Nigella Lawson has written eleven bestselling cookery books including the classics How to Eat and How To Be A Domestic Goddess – the book that inspired a whole new generation of bakers. These books, and her TV series, have made her a household name around the world. 
 
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Nigella Lawson

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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.

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)

____________________________________ 
Featured in The Times Top 10 Crime Books of the Decade 
 
The twenty-fourth book in the bestselling Detective Chief Inspector Wexford series, from the author of classic detective fiction and gripping psychological thrillers including End in Tears and Thirteen Steps Down. 
 
The impossible has happened. Chief Inspector Reg Wexford has retired from the crime force. He and his wife, Dora, now divide their time between Kingsmarkham and a coachhouse in Hampstead, belonging to their actress daughter, Sheila. 
 
Wexford takes great pleasure in his books, but, for all the benefits of a more relaxed lifestyle, he misses being the hand of the law. 
 
But a chance meeting in a London street, with someone he had known briefly as a very young police constable, changes everything. Tom Ede is now a Detective Superintendent, and is very keen to recruit Wexford as an adviser on a mysterious murder case. 
 
The bodies of two women and a man have been discovered in the old coal hole of an attractive house in St John's Wood. None of the corpses carry identification. But the man's jacket pockets contain a string of pearls, a diamond and a sapphire necklace as well as other jewellery valued in the region of £40,000. 
 
To Wexford, this is definitely a case worth coming out of retirement for. He is intrigued and excited by the challenge, but unaware that this new investigative role will bring him into extreme physical danger...

The Vault

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)

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

The twenty-second book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. 
 
Wexford had almost made up his mind that he would never again set eyes on Eric Targo's short, muscular figure. And yet there he was, back in Kingsmarkham, still with that cocky, strutting walk. 
 
Years earlier, when Wexford was a young police officer, a woman called Elsie Carroll had been found strangled in her bedroom. Although many still had their suspicions that her husband was guilty of her violent murder, no one was convicted. 
 
Another woman was strangled shortly afterwards, and every personal and professional instinct told Wexford that the killer was still at large. And that it was Eric Targo. A psychopathic murderer who would kill again... 
 
As the Chief Inspector investigates a new case, Ruth Rendell looks back to the beginning of Wexford's career as a detective, even to his courtship of the woman who would become his wife. The villainous Targo is not the only ghost from Wexford's past who has re-emerged to haunt him in the here and now...

The Monster in the Box

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

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

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

In A Guilty Thing Surprised, multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell has created a thriller so taut and tense and full of twists and turns, you'll be gripped from page one. An absolute must for fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon. 
 
'Ruth Rendell is England's premier detective-thriller writer' -- Spectator 
'The best mystery writer in the English-speaking world' -- The Times 
'Ruth Rendell has a sharp and perceptive eye for everyday detail, an uncanny understanding of human behaviour and, above all, the ability to colour innocence with evil' -- The Sunday Telegraph 
'I could not put the book down!' -- ***** Reader review 
'You'll love it!' -- ***** Reader review 
'A real page-turner' -- ***** Reader review 
'Wexford at his compelling best' -- ***** Reader review 
 
********************************************************************** 
EVEN THE DEAD HAVE SOMETHING TO HIDE... 
 
The discovery of Elizabeth Nightingale's broken body in the woods near her home could not have come as a bigger shock. 
 
Called in to investigate, Chief Inspector Wexford quickly determines that the Nightingales were considered the perfect couple - wealthy, attractive and without an enemy in the world. 
 
However, someone must have been alone with Elizabeth that night in the woods. Someone who hated - or perhaps loved - her enough to beat her to death. 
 
The case seems straightforward. But Wexford soon learns that beneath the placid surface of the Nightingales' lives lie undercurrents and secrets no one ever suspected...

A Guilty Thing Surprised

an engrossing and enthralling 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

No Man's Nightingale: the eagerly anticipated twenty-fourth title in Ruth Rendell's bestselling Detective Chief Inspector Wexford series. 
 
The woman vicar of St Peter's Church may not be popular among the community of Kingsmarkham. But it still comes as a profound shock when she is found strangled in her vicarage. 
 
Inspector Wexford is retired, but he retains a relish for solving mysteries especially when they are as close to home as this one is. 
 
So when he's asked whether he will assist on the case, he readily agrees. 
 
But why did the vicar die? And is anyone else in Kingsmarkham in danger? 
 
What Wexford doesn't know is that the killer is far closer than he, or anyone else, thinks.

No Man's Nightingale

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

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