The St. Zita Society - Hardcover

Rendell, Ruth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1451666683 ISBN 13: 9781451666687

Publisher: Scribner Book Company, 2012

Synopsis

INCLUDES AN EXCERPT OF RENDELL'S FINAL NOVEL, DARK CORNERS

From three-time Edgar Award-winning mystery writer Ruth Rendell comes a captivating and expertly plotted tale of residents and servants on one block of a posh London street--and the deadly ways their lives intertwine.

Life for the residents and servants of Hexam Place appears placid and orderly on the outside: drivers take their employers to and from work, dogs are walked, flowers are planted in gardens, and Christmas candles lit uniformly in windows. But beneath this tranquil veneer, the upstairs-downstairs relationships are set to combust.

Henry, the handsome valet to Lord Studley, is sleeping with both the Lord's wife and his university-age daughter. Montserrat, the Still family's lazy au pair, assists Mrs. Still in keeping secret her illicit affair with a television actor--in exchange for pocket cash. June, the haughty housekeeper to a princess of dubious origin, tries to enlist her fellow house-helpers into a "society" to address complaints about their employers. Meanwhile, Dex, the disturbed gardener to several families on the block, thinks a voice on his cell phone is giving him godlike instructions--commands that could imperil the lives of all those in Hexam Place.

The St. Zita Society is Ruth Rendell at her brilliant best--a deeply observed and suspenseful novel of murder in the quintessentially London world of servants and their masters.

About this title

Review:

"The queen of the psychological thriller...an updated Downton Abbey with a higher body count." --John WIlliams, Mail on Sunday (UK)

"Rendell is brilliant...her sympathy for the human predicament comes across in every line of this novel."--Sophie Hannah, Sunday Express (UK)

"Rendell is just marvelous." --Herald Sun (Australia)

"As always, Rendell excels at detailed misunderstandings, paranoia, subtle power-shifts and the laws of unintended consequences."--Laura Wilson, The Guardian (UK)

"One hell of a read...Rendell keeps us hanging on."--Jane Jakeman, Belfast Telegraph (UK)

"Leaves you longing for more."--Kirkus Reviews

"[A] masterwork...dark, intelligent and intriguing."--People

"It's a pleasure to report that Ruth Rendell, at the age of 82 and after publishing more than 60 books, has given us yet another gem. A pleasure but not a surprise, since Rendell has for years, along with her friend P.D. James, been bringing new sophistication and psychological depth to the traditional English mystery."--Washington Post

Book Description:

Ruth Rendell's new psychological thriller is a gripping examination of society. And the darkness is never far away . . .

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1451666683
• ISBN 13: 9781451666687
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272