The Crocodile Bird

a gripping psychological thriller from the award-winning Queen of Crime

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Summary

From multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell, this is a tense, taut and twisted psychological thriller about a dark mother-daughter relationship that will keep you hooked. Perfect for fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon.

'Here is Ruth Rendell on such fantastic form that you'll want to stay up all night racing through to the end' - Daily Mail
'The most brilliant mystery novelist of our time' - Patricia Cornwell
'A powerful and absorbing narrative told with elegance and subtlety' - Daily Telegraph
'I just couldn't put it down'-- ***** Reader review
'I was totally enthralled by this from start to finish'-- ***** Reader review
'Great read with a twist at the end' -- ***** Reader review
'A fascinating, compelling and powerful book' -- ***** Reader review

*****
Liza has never been allowed to set foot outside the secluded gatehouse in which she has always lived with her mother, Eve. Her world reduced to four walls, there has only ever been enough room for two in their cocoon; intruders enter at their peril, only to mysteriously disappear...

Now, at sixteen, Liza is not the only one to discover the truth behind her mother's pathological violence, or the dead bodies. When the police arrive on their doorstep, Eve throws her daughter into the real world, to protect her from the consequences of her own chilling crimes.

Little by little, Liza begins to see the logic behind her mother's gruesome crimes, and must accept the possibility that she has inherited Eve's lust for murder...

Reviews

The most brilliant mystery novelist of our time
Patricia Cornwell

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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