Description

INCLUDES AN EXCERPT OF RENDELL’S FINAL NOVEL, DARK CORNERS

Diamond Dagger Award–winning Ruth Rendell has written a psychologically thrilling novel about the eccentric inhabitants of a London terrace, the secrets they keep, and what they will do to hide them.


Is it dangerous to know too much about your neighbors?

When Stuart Font decides to throw a housewarming party in his new flat, he invites all the people in his building—three flippant young girls, a lonely spinster, a man with a passion for classical history, and a woman determined to drink herself to death. After some deliberation, he even includes the unpleasant caretaker and his wife. He considered inviting a few other friends, but he definitely does not want his girlfriend, Claudia, in attendance, as he would also have to invite her lawyer husband.

As it turns out, the party will be one everyone remembers.

Living in a townhouse opposite Stuart’s building, in reclusive isolation, is a young, beautiful Asian woman known as Tigerlily. As though from some strange urban fairytale, she emerges infrequently to exert a terrible spell.

And Stuart’s parents, always worried about their handsome, hopelessly naive, and undermotivated son, have even more cause for concern.

Darkly humorous, piercingly insightful about human behavior, Ruth Rendell, whom People magazine calls “one of the most remarkable novelists of her generation,” has created an extraordinarily compelling story of our lives and crimes.

About the author(s)

Ruth Rendell (1930–2015) won three Edgar Awards, the highest accolade from Mystery Writers of America, as well as four Gold Daggers and a Diamond Dagger for outstanding contribution to the genre from England’s prestigious Crime Writ­ers’ Association. Her remarkable career spanned a half century, with more than sixty books published. A member of the House of Lords, she was one of the great literary figures of our time.

Reviews

"Disgraceful behavior has rarely been written about so gracefully.”—Boston Globe

“There is widespread agreement among both readers and reviewers that Ruth Rendell is the best crime fiction writer of our time.”—San Diego Union Tribune

“Exquisitely paced drama… Rendell once again creates an addictive read in which the characters are drawn and defined by the author's wry observations.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch