Once when Benet was about fourteen they had been on a train together, alone in the carriage, and Mopsa had tried to stab her with a carving knife. It was some time now since Benet had seen her mad...

Chief Inspector Wexford had every reason to remember the Painter case - it was the first murder he’d ever handled on his own. There had been no mystery - Painter had done it and been hanged.

All his life, for almost as far back as he could remember, Victor had had a phobia. In prison, inevitably, he reflected on the grotesque way it had begun, about the panics and violent anger. He...

It is 1979 and hapless accountant Arthur and his wife Gwen have made a new friend. Flashy novelist Reeve is everything they're not - carefree, charismatic and seemingly irresistible. At first, his...

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...

Two damaged children: Teddy Brex, whom no-one loved, and so found it easier to relate to objects or things which never let him down; and Francine Hill, who was discovered sitting by the body of...

The Chinese government wanted advice on crime prevention and detection, and Scotland Yard’s Chief Superintendent Howard Fortune has assembled a team that includes the best detection experts, bar...

It was his third visit to the gloomy house on Orchard Drive. Each time, he parked in the same place. Each time, he carried a briefcase. And each time, Louise North greeted him at the door......

Two years ago he had been a promising young novelist. Now he survived in a near derelict cottage with only his own obsessive thoughts for company. Two years of loving Drusilla - the rich, unstable...

There are only two things in life that interest Stanley - solving crossword puzzles, and getting his hands on his mother-in-law’s money. For twenty years, the puzzles have been his only...

Mary Jago had donated her own bone marrow to save the life of someone she didn’t know. And this generous act led directly to the bitter break-up of her affair with Alistair. For him, it was as...

Messages were coming in thick and fast - messages that were never intended for John Creevey. He thought he had intercepted a major crime ring. He would never know that he was dealing with a group...

Love and death are the principal players in these two BBC Radio full-cast dramatisations of chilling Ruth Rendell stories. In 'The Bridesmaid', when Philip embarks on an affair with Senta, his...

Concealed by a shroud of dirty brown velvet was what looked like a heap of rags. In the desolate subterranean car park of the Barringdean Shopping Centre, Reg Wexford had been too preoccupied to...

The dark, good-looking Guy is from a council flat. Leonora has a mews house in Holland Park, and her mother doesn't care for Guy - or the way he makes his money. His obsession with Leonora...