Book description
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...
Ruth Rendell is crime writing at its very best. 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.
