Albert Camus (1913-60) grew up in a working-class neighbourhood in Algiers. He studied philosophy at the University of Algiers, and became a journalist. His most important works include The Outsider, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Plague and The Fall. After the occupation of France by the Germans in 1941, Camus became one of the intellectual leaders of the Resistance movement. He was killed in a road accident, and his last unfinished novel, The First Man, appeared posthumously.

Albert Camus

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Ruth Rendell

Follow formidable Chief of Police, Inspector Wexford, as he embarks on another psychologically thrilling case. This is crime at its absolute best, you'll struggle to put it down.

Fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will devour this enthralling mystery of deception, doubt and death from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell ... 
 
'Probably the greatest crime writer in the world' -- Ian Rankin 
'[Wexford] has become an old friend who gets better with age' -- Herald 
'Pacy and surprising right to the last page' -- ***** Reader review 
'You cannot go wrong with a Ruth Rendell' -- ***** Reader review 
'Extremely thrilling and entertaining' -- ***** Reader review 
'Full of twists and turns' -- ***** Reader review 
********************************************************************************** 
Sir Manuel Camargue, Kingsmarkham's very own celebrity flautist, dies tragically on a snowy night. His death is met with a ruling of misadventure and appears to be an open-and-shut-case. However Wexford, as the investigating officer, has a few niggling doubts. 
 
Nineteen years later, Camargue's entrancing daughter, Natalie, now a considerable heiress, suddenly reappears in Kingsmarkham. When her fiancé appeals to Wexford for help, believing that Natalie is using a false identity, the case of the Camargues is once more under investigation. 
 
Events soon take a gruesome twist and the pressure is on for Wexford to discover Natalie's true identity and to solve the mystery of the Camargue family, once and for all.

Put On By Cunning

a captivating and compelling Wexford mystery from the award-winning Queen of Crime, Ruth Rendell

Fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will devour this captivating and compelling thriller from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. Mesmerically gripping, it highlights that fame can come at a price - and that that price can be lethal. 
 
'The most brilliant mystery novelist of our time' -- Patricia Cornwell 
'[Wexford] has become an old friend who gets better with age' -- Herald 
'Had me gripped from the start' -- ***** Reader review 
'Brilliant' -- ***** Reader review 
'Rendell is a master of psychological suspense' -- ***** Reader review 
 
**************************************************************************************** 
 When the body of a brutally beaten girl is found in a quarry during a hedonistic hippy festival near Kingsmarkham, Wexford is first on the scene. The victim's face has been pulped by the back-end of a bottle, but who, in this atmosphere of peace and love, could be capable of such violence? 
 
 The body is that of local girl turned stripper Dawn Stonor, but it is the unlikely link between this ill-fated girl and the mysterious folk-singer Zeno Vedast that piques Wexford's interest. 
 
 Through an intricate web of lies and deceit, Wexford uncovers a history of love and hate that began years earlier. In all his years of police work, he has never been faced with a crime of such desperate passion...

Some Lie And Some Die

a brilliant and brutally dark thriller from the award-winning Queen of Crime, Ruth Rendell

From multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell, Shake Hands For Ever is a taut and tense story of obsession, love and greed. Perfect for fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon, this is a page-turner you won't be able to put down... 
 
'The most brilliant mystery novelist of our time' -- Patricia Cornwell 
'[Wexford] has become an old friend who gets better with age' -- Herald 
'A real who dunnit. Real people and real situations and a REAL twist at the end' -- ***** Reader review 
'Brilliant' -- ***** Reader review 
'Kept me guessing right to the end' -- ***** Reader review 
'First class writing' -- ***** Reader review 
***************************************************************************************** 
Angela Hathall is found strangled in her bed but, shockingly, the murder of this meek and solitary woman sparks little emotion from her husband. Called in to investigate, Wexford's curiosity only deepens when he discovers that the Hathall household has been meticulously cleaned but for a single distinctive palm print. 
 
As the case develops Wexford is increasingly frustrated by the seemingly pointless nature of the murder. There is no motive, no weapon and no suspect. Nothing except the unidentified print. 
 
But despite the sparse evidence, Wexford is convinced Hathall is hiding something. So when Wexford is taken off the case he decides to take matters into his own hands...

Shake Hands For Ever

an unforgettable and unputdownable Wexford mystery from the award-winning Queen of Crime, Ruth Rendell

What connects a kidnapped baby, a woman's body left to rot in a cove in Yugoslavia, a suspicious suicide and the century-old case of a wife who poisons her husband? The answer: British crime fiction's favourite detective, DCI Reg Wexford. 
 
In the first of five cases, Wexford is brought in to deal with a distraught mother whose baby girl has been swapped with an unknown baby boy. When a local priest discovers the missing baby, safe and sound, on the church steps, the hunt for the missing girl is quickly over. 
 
Mother and daughter are happily reunited, but the mystery of the baby boy remains unsolved. Then Wexford discovers Paddy Jasper has returned to Kingsmarkham, a man previously investigated by Wexford for violently abusing a child. Now Wexford fears the next reunion may not be as happy as the last...

Means Of Evil And Other Stories

(Wexford)

The nineteenth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. 
 
'A woman phoned to say she and her husband went to Paris for the weekend, leaving their children with a - well, teen-sitter, I suppose, got back last night to find the lot gone and naturally she assumes they've all drowned.' 
 
There hadn't been anything like this kind of rain in living memory. The River Brede had burst its banks, and not a single house in the valley had escaped flooding. Even where Wexford lives, higher up in Kingsmarkham, the waters had nearly reached the mulberry tree in his once immaculate garden. The Subaqua Task Force could find no trace of Giles and Sophie Dade, let alone the woman who was keeping them company, Joanna Troy. But Mrs Dade is convinced her children are dead. 
 
As he embarks upon this mysterious investigation, Wexford is forced to question many of his core assumptions about society, even about his own family...

The Babes In The Wood

(A Wexford Case)

Readers of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will love this gripping crime thriller full of twists and turns from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. 
 
'The most brilliant mystery writer' -- Patricia Cornwell 
'Probably the greatest crime writer in the world' -- Ian Rankin 
'Totally gripping with superb twist at the end!' -- ***** Reader review 
'Fascinating' -- ***** Reader review 
'Superb on all counts' -- ***** Reader review 
'Keeps the reader rooted to the spot and in the dark till the very end' -- ***** Reader review 
************************************************************************************************ 
Wherever Reggie Wexford goes, death and intrigue are close on his heels. Having just returned from a once-in-a-lifetime holiday in China, Wexford finds himself haunted by memories of the old woman with bound feet who mysteriously followed him from one city to the next and the man who tragically drowned. 
 
Now, back in England, he finds himself investigating the murder of a fellow tourist. Knowing that the clue to these three mysteries lies in the East, Wexford turns his investigative skills to that place of unfathomable and sinister depths...

The Speaker Of Mandarin

a brilliantly chilling and captivating Inspector Wexford novel from the award-winning queen of crime, Ruth Rendell

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! 
 
'As sharp, observant and intelligent as ever' -- Sunday Express 
'A dark, gripping novel permeated with unease and psychological twists . . . Certain to send a shiver down your spine' -- Today 
'I LOVED IT' -- ***** Reader review 
'Keeps you guessing' -- ***** Reader review 
'I couldn't put it down!!' -- ***** Reader review 
'Rendell at her best' -- ***** Reader review 
'Intricate jewel of a puzzle' -- ***** Reader review 
***************************************************************************************************** 
Concealed by a shroud of dirty brown velvet, looking like a heap of rags, the woman's dead body lay between a silver Escort and a dark-blue Lancia. 
 
In the desolate shopping centre car park, Wexford has been too preoccupied to notice anything out of the ordinary - only the teenage girl in the red car, driving past him rather too fast. It was Burden who called him at home with the grim news later that evening: the woman had been attacked from behind, perhaps with a thin length of wire. 
 
But before Wexford can delve any deeper into this curious murder, he, too, faces death... Can Burden solve this mysterious crime without the help of his worldly Chief Inspector?

The Veiled One

a captivating and utterly satisfying murder mystery featuring Inspector Wexford from the award-winning queen of crime, Ruth Rendell

Readers of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will love this utterly compelling and captivating thriller from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. Full of suspense, this will have you hooked from page one... 
 
'With immaculate control, Ruth Rendell builds a menacing crescendo of tension and horror that keeps you guessing right up to the brilliantly paced finale' -- Good Housekeeping 
'Another cracking tale to keep you guessing right until the end' -- ***** Reader review 
'Lost sleep with this one as I really wanted to finish it and find out what went on' -- ***** Reader review 
'Maybe the best Wexford mystery...' -- ***** Reader review 
'Could not put it down' -- ***** Reader review 
 
************************************************************************ 
A by-pass is planned in the sleepy village of Kingsmarkham, a move that would destroy its peace and natural habitat forever. Wexford's wife Dora joins the protest movement, but Wexford must be more circumspect. Trouble is expected. 
 
Before the protesters even have a chance to make their presence felt, the badly decomposed body of a young woman is discovered. Burden believes he knows the identity of the murderer, but Wexford is not convinced. 
 
Just as Wexford is about to investigate the murder, a number of people disappear - including Dora Wexford. The Chief Inspector must battle with his powerful emotions and solve the case immediately, before his wife is placed in any mortal danger...

Road Rage

a Wexford mystery full of twists and turns from the Queen of Crime, Ruth Rendell

Fatalities and feminism combine in this captivating mystery from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. Perfect for readers of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon. 
 
'A brilliant reshuffling of a pack of clues . . . Rendell at her richest' -- Sunday Times 
'Well-plotted . . . baffling . . . Still the tops' -- Sunday Telegraph 
'A climax as chilling and unexpected as any she's perpetrated before' -- The Times 
'Another great novel from this author; she never disappoints' -- ***** Reader review 
'Another Rendell worth staying up late reading...' -- ***** Reader review 
'Rendell rules!' -- ***** Reader review 
'Very hard to put down once you start' -- ***** Reader review 
***************************************************************************************************** 
The raven: not a particularly predatory bird, but far from soft and submissive, adopted as the symbol of a militant feminist group... 
 
Detective Chief Inspector Wexford thought he was merely doing a neighbourly good deed when he agreed to talk to Joy Williams about her missing husband. He certainly didn't expect to be investigating a most unusual homicide. 
 
Rodney Williams was neither handsome nor wealthy - but he had an unerring eye for a pretty girl and when he disappeared and two other men were later attacked by a young woman, Wexford couldn't help wondering if there was a connection. If there wasn't, where was Rodney Williams and why had he vanished? He had committed no crime - apart from telling his wife the occasional lie...

An Unkindness Of Ravens

an absorbing Wexford mystery from the award-winning Queen of Crime, Ruth Rendell

The twenty-first book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. 
 
Searching for truffles in a wood, a man and his dog unearth something slightly less savoury - a human hand. 
 
The corpse, as Chief Inspector Wexford is informed later, has lain buried for ten years or so, wrapped in a purple cotton sheet. The post mortem can not reveal the precise cause of death. The only clue to solving this mysterious murder is a crack in one of the dead man's ribs. 
 
Wexford knows it will be a difficult job to identify the dead body. Although it covers a relatively short period of time, the police computer stores a long list of missing persons. People disappear at an alarming rate - hundreds each day. 
 
And then, only about twenty yards away from the woodland burial site, in the cellar of a disused cottage, another body is found. 
 
The detection skills of Wexford, Burden and the other investigating officers of the Kingsmarkham Police Force are tested to the utmost to discover whether the murders are connected and to track down whoever is responsible.

Not in the Flesh

Completely captivating, this is a spine-tingling page-turner of a mystery from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. Perfect for fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon. 
 
'The most brilliant mystery novelist' -- Patricia Cornwell 
'Psychologically acute and extremely disturbing, Ruth Rendell's work is outstanding' -- The Times 
'Stark, edgy and punchy' -- ***** Reader review 
'This book kept me awake for nights on end!' -- ***** Reader review 
'I just could not put it down' -- ***** Reader review 
'Smashing' -- ***** Reader review 
********************************************************************************************* 
The thirteenth of May is famously the unluckiest day of the year. Sergeant Caleb Martin of Kingsmarkham CID had no idea just how terminally unlucky it would prove, as he embarked upon his last day on earth... 
 
Ten months later, Wexford is confronted with a murder scene of horrific brutality. At first the bloodbath at Tancred House looks like the desperate work of a burglar panicked into murder. The sole survivor of the massacre, seventeen-year-old Daisy Flory, remembers the events imperfectly, and her confused account of the fatal night seems to confirm this theory. 
 
But more and more, Chief Inspector Wexford is convinced that the crime lies closer to home, and that it has sinister links to the murder of Sergeant Martin...

Kissing The Gunner's Daughter

an engrossing and absorbing Wexford mystery from the award-winning queen of crime, Ruth Rendell

The twentieth book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. 
 
A lump of concrete dropped deliberately from a little stone bridge over a relatively unfrequented road kills the wrong person. The young woman in the car behind is spared. But only for a while... 
 
A few weeks later, George Marshalson lives every father's worst nightmare: he discovers the murdered body of his eighteen-year-old daughter on the side of the road. 
 
As a man with a strained father-daughter relationship himself, Wexford must struggle to keep his professional life as a detective separate from his personal life as husband and father. Particularly when a second teenage girl is murdered - a victim unquestionably linked to the first - and another family is shattered...

End In Tears

Death is always solitary. For some, so is life . . . Fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will devour this enthralling mystery of deception, doubt and death from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell ... 
 
'Probably the greatest crime writer in the world' -- Ian Rankin 
'[Wexford] has become an old friend who gets better with age' -- Herald 
'A cracking good tale' -- ***** Reader review 
'Rendell at her complex best' -- ***** Reader review 
'Unputdownable' -- ***** Reader review 
'A treat from start to finish' -- ***** Reader review 
'Couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review 
 
****************************************************************************************************** 
 
On a sultry August evening, the bloody body of a middle-aged woman is discovered beneath a hedge by a small boy. 
 
There are only two things that surprise Wexford about the murder scene. One, that the only contents of the woman's handbag are some keys and a wallet containing nothing but some money. And two, how even in death, her deathly grey eyes possess a scornful glare. 
 
The woman turns out to be Rhoda Comfrey, but there's no murder weapon, no apparent motive, and no one who actually cares that she died. 
 
Wexford's only hunch is that the clues to her murder must lie in her solitary London life. But her existence there becomes frustratingly impossible to trace.

A Sleeping Life

a spine-tingling, edge-of-your-seat Wexford mystery from the award-winning Queen of Crime, Ruth Rendell

This fast-paced, pulse-pounding thriller from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell is perfect for fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon. With its climax of stunning unexpectedness, you'll be gripped to the very last page... 
 
'The Wexford books clearly display Rendell's great mastery of storytelling at its best' -- Sunday Telegraph 
'Rendell's detective fiction stands almost alone as a chronicle of the dark side of modern life...' -- Independent 
'Marvellous. Kept me guessing to the end' -- ***** Reader review 
'Gripping from start to end' -- ***** Reader review 
'What a wonderful whodunnit!' -- ***** Reader review 
'Engrossing' -- ***** Reader review 
************************************************************************ 
When a young, black woman goes missing in Kingsmarkham, Wexford must respond to a test not only of his powers of deduction, but of his basic beliefs and prejudices. 
 
Only eighteen black people live in Kingsmarkham. One of them is Wexford's new doctor, Raymond Akande. When the doctor's daughter, Melanie, goes missing, the Chief Inspector takes more than just a professional interest in the case. 
 
Melanie, just down from university but unable to find a job, disappeared somewhere between the Benefit Office and the bus stop. Or at least no one saw her get on the bus when it came... 
 
When the body of a young black woman is discovered, Wexford must overcome his underlying prejudices to allow his investigative skills to succeed.

Simisola

a Wexford mystery full of mystery and intrigue from the award-winning queen of crime, Ruth Rendell

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