A New Lease Of Death
  • Published: 15 October 2009
  • ISBN: 9780099534792
  • Imprint: Arrow
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $24.99

A New Lease Of Death

the second gripping and captivating murder mystery featuring Inspector Wexford from the award-winning queen of crime, Ruth Rendell.

Formats & editions
EBook
1 Jul 2010
Paperback
15 Oct 2009
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The second book in the bestselling Detective Chief Inspector Wexford series. Perfect for both collectors and new fans of award-winning crime novelist Ruth Rendell, who has written classic detective fiction and gripping psychological thrillers including End in Tears and Thirteen Steps Down.

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!
'If crime fiction is currently in rude good health, its practitioners striving to better the craft and keep it fresh, vibrant and relevant, this is in no small part thanks to Ruth Rendell.' -- Ian Rankin
'One of the best novelists writing today' - PD James
'[Ruth Rendell has a] peerless skill in blending the mundane, commonplace aspects of life with the potent murky impulses of desire and greed, obsession and fear' - Sunday Times
'As usual, brilliant, yes murder but also a lot more, guilt, jealousy and a surprise at the end!!' -- ***** Reader review
'The writing is masterful and the plot excellent' -- ***** Reader review
'Relished every page' -- ***** Reader review

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SOME CASES ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO BURY.

It's impossible to forget the violent bludgeoning to death of an elderly lady in her home. Even more so when it's your first murder case.

Wexford believed he'd solved Mrs Primero's murder fifteen years ago. It was no real mystery. Everyone knew Painter, her odd-job man, had done it. There had never been any doubt in anyone's mind. Until now...

Henry Archery's son is engaged to Painter's daughter. Only Archery can't let the past remain buried. He wants to prove Wexford wrong...

When he starts probing the lives of the witnesses questioned all those years ago, he stirs up more than old ghosts.

Wexford's first case was From Doon with Death. Have you read it? His work continues in Wolf to the Slaughter.
  • Published: 15 October 2009
  • ISBN: 9780099534792
  • Imprint: Arrow
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $24.99
Categories:

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.

portrait photo of Ruth Rendell

Also by Ruth Rendell

The Ruth Rendell BBC Radio Drama Collection
Dark Corners
The Girl Next Door
Archie and Archie
No Man's Nightingale
The Saint Zita Society
Expectations / Lizzie's Lover / Shreds and Slivers / The Carer / Unacceptable Levels (Storycuts)
See all

Praise for A New Lease Of Death

Ruth Rendell has quite simply transformed the genre of crime writing. She displays her peerless skill in blending the mundane, commonplace aspects of life with the potent murky impulses of desire and greed, obsession and fear

Sunday Times

Rendell never fails to come up trumps, and her millions of admirers will eagerly consume this offering as they have all the others

The Irish Times

This is Rendell on cracking form, with the entire accoutrements one expects from her

The Good Book Guide

A firm grasp of social concerns ensure that her novels are reflective of our own times, as well as hugely absorbing

Louise Welsh, The Times

One of the best novelists writing today

P.D. James

It's not often you pick up a book where the plot is technically perfect, where the characters all come off the page perfectly formed and the writing is so good that it's impossible to spot an unnecessary word, but which still managed to be a damn good story. I was still reading at 2 o'clock this morning...

TheBookbag.co.uk

Psychologically acute and extremely disturbing, Ruth Rendell's work is outstanding

The Times

[Wexford] has become an old friend who gets better with age

The Herald

Ruth Rendell's mesmerising capacity to shock, chill and disturb is unmatched

The Times
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