The Vault: (A Wexford Case) - Softcover

Rendell, Ruth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099570793 ISBN 13: 9780099570790

Publisher: Arrow, 2012

Synopsis

THE IMPOSSIBLE HAS HAPPENED. CHIEF INSPECTOR REG WEXFORD HAS RETIRED. HE AND HIS WIFE NOW DIVIDE THEIR TIME BETWEEN KINGSMARKHAM AND A COACHHOUSE IN HAMPSTEAD BELONGING TO THEIR ACTRESS DAUGHTER, SHEILA. FOR ALL THE BENEFITS OF A MORE RELAXED WAY OF LIFE, WEXFORD MISSES BEING 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 DIFFICULT 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 CARRIES 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. WEXFORD IS INTRIGUED AND EXCITED BY THE CHALLENGE--UNTIL THIS NEW INVESTIGATIVE ROLE BRINGS HIM INTO SERIOUS PHYSICAL DANGER.

About this title

Review:

"Ruth Rendell is a marvel, and in the latest Inspector Wexford mystery she's on cracking form ...A total page-turner - and one of Rendell's very, very best novels." (A.N. Wilson)

"Everything that is brilliant about Rendell's writing is present in abundance in this novel: the vivid scene-setting, the knife-sharp social observations, the tiny telling details that contribute so powerfully to characterisation . . . The Vault is an excellent addition to an incredibly impressive series." (Sunday Express)

"The Vault sees Rendell for the first time marry the two genres she is master of: the psychological thriller and the police whodunit . . There's not a clue out of place or a shoehorned plotline in sight." (Time Out)

"Now Wexford has retired, Rendell has spotted an opportunity to bring her two strands together in a superb novel called The Vault . . . the author's sheer technical skill is evident as she effortlessly brings the original story up to date. Only a novelist whose characters feel intensely real to her could pull off such a coup." (Sunday Times)

"The Vault, as a sort-of-sequel is a bold attempt to combine Rendell's two chosen specialties: the police procedural and the psychological thriller. No one hides the clues better than her; no one else creates such a pervasive atmosphere of almost comic disgust and dread." (Evening Standard)

Book Description:

What lies beneath a manhole cover in a London garden? The gripping new Inspector Wexford thriller, and a Sunday Times bestseller.

About this edition

• Publisher: Arrow
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0099570793
• ISBN 13: 9780099570790
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368