Book 6) by Ruth Rendell
Kidnapped or Murdered?
Review of the Arrow Books/Cornerstone Digital Kindle eBook edition (2010) of the original Hutchinson hardcover (1971)
This continues my 2023 binge read / re-read of Ruth Rendell's (aka Barbara Vine) novels and it is the 6th in the Inspector Wexford series. Part of the joy with Wexford is the number of literary quotes and allusions which Rendell inserts into the text, but which are usually not explained. The above quote is an exception as it hints that the name "Mr. Casaubon" is associated with writer George Eliot. We can share and enjoy Wexford's surprise that the small time crooks he meets would have any knowledge of the Middlemarch novel.
See cover at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/Nomoredyingthen.jpg
Cover image for the original Hutchinson hardcover edition from 1971. Image sourced from Wikipedia.
No More Dying Then is otherwise a novel about a child abduction which hints back to an earlier disappearance and possible murder of another child in the same vicinity. Wexford's assistant Mike Burden is still mourning the loss of his wife and is distracted from his police duties. An extensive subplot involves him becoming involved with the divorced mother of the 2nd abducted child and the reader will become concerned that the woman may in fact be a suspect. The tension increases when the body of the first child is found even while the second is still missing. It is all wrapped up with a twist ending.
Another favourite quote from the book:
Trivia and Links
No More Dying Then was adapted for television as part of the Ruth Rendell / Inspector Wexford Mysteries TV series (1987-2000) as Season 3 Episodes 1 to 3 in 1989 with actor George Baker as Inspector Wexford. You can watch the entire 3 episodes on YouTube show less
Review of the Arrow Books/Cornerstone Digital Kindle eBook edition (2010) of the original Hutchinson hardcover (1971)
Wexford gave a tiny sigh, the outward and audible sign of an inward and outraged scream. ‘I don’t believe it,’ he said thinly. ‘Just enlighten me as to which one of you two intellectuals is acquainted with George Eliot.’ Far from living up to Monkey’s image of a man intimidated by the police, Mr Casaubon had brightened as soon as Wexfordshow more
spoke and now rejoined in thick hideous cockney, ‘I see him once. Strangeways it was, 1929. They done him for a big bullion job.’ ‘I fear,’ Wexford said distantly, ‘that we cannot be thinking of the same person. - Inspector Wexford reacts upon being introduced to blackmailer 'Mr. Casaubon' by small-time crook Monkey Matthews. Mr. Casaubon is otherwise the name of a character in George Eliot’s (penname of Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880)) novel Middlemarch.
This continues my 2023 binge read / re-read of Ruth Rendell's (aka Barbara Vine) novels and it is the 6th in the Inspector Wexford series. Part of the joy with Wexford is the number of literary quotes and allusions which Rendell inserts into the text, but which are usually not explained. The above quote is an exception as it hints that the name "Mr. Casaubon" is associated with writer George Eliot. We can share and enjoy Wexford's surprise that the small time crooks he meets would have any knowledge of the Middlemarch novel.
See cover at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/53/Nomoredyingthen.jpg
Cover image for the original Hutchinson hardcover edition from 1971. Image sourced from Wikipedia.
No More Dying Then is otherwise a novel about a child abduction which hints back to an earlier disappearance and possible murder of another child in the same vicinity. Wexford's assistant Mike Burden is still mourning the loss of his wife and is distracted from his police duties. An extensive subplot involves him becoming involved with the divorced mother of the 2nd abducted child and the reader will become concerned that the woman may in fact be a suspect. The tension increases when the body of the first child is found even while the second is still missing. It is all wrapped up with a twist ending.
Another favourite quote from the book:
Night is a time for conjecture, dreams, mad conclusions; morning a time for action.
Trivia and Links
No More Dying Then was adapted for television as part of the Ruth Rendell / Inspector Wexford Mysteries TV series (1987-2000) as Season 3 Episodes 1 to 3 in 1989 with actor George Baker as Inspector Wexford. You can watch the entire 3 episodes on YouTube show less
When Rendell is on her game, her books are irresistible. And this one is a dandy. She's channeling Poe, and showing Stephen King a thing or two. Separate story lines, each featuring a young person whose upbringing was deplorable---one a talented and extremely handsome young man who came up without love or attention, and has a sociopathic personality; the other a beautiful young woman who heard her mother's murder at age 7, and later suffered at the hands of an inept therapist and an show more over-protective, increasingly demented stepmother as creepy as any in fantasy literature. Tension builds in each story, as we wait for the lines to intersect (as we know they must). When they do, forget about putting the book down.
January 2020 show less
January 2020 show less
This was fascinating, revealing a world of such protection and isolation that a young girl of 16, Liza, flees her home as her mother is arrested for murder and she has literally never been on her own or even outside of the immediate grounds.
As it unfolds, it is unclear whether Eve, her mother, is criminally insane or just has had certain circumstances happen that have led her to protect herself and her daughter from harm. The protection goes so far as to have her daughter never see a show more television, read any books other than 19th century novels, and see any people outside of a handful that were on the isolated property.
As Liza tells her story to her boyfriend, we see his horror at what she reveals, and her lack of understanding about why he is horrified. I liked that he is an honest young man who wants to do right although he has had an uneducated background. They seem like a poor fit, though, and this becomes more apparent as time goes on. We're never too sure whether Liza is basically psychologically OK, or if she mirrors some of the issues evident with her mother.
It was an interesting read, a bit creepy at times, but the love of the two was evident and I found myself liking Eve more than I expected I should. I like books that make me think about the characters after the book is done, and this one did. show less
As it unfolds, it is unclear whether Eve, her mother, is criminally insane or just has had certain circumstances happen that have led her to protect herself and her daughter from harm. The protection goes so far as to have her daughter never see a show more television, read any books other than 19th century novels, and see any people outside of a handful that were on the isolated property.
As Liza tells her story to her boyfriend, we see his horror at what she reveals, and her lack of understanding about why he is horrified. I liked that he is an honest young man who wants to do right although he has had an uneducated background. They seem like a poor fit, though, and this becomes more apparent as time goes on. We're never too sure whether Liza is basically psychologically OK, or if she mirrors some of the issues evident with her mother.
It was an interesting read, a bit creepy at times, but the love of the two was evident and I found myself liking Eve more than I expected I should. I like books that make me think about the characters after the book is done, and this one did. show less
Lists
British Mystery (33)
Booker Prize (1)
Next in Series (1)
1960s (1)
Female Author (1)
1970s Thrillers (1)
To Read (1)
Edgar Award (1)
Books Read in 2016 (11)
100 New Classics (1)
Read in 2006 (1)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 313
- Also by
- 145
- Members
- 51,280
- Popularity
- #297
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 1,340
- ISBNs
- 3,633
- Languages
- 28
- Favorited
- 136
