Book description
In traditional fairy tales the handsome prince rescues the beautiful
princess from her wicked stepmother, and the couple live happily ever after.
But in Ruth Rendell's dark and damaged contemporary universe,
innocent dreams can turn into the most terrible living nightmares.
Teddy Brex emerges from a loveless, isolated childhood as a handsome
but autistic young man. Francine Hill, emotionally and mentally
scarred by the murder of her mother, grows into a beautiful young
woman, who must endure the overprotectiveness of an increasingly
obsessive stepmother.
Teddy Brex does ride to her rescue, but he is a man who has already
committed two murders. In Rendell's dark criminal London, can anyone
be trusted?
Ruth Rendell is the Queen of British crime writing. The author of
over 50 novels, she has won many significant crime fiction awards. Her
first novel, From Doon With Death, appeared in 1964, and since
then her reputation and readership have grown steadily with each new
book.
She has received major awards for her work; three Edgars from the
Mystery Writers of America; the Crime Writers' Gold Dagger Award for
1976's best crime novel, A Demon in My View; the Arts Council
National Book Award for Genre Fiction in 1981 for The Lake of
Darkness; the Crime Writer's Gold Dagger Award for 1986's best
crime book for Live Flesh; in 1987 the Crime Writer's Gold
Dagger Award for A Fatal Inversion and in 1991 the same award
for King Solomon's Carpet, both written under the pseudonym
Barbara Vine; the Sunday Times Literary Award in 1990; and in
1991 the Crime Writer's Cartier Diamond Award for outstanding
contribution to the crime fiction genre.
Her books are translated into 21 languages. In 1996 she was awarded
the CBE and in 1997 became a Life Peer.
