One Across, Two Down

a wonderfully creepy suburban thriller from the award-winning Queen of Crime, Ruth Rendell

Select a format:

Retailers:

Amazon Blackwells Bookshop.org Foyles Hive Waterstones WHSmith

Summary

What is the real price of greed? A spine-tingling and breathtakingly taut thriller full of twists and turns from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. Perfect for fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon.

'Rendell's psychological insights are so absorbing, it's easy to forget what a superb plotter she was' -- The Times
'Marvellous stuff' -- ***** Reader review
'Simply the best!' -- ***** Reader review
'Couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review
'A masterpiece!' -- ***** Reader review
*****
There are only two things in life that interest Stanley: solving crossword puzzles, and getting his hands on his mother-in-law's money.

For twenty years, nearly all his adult life, the puzzles have been his only pleasure; his mother-in-law's money his only dream. And in all those years it has never once occurred to Stanley that she would try to outsmart him and the money might never be his. Until now.

It is only now that Stanley, so clever at misleading double-meanings and devious clues, decides to construct a puzzle of his own - and so give death a helping hand.

Reviews

One Across, Two Down, first published in 1971, shows her skill at provoking horrid laughter was there from the start.
Mark Sanderson, Evening Standard (summer reads)

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.

Learn More