The Secret House of Death
by Ruth Rendell
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It was his third visit to the gloomy house on Orchard Drive. Each time, he parked in the same place. Each time, he carried a briefcase. And each time, Louise North greeted him at the door. Susan Townsend was the only resident with no interest in the affair going on next door, or in the neighbourhood gossip about it. Yet it was Susan who found the murdered bodies of the lovers, locked not in passion, but in death. And it was Susan whose own life would be imperilled by a monstrous crime far show more beyond the imaginings of the vilest gossiping tongues. A classic Rendellian murder mystery. show lessTags
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I love Ruth Rendell. Her standalone works are unique and quite creepy, and compelling reads.
This one sadly depicts how inaccurate our perceptions of others can be. A young-ish woman is closely observed by her neighbors. Why is that man’s car at her house so much? Ah! She must be having a clandestine affair; how awful of her!
Meanwhile the poor woman hasn’t got a clue about what’s going on. And neither do the neighbors.
Read this for another twisty story you’ll try hard to figure out.
This one sadly depicts how inaccurate our perceptions of others can be. A young-ish woman is closely observed by her neighbors. Why is that man’s car at her house so much? Ah! She must be having a clandestine affair; how awful of her!
Meanwhile the poor woman hasn’t got a clue about what’s going on. And neither do the neighbors.
Read this for another twisty story you’ll try hard to figure out.
The Secret House of Death is one of Ruth Rendell's earlier books,published in 1968. It is the story of Susan Townsend, living with her son Paul, recently divorced from her husband. All the women in the neighborhood are gossiping about Louise North and her alleged lover, the central heating salesman, who is always seen at Louise's house during broad daylight. Susan has the misfortune of finding the bodies of her neighbor Louise and her alleged lover, in Louise's house.
Louise;s husband Bob, begins spending a lot of time with Susan who starts to realize that all is not quite right with Bob, and that he may have played a hand in his wife's death, even though she begins to develop feelings for him.
I enjoyed this book, as I have every other show more one that I have read by this author. show less
Louise;s husband Bob, begins spending a lot of time with Susan who starts to realize that all is not quite right with Bob, and that he may have played a hand in his wife's death, even though she begins to develop feelings for him.
I enjoyed this book, as I have every other show more one that I have read by this author. show less
La supuesta infidelidad conyugal de Louise North es el blanco de todas las habladurías en el vecindario. Sólo Susan Townsend prefiere quedar al margen del chismorreo. Sin embargo, es precisamente ella quien encuentra los cadáveres de Louise y su amante Bernard. En apariencia Bernard ha matado a Louise y después se ha suicidado, o al menos a esa conclusión llaga la policía. Pero David Chadwick, amigo de Bernard, descubre una serie de curiosas coincidencias que desmienten esa versión, y gracias a la decisiva colaboración de Susan los verdaderos culpables serán desenmascarados...
Dec 14, 2022Spanish
La supuesta infidelidad conyugal de Louise North es el blanco de todas las habladurías en el vecindario. Sólo Susan Townsend prefiere quedar al margen del chismorreo. Sin embargo, es precisamente ella quien encuentra los cadáveres de Louise y su amante Bernard. En apariencia Bernard ha matado a Louise y después se ha suicidado, o al menos a esa conclusión llaga la policía. Pero David Chadwick, amigo de Bernard, descubre una serie de curiosas coincidencias que desmienten esa versión, y gracias a la decisiva colaboración de Susan los verdaderos culpables serán desenmascarados...
Dec 24, 2010Spanish
Susan treft haar buurvrouw dood in bed aan, samen met Bernard - ook dood, maar niet haar man. Voor sommige roddelgrage buurtbewoners is de zaak maar al te duidelijk. Susan heeft evenwel haar bedenkingen, de inspecteur van politie zijn verdenkingen, maar wie zorgt dat dodelijke schijn levend bewijs wordt?
Apr 6, 2025Dutch
Abbastanza scontato: vittime e assassini si indovinano già dalle prime pagine, l'unico elemento che resta un po' nebuloso fino a quasi la fine del libro è il movente.
Mar 5, 2013Italian
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ThingScore 75
The domestic dereliction of Louise North with sales representative Bernard Heller ends bang-bang in their death and their neighbor, Susan Townsend (who had been deserted by her husband for another woman) is left to comfort husband Bob North, helpless and humiliated. British, this ends with a reverse English which should guarantee some surprise along with the sympathetic presentation of people show more you know, or might have known. show less
added by SnootyBaronet
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Author Information
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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 is best known for her Inspector Wexford books. show more 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
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Secret House of Death
- Original title
- The Secret House of Death
- Original publication date
- 1968
- Related movies
- Ruth Rendell Mysteries: The Secret House of Death: Part 1 (1996 | IMDb); Ruth Rendell Mysteries: The Secret House of Death: Part 2 (1996 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- Then is it sin
To rush into the secret house of death
Ere death dare come to us?
Antony and Cleopatra - Dedication
- For
Dagmar Blass - First words
- The man was heavily built and he drove a big car, a green Ford Zephyr.
- Quotations
- The trees which grew from rectangles in the pavement were the kind David most disliked, sterile ornamental cherries and prunuses which bear no fruit. They were in full blossom now and he guessed that he had picked for his vis... (show all)it the one day in the year on which Orchard Drive justified its name. The buds had all opened, not a petal had yet fallen, and the flowers reminded him of crêpe paper. Behind the pink cloudy masses street lamps glowed with the acid drop quality of milky quartz.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)He was not a vindictive man, but he wanted to see Ulph’s face when he learned that Magdalene Heller had kept her own love-letters, the letters Bernard had sent her in 1961, and used them as the documentary evidence of an adultery that had never been. He wanted to see Ulph’s expression and, ultimately that of a judge and a jury.
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