Ruth Rendell: Life + Works
Ruth was an unsettling mixture of the conventional and the strange. Both her names, Barbara and Ruth, mean “stranger”. She became a bestselling author worldwide and a peer of the realm, but she remained on the side of life’s outsiders.
1964
- From Doon with Death
- The first Wexford novel
1965
- To Fear a Painted Devil
- A stand-alone novel
1966
- Vanity Dies Hard
- A stand-alone novel
1967
- A New Lease of Death
- The second Wexford novel
- Wolf to the Slaughter
- The third Wexford novel
1968
- The Secret House of Death
- A stand-alone novel
1969
- The Best Man to Die
- The fourth Wexford novel
1970
- A Guilty Thing Surprised
- The fifth Wexford novel
1971
- One Across, Two Down
- A stand-alone novel
- No More Dying Then
- The sixth Wexford novel
1972
- Murder Being Once Done
- The seventh Wexford novel
1973
- Some Lie and Some Die
- The eighth Wexford novel
1974
- The Face of Trespass
- A stand-alone novel
1975
- Shake Hands for Ever
- The ninth Wexford novel
1976
- A Demon in My View
- A stand-alone novel
- The Fallen Curtain and Other Stories
- A short story collection
1977
- A Judgement in Stone
- A stand-alone novel
1978
- A Sleeping Life
- The tenth wexford novel
1979
- Make Death Love Me
- A Ruth Rendell stand-alone novel
- Means of Evil and Other Stories
- A Wexford short story collection
1980
- The Lake of Darkness
- A stand-alone novel
1981
- Put On by Cunning
- The eleventh Wexford novel
1982
- Master of the Moor
- A stand-alone novel
- The Fever Tree and Other Stories
- A short story collection
1983
- The Speaker of Mandarin
- The twelfth Wexford novel
1984
- The Killing Doll
- A stand-alone novel
- The Tree of Hands
- A stand-alone novel
1985
- An Unkindness of Ravens
- The thirteenth Wexford novel
- The New Girlfriend and Other Stories
- A short story collection
1986
- Live Flesh
- A stand-alone novel
- A Dark-Adapted Eye
- The first Barbara Vine novel
1987
- A Fatal Inversion
- The second Barbara Vine novel
- Heartstones
- A stand-alone novella
- Talking to Strange Men
- A stand-alone novel
1988
- The Veiled One
- The fourteenth Wexford novel
- The House of Stairs
- The third Barbara Vine novel
1989
- The Bridesmaid
- A stand-alone novel
1990
- Gallowglass
- The fourth Barbara Vine novel
- Going Wrong
- A stand-alone novel
1991
- King Solomon's Carpet
- The fifth Barbara Vine novel
- The Copper Peacock
- A short story collection
1992
- Kissing the Gunner's Daughter
- The fifteenth Wexford novel
1993
- Asta's Book
- The sixth Barbara Vine novel
- The Crocodile Bird
- A stand-alone novel
1994
- No Night is Too Long
- The seventh Barbara Vine novel
- Simisola
- The sixteenth Wexford novel
1995
- Blood Lines
- A short story collection
1996
- The Brimstone Wedding
- The eighth Barbara Vine novel
- The Keys to the Street
- A stand-alone novel
1997
- Road Rage
- The seventeenth Wexford novel
1998
- The Chimney Sweeper's Boy
- The ninth Barbara Vine novel
- A Sight for Sore Eyes
- A standalone novel
1999
- Harm Done
- The eighteenth Wexford novel
2000
- Grasshopper
- The tenth Barbara Vine novel
- Piranha to Scurfy and Other Stories
- A short story collection
2001
- Adam and Eve and Pinch Me
- A stand-alone novel
2002
- The Blood Doctor
- The eleventh Barbara Vine novel
- The Babes in the Wood
- The nineteenth Wexford novel
2003
- The Rottweiler
- A stand-alone novel
2004
- Thirteen Steps Down
- A stand-alone novel
2005
- The Minotaur
- The twelfth Barbara Vine novel
- End in Tears
- The twentieth Wexford novel
2006
- The Water's Lovely
- A stand-alone novel
- The Thief
- A stand-alone novella
2007
- Not in the Flesh
- The twenty-first Wexford novel
2008
- The Birthday Present
- The thirteenth Barbara Vine novel
- Portobello
- A stand-alone novel
2009
- Midsummer Nights
- A short story collection
- The Monster in the Box
- The twenty-second Wexford novel
2010
- Tigerlily's Orchids
- A stand-alone novel
2011
- The Vault
- The twenty-third Wexford novel
2012
- The Saint Zita Society
- A stand-alone novel
2013
- The Child's Child
- The fourteenth Barbara Vine novel
- No Man's Nightingale
- The twenty-fourth Wexford novel
- Archie and Archie
- A children's book
2014
- The Girl Next Door
- A stand-alone novel
2015
- Dark Corners
- A stand-alone novel
2017
- A Spot of Folly
- A short story collection