Rendell, Ruth (1930-2015), an English author, became internationally famous for her detective stories and novels of psychological suspense. Rendell also wrote under the name Barbara Vine.
Rendell’s first novel, From Doon with Death (1964), introduced the resourceful and intelligent Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford. The Wexford novels are set in Suffolk, England, where Rendell lived. The books have been praised as models of the police procedural type of detective story, with strong plots and vivid characters. Other Wexford novels include The Best Man to Die (1969), Murder Being Done Once (1972), Shake Hands Forever (1975), Road Rage (1997), Adam and Eve and Pinch Me (2002), Not in the Flesh (2008), The Monster in the Box (2009), The Vault (2011), and No Man’s Nightingale (2013).
Rendell also wrote many psychological thrillers. Most deal with sexual obsession, the generation gap between parents and children, and complex characters relentlessly moving toward violence. The first was To Fear a Painted Devil (1965). Others include The Lake of Darkness (1980), The Tree of Hands (1984), Live Flesh (1986), A Sight for Sore Eyes (1998), Thirteen Steps Down (2005), Portobello (2010), and Tigerlily’s Orchids (2011).
Rendell began writing detective stories under the name Barbara Vine, beginning with A Dark-Adapted Eye (1985). Later Vine books include A Fatal Inversion (1987), King Solomon’s Carpet (1991), and Grasshopper (2000).
In addition to her novels, Rendell wrote several collections of short stories. They include The Fallen Curtain (1976) and The Copper Peacock (1991).
Ruth Barbara Grasemann was born in London on Feb. 17, 1930. She married Donald Rendell in 1950. She died on May 2, 2015.
