Thirteen Steps Down
A stand-alone novel published by Hutchinson in 2004
I’d call her Shakespearean if Shakespeare had lived alone in a tall narrow London house in the 20th century, peering out at the neighbours, walking area cats and planning a bit of harm.
A classic Rendellian loner, Mix Cellini is superstitious about the number 13. Living in a decaying house in Notting Hill, Mix is obsessed with 10 Rillington Place, where the notorious Christie committed a series of foul murders. He is also infatuated with a beautiful model who lives nearby - a woman who would not look at him twice.
Mix’s landlady, Gwendolen Chawcer is equally reclusive - living her life through her library of books. Both landlady and lodger inhabit weird worlds of their own. But when reality intrudes into Mix’s life, long pent-up violence explodes.
Notes
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Dedication: To P.D. James, with affection and admiration.
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Ruth Rendell visits the Notting Hill locations used in Thirteen Steps Down.
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Leonard Lopate interviews Ruth Rendell in New York.
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Adapted for TV by Adrian Hodges in 2012.
Contemporary Reads 2
- Karin Fossum - The Murder of Harriet Krohn
- Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
- Kate Atkinson - Case Histories
- Arnaldur Indriðason - The Draining Lake
- C.J. Sansom - Dark Fire
- Andrea Levy - Small Island
Footnotes
A salute to Ruth Rendell, Toronto Star 2015. ↩︎
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