WRITER

Ruth Rendell

1930 - 2015

Photo of Ruth Rendell

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Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (née Grasemann; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries. Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford. A second string of works was a series of unrelated crime novels that explored the psychological background of criminals and their victims. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Ruth Rendell has received more than 941,142 page views. Her biography is available in 40 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 39 in 2019). Ruth Rendell is the 1,577th most popular writer (up from 1,633rd in 2019), the 1,216th most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 1,311th in 2019) and the 139th most popular British Writer.

Ruth Rendell is most famous for her psychological thrillers.

Memorability Metrics

  • 940k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 58.06

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 40

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.12

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.79

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

The Keys to the Street
Fiction, Detective and mystery stories, Bone marrow in fiction
Set in and around London's Regents Park, where the city's wealthiest, poorest, kindest, and most vicious citizens all cross paths, this newest novel by the Edgar and Gold Dagger-winning author of Crocodile Bird tells of the deadly thanks a young woman risks receiving in return for an act of selfless generosity.
1996
Blood Lines
English Psychological fiction, English Detective and mystery stories, English Suspense fiction
‘I think you know who killed your stepfather’ said Wexford. So begins this scintillating collection of long and short stories by Ruth Rendell. It was clear to both Wexford and Burden that Tom Peterlee was not killed for £360, but various people would have liked them to think he was… It is a case which reminds the Chief Inspector that there is only a thin line dividing the cop from the criminal. The criminal impulse may be present in the most routine or intimate situation. In this second story, Browning’s poem, ‘Porphyria’s Lover’, is the inspiration for the murderous passion. In Shreds and Shivers the accidental discovery of Amanita phalloides (a poisonous mushroom) leads to a game of Russian Roulette in a supermarket. With unerring insight and deceptive economy of style, Ruth Rendell probes behind the passions of everyday life to pinpoint the frailties, the desires and deceptions, the guilty secret of human beings.The book ends with The Strawberry Tree, a disturbingly evocative novella-length tale of lost innocence set on the island of Majorca. It is a triumphant conclusion to a collection of stories that will linger in the mind.
1995
Wolf to the Slaughter (Inspector Wexford #3)
Fiction, Police, Inspector Wexford (Fictitious character)
The third book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. Anita Margolis has vanished. Dark and exquisite, Anita's character is as mysterious as her disappearance. There was no body, no crime - nothing more concrete than an anonymous letter and the intriguing name of Smith. According to headquarters, it wasn't to be considered a murder enquiry at all. With the letter providing them with only one questionable lead to follow, Wexford and his sidekick Inspector Burden are compelled to make enquiries. They soon discover Anita is wealthy, flighty, and thoroughly immoral. The straight-laced Burden has a very clear idea of what happened to her. But Wexford has his own suspicions...
1967
A judgement in stone
Detective and mystery stories, Fiction, Mystery
"A classic."--The London Times What on earth could have provoked a modern day St. Valentine's Day massacre?On Valentine's Day, four members of the Coverdale family--George, Jacqueline, Melinda and Giles--were murdered in the space of 15 minutes. Their housekeeper, Eunice Parchman, shot them, one by one, in the blue light of a televised performance of Don Giovanni. When Detective Chief Superintendent William Vetch arrests Miss Parchman two weeks later, he discovers a second tragedy: the key to the Valentine's Day massacre hidden within a private humiliation Eunice Parchman has guarded all her life. A brilliant rendering of character, motive, and the heady discovery of truth, A Judgement in Stone is among Ruth Rendell's finest psychological thrillers. "It will be an amazing achievement if [Rendell] ever writes a better book."--London Daily Express"Ruth Rendell is the best mystery writer in the English-speaking world."--TimeFrom the Trade Paperback edition.
1977
Murder being once done
Fiction, Police, Inspector Wexford (Fictitious character)
In a vast, gloomy, overgrown London cemetery, a girl is found murdered. A girl with a name that isn't here, and little else that is. A girl with no friends, no possessions and no past. Chief Inspector Wexford has been sent to London by his doctor for a rest — no late nights, no rich food, no alcohol, and above all, no criminal investigation. To add insult to injury, it is Wexford's own nephew, Howard, who is leading the investigation into the macabre mystery. And even though Howard and his subordinates might think he's out of his league, and even though his doctor wouldn't approve, Wexford can't resist just taking a look at things for himself.
1972
A Sight for Sore Eyes
Fiction, English Detective and mystery stories, Murder
Damaged children grow up in different ways. Some can shuffle off the horrors of the past. Others cannot change who they are, or will never know how. Teddy Grex became a handsome young man. Francine Hill grew up beautiful.But it was death that brought them together.
1998

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Ruth Rendell ranks 1,577 out of 7,302. Before her are Sister Nivedita, Gustav Landauer, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Ahmad ibn Mājid, Alistair MacLean, and Eino Leino. After her are Jean Chapelain, Alasdair Gray, Dean Koontz, Langston Hughes, Alexander Polyhistor, and Giorgio Bassani.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1930, Ruth Rendell ranks 116. Before her are Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, Jasper Johns, Igor Netto, Rahmon Nabiyev, J. G. Ballard, and Gaafar Nimeiry. After her are Anisa Makhlouf, Akiyuki Nosaka, Irinej, Serbian Patriarch, Pierre Bergé, Vilma Espín, and Omara Portuondo. Among people deceased in 2015, Ruth Rendell ranks 84. Before her are Patrick Macnee, Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria, Cabu, Cynthia Lennon, Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld, and Jin Youzhi. After her are Akiyuki Nosaka, Shigeru Mizuki, Yaşar Kemal, Eldar Ryazanov, Egon Bahr, and Kemal Monteno.

Others Born in 1930

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Others Deceased in 2015

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Ruth Rendell ranks 1,216 out of 8,785. Before her are John Toshack (1949), Smithson Tennant (1761), Robert Shaw (1927), Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1763), Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (1375), and Alistair MacLean (1922). After her are Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire (1480), Henry Thomas Buckle (1821), David Thewlis (1963), Alasdair Gray (1934), Charles Algernon Parsons (1854), and Black (1962).

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Among WRITERS In United Kingdom

Among writers born in United Kingdom, Ruth Rendell ranks 139. Before her are Evelyn Waugh (1903), John Gay (1685), Michael Moorcock (1939), Hugh Lofting (1886), Sister Nivedita (1867), and Alistair MacLean (1922). After her are Alasdair Gray (1934), Robert Faurisson (1929), A. S. Byatt (1936), Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837), Joseph Needham (1900), and Walafrid Strabo (808).

British born Writers

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