A New Lease Of Death

the second gripping and captivating murder mystery featuring Inspector Wexford from the award-winning queen of crime, Ruth Rendell.

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Summary

Readers of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will love this mesmerising and bone-chilling thriller from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. You'll be hooked from page one!

'If crime fiction is currently in rude good health, its practitioners striving to better the craft and keep it fresh, vibrant and relevant, this is in no small part thanks to Ruth Rendell.' -- Ian Rankin
'One of the best novelists writing today' - PD James
'[Ruth Rendell has a] peerless skill in blending the mundane, commonplace aspects of life with the potent murky impulses of desire and greed, obsession and fear' - Sunday Times
'As usual, brilliant, yes murder but also a lot more, guilt, jealousy and a surprise at the end!!' -- ***** Reader review
'The writing is masterful and the plot excellent' -- ***** Reader review
'Relished every page' -- ***** Reader review

*****

SOME CASES ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO BURY.

It's impossible to forget the violent bludgeoning to death of an elderly lady in her home. Even more so when it's your first murder case.

Wexford believed he'd solved Mrs Primero's murder fifteen years ago. It was no real mystery. Everyone knew Painter, her odd-job man, had done it. There had never been any doubt in anyone's mind. Until now...

Henry Archery's son is engaged to Painter's daughter. Only Archery can't let the past remain buried. He wants to prove Wexford wrong...

When he starts probing the lives of the witnesses questioned all those years ago, he stirs up more than old ghosts.

Wexford's first case was From Doon with Death. Have you read it? His work continues in Wolf to the Slaughter.

Reviews

One of the best novelists writing today
P.D. James

About the author

Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell was an exceptional crime writer, and will be remembered as a legend in her own lifetime. Her groundbreaking debut novel, From Doon With Death, was first published in 1964 and introduced the reader to her enduring and popular detective, Inspector Reginald Wexford, who went on to feature in twenty-four of her subsequent novels.

With worldwide sales of approximately 20 million copies, Rendell was a regular Sunday Times bestseller. Her sixty bestselling novels include police procedurals, some of which have been successfully adapted for TV, stand-alone psychological mysteries, and a third strand of crime novels under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. Very much abreast of her times, the Wexford books in particular often engaged with social or political issues close to her heart.

Rendell won numerous awards, including the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger for 1976’s best crime novel with A Demon in My View, a Gold Dagger award for Live Flesh in 1986, and the Sunday Times Literary Award in 1990. In 2013 she was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence in crime writing. In 1996 she was awarded the CBE and in 1997 became a Life Peer.

Ruth Rendell died in May 2015. Her final novel, Dark Corners, was published in October 2015.

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