The Bridesmaid / To Fear a Painted Devil - Softcover

Rendell, Ruth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099279444 ISBN 13: 9780099279440

Publisher: Leopard Books, 1998

Synopsis

Philip Wardman had more than just the ordinary squeamishness where death was concerned. Yet he could hardly avoid the suspicious disappearance of his sister's friend Rebecca Neave, especially when everyone was ascribing the cause to murder. Philip's feminine ideal is the statue of the Roman goddess Flora in his mother's garden. His marble Flora doesn't fade, doesn't alter, doesn't die. But then he meets Senta Pelham, a beautiful, sensual, childlike actress who flagrantly disdains the morals of society and passionately desires the elusive Philip. But what is the real reason for her obsessive devotion? Most important, will their flesh-and-blood relationship require a murder to prove it is the real thing?

About this title

Review:

"A young man refurbishes suburban homes, lives with his mother and sister, becomes obsessed with a garden nymph statue and then dangerously infatuated with its living lookalike. This relationship is emotional, erotic and vampiric, with him as the victim" (Guardian)

"Every sentence is appallingly, shockingly convincing . . . a memorably harrowing journey through sick and weak minds, written with a skill that makes it relentlessly gripping" (The Times)

"To read her at her best - and The Bridesmaid is perhaps her best book - is like stepping on to a trundling country bus and feeling it turn into a roller coaster" (Sunday Times)

"If Ruth Rendell were not slotted into the category of writer of mystery novels, she would have won the Booker long ago" (Books of the Year, Evening Standard)

"Ruth Rendell, like all the great creators of crime fiction, keeps her pact with the reader. There’s a murder mystery, there are clues, there is a solution. It’s a very satisfying read" (Giles Brandreth)

Book Description:

A chilling exploration into the criminal power of love, from one of the world's greatest crime writers.

About this edition

• Publisher: Leopard Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0099279444
• ISBN 13: 9780099279440
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496