R is for Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell is one of my favourite writers. If Agatha Christie is the Queen of Plots, Ruth Rendell is the Queen of characterisation for me. I am fascinated by her characters. Ruth Rendell books deal with real crimes in the real society. She has constantly dealt with the issues of racism, immigration, mental illness, domestic violence, obsessions, the problem of isolation and loneliness in modern society. I love reading Rendell because of her writing style, her characters, plot, her observations about society, and most of all she never fails to surprise me. There is always the twist in the end. Ruth Rendell along with P D James is credited with creating whydunit.

Rendell writes police procedurals featuring Inspector Reginald Wexford and his assistant Mike Burden. I like the contrast between Wexford and Burden. While Wexford is older, open minded, and liberal in his views, Burden is younger, closed and conservative in his views. You can easily shock Burden. Wexford is sensitive and ponders a lot about everything. Somehow, I like Burden more than Wexford. Inspector Wexford series mostly takes place in fictional town of Kingsmarkham. More recently I find Hannah Goldsmith interesting. Atheist feminist anti-racist Hannah Goldsmith has a difficult time trying to balance between her different -isms. She should be irritating, annoying trying to be politically correct, balancing her different ideologies, but it is interesting to see her deal with her issues.

Ruth Rendell also writes standalone thrillers. In many Ruth Rendell standalone there are just one or two main characters. She sets the scene, introduces her characters and we know what is going to happen is inevitable but not predictable. I like her London based books. I wonder if Ruth Rendell lived near Hampstead. So many of her books feature the protoganist taking a walk in Hampstead. Ruth Rendell also writes more darker psychological thrillers under the pen-name Barbara Vine.

I like the title of her books- A Sight for sore eyes, An Unkindness of Ravens, A Guilty thing surprised, Some lie and Some die, No more dying then, Harm Done, A new lease of death- to name a few.

I read four Rendell/Vine books this year.

The Vault by Ruth Rendell Retired Inspector Wexford

The Monster in the Box by Ruth Rendell Inspector Wexford

The Saint Zita Society by Ruth Rendell standalone

Asta's Book by Barbara Vine


Here is the complete list of books from Wikipedia should I say I read most of them.

Novels
To Fear a Painted Devil (1965)
Vanity Dies Hard (1965)
The Secret House of Death (1968)
One Across, Two Down (1971)
The Face of Trespass (1974)
A Demon in My View (1976)
A Judgement in Stone (1977)
Make Death Love Me (1979)
The Lake of Darkness (1980)
Master of the Moor (1982)
The Killing Doll (1984)
The Tree of Hands (1984)
Live Flesh (1986)
Talking to Strange Men (1987)
The Bridesmaid (1989)
Going Wrong (1990)
The Crocodile Bird (1993)
The Keys to the Street (1996)
A Sight for Sore Eyes (1998)
Adam and Eve and Pinch Me (2001)
The Rottweiler (2003)
Thirteen Steps Down (2004)
The Water's Lovely (2006)
Portobello (2008)
Tigerlily's Orchids (2010)
The St Zita Society (2012)

Inspector Wexford series
From Doon with Death (1964)
A New Lease of Death (1967)
Wolf to the Slaughter (1967)
The Best Man to Die (1969)
A Guilty Thing Surprised (1970)
No More Dying Then (1971)
Murder Being Once Done (1972)
Some Lie and Some Die (1973)
Shake Hands Forever (1975)
A Sleeping Life (1979)
Put on by Cunning (1981)
The Speaker of Mandarin (1983)
An Unkindness of Ravens (1985)
The Veiled One (1988)
Kissing the Gunner's Daughter (1991)
Simisola (1994)
Road Rage (1997)
Harm Done (1999)
The Babes in the Wood (2002)
End in Tears (2005)
Not in the Flesh (2007)
The Monster in the Box (2009)
The Vault (2011)

Written as Barbara Vine
A Dark-Adapted Eye (1986)
A Fatal Inversion (1987)
The House of Stairs (1988)
Gallowglass (1990)
King Solomon's Carpet (1991)
Asta's Book (1993)
No Night Is Too Long (1994)
The Brimstone Wedding (1995)
The Chimney-sweeper's Boy (1998)
Grasshopper (2000)
The Blood Doctor (2002)
The Minotaur (2005)
The Birthday Present (2008)
The Child's Child (2012)

My post for Crime Fiction Alphabet R.

R is for Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell is my favourite Crime fiction writer. I like both Inspector Wexford books and her standalones and also her more psychological books written under the pen-name Barbara Vine. If Agatha Christie is the Queen of Plots, Ruth Rendell is the Queen of characterisations. I am fascinated by her characters. Though a crime fiction writer, Ruth Rendell books deal with societal problems. The problem of isolation and loneliness had been a concurrent theme in her books. One of the reasons why I like Ruth Rendell books is that they never fail to surprise me. There is always the twist in the end.

Have you read any of her books? Which is your favourite Ruth Rendell book?