Cette série suit le travail d'un détective anglais expérimenté qui élucide des affaires complexes dans un cadre en apparence tranquille, mais souvent trompeur. Aux côtés de son équipe, il dévoile des secrets sombres et des motivations complexes cachés sous la surface de la vie ordinaire. En mettant l'accent sur la psychologie des personnages et une enquête méticuleuse, elle offre une lecture captivante aux amateurs de romans policiers classiques.
When Margaret Parsons disappears, Inspector Burden tries to reassure her frantic husband that she will be back by morning. Privately, though, he is certain Margaret has run off with another man. But then the missing woman's body is found, strangled and abandoned in a nearby wood. And when Mr. Parsons lets the police into his home, a startling discovery leads everyone to question just who Margaret Parsons really was . . .
It was a brutal, vicious crime -- sixteen years old. A helpless old woman battered to death with an axe. Harry Painter hung for it, and Chief Inspector Wexford is certain they executed the right man. But Reverend Archery has doubts . . . because his son wants to marry the murderer's beautiful, brilliant daughter. He begins unravelling the past, only to discover that murder breeds murder -- and often conceals even deeper secrets . . .
Chief Inspector Wexford investigates the circumstances surrounding a blood-soaked hotel room which lacks any other signs of a victim, and the disappearance of a beautiful, promiscuous woman and the bundle of cash she'd had in her pocket.
Who could have suspected that the exciting stag party for the groom would be the prelude to the murder of his close friend Charlie Hatton? And Charlie's death was only the first in a string of puzzling murders involving small-time gangsters, cheating husbands, and loose women. Now Chief Inspector Wexford and his assistant join forces with the groom to track down a killer . . .
The second book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. Called in to investigate, Chief Inspector Wexford quickly determines that the Nightingales were considered the perfect couple - wealthy, attractive and without an enemy in the world. Someone who hated - or perhaps loved - her enough to beat her to death.
Detective Mike Burden's wife has just died, and his sister-in-law is staying at his house to help take care of his two children. He is so utterly miserable, and grief stricken, that he can't see how much they all need him to focus himself on his home life. Partially because of his inability to deal with his personal life, when a 5-year-old boy disappears, he throws himself whole-heartedly into the investigation. He becomes over involved with the boy's mother. The recent disappearance of a 12-year-old girl makes the case more worrisome.
The seventh book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. But then he discovers that his nephew Howard is heading the investigation into the macabre murder of Loveday Morgan, whose body was found abandoned in Kenbourne Cemetery.
A mutilated body found at a rock festival. In spite of dire predictions, the rock festival in Kingsmarkham seemed to be going off without a hitch, until the hideously disfigured body is discovered in a nearby quarry. And soon Wexford is investigating the links between a local girl gone bad and a charismatic singer who inspires an unwholesome devotion in his followers.Some Lie and Some Dieis a devilishly absorbing novel, in which Wexford's deductive powers come up against the aloof arrogance of pop stardom. With her Inspector Wexford novels, Ruth Rendell, winner of the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award, has added layers of depth, realism and unease to the classic English mystery. For the canny, tireless, and unflappable policeman is an unblinking observer of human nature, whose study has taught him that under certain circumstances the most unlikely people are capable of the most appalling crimes. From the Trade Paperback edition.
Most people would have screamed. Mrs Hathall made no sound. She had seen death many times, but she had never witnessed death by violence. Heavily, she plodded across the room and descended the stairs to where her son waited. "There's been an accident," she said. "Your wife's dead." Chief Inspector Wexford could discover no motive, no reason, no suspect. All he had were his own intuitive suspicions. Probably he was reading meaning where there was none; probably Angela Hathall really had picked up a stranger, and that stranger had killed her. But why such doubt? Is Wexford becoming cynical and untrusting? Or is this simply one of the most ingenious crimes he has ever tackled?
Rhoda Comfrey's death seemed unremarkable; the real mystery was her life. In A Sleeping Life , master mystery writer Ruth Rendell unveils an elaborate web of lies and deception painstakingly maintained by a troubled soul. A wallet found in Comfrey's handbag leads Inspector Wexford to Mr. Grenville West, a writer whose plots revel in the blood, thunder, and passion of dramas of old; whose current whereabouts are unclear; and whose curious secretary--the plain Polly Flinders--provides the Inspector with more questions than answers. And when a second Grenville West comes to light, Wexford faces a dizzying array of possible scenarios--and suspects--behind the Comfrey murder. Brilliantly entertaining, exceptionally crafted, A Sleeping Life evokes the dark realities, half-truths, and flights of fancy that constitute a life.
Sir Manuel Carmargue, one of the greatest flautists of his time, was dead. Misadventure. An old man, ankle-deep in snow, he lost his foothold in the dark, slipping into the water to be trapped under a lid of ice. Only a glove remained to point to where he lay, one of its fingers rising out of the drifts. There's nothing Chief Inspector Wexford likes better than an open-and-shut case. They're so restful. And yet there are one or two niggling doubts - and the disturbing return of Carmargue's daughter, now a considerable heiress, after an absence of nineteen years. Is Wexford going to listen to that nagging inner voice of his? And if he does, what exactly does he plan to do?
Chief Inspector Wexford is in China, visiting ancient tombs and palaces with a group of British tourists. After their return to England, one of his fellow tourists is found murdered. As he questions other members of the group, Wexford finds secrets of greed, treachery, theft, and adultery, leading the distressed inspector to ask not who is innocent, but who is least guilty . . .
Disparu, Mr Williams ? Oh ! il a dû quitter sa femme... Quelque chose vous tracasse, inspecteur? Il est vrai que Colin Budd et les autres se font agresser à coups de couteau pour presque rien... par des petites auto-stoppeuses... Et tout le monde sait que Mr Williams a un faible pour les adolescentes. A propos d'adolescentes, inspecteur Wexford, vous qui en voyez partout en ce moment, que signifient les sinistres corbeaux qui planent sur les jeunes filles des environs?
Chief Inspector Wexford, injured in a car bombing, must rely on Detective Mike Burden to catch a killer in what appears to be a murder without motive Chief Inspector Wexford couldn’t know that the bundle of rags in the parking garage concealed a body. He’d just been doing a bit of light shopping, after all, not looking for dead housewives. Wexford won’t be on the case for long; a car bomb sends him to the hospital, and Inspector Mike Burden must match wits with a would-be murderer. But just how close to the edge of madness must Burden go to catch a killer? With rich characterization Rendell plumbs the depths of human character, revealing the secrets that lie hidden in the most ordinary lives.
Sergeant Caleb Martin of Kingsmarkham CID had no idea just how terminally unlucky the thirteenth of May would prove. Even alive, he could have no inkling of the chain of bloody events to follow-At first the bloodbath at Tancred House looks like the desperate work of a burglar panicked into murder. The sole survivor of the massacre, seventeen-year-old Daisy Flory, remembers the events imperfectly, and her confused account of the fatal night seems to confirm this theory. But more and more, Chief Inspector Wexford is convinced that the crime lies closer to home, and that it has sinister links to the murder of Sergeant Martin some ten months earlier ...
Mystery surrounds the disappearance of Melanie, the local doctor's daughter - Chief Inspector Wexford takes a personal interest in the case___
A by-pass is planned in Kingsmarkham - that will destroy its peace and the natural habitat forever. Dora Wexford joins the protest movement. But Wexford must be more circumspect. Trouble is expected. But before the protesters make their presence felt, the
À Kingsmarkham, des jeunes filles disparaissent mystérieusement puis réapparaissent quelques jours plus tard. Droguées, elles ne peuvent donner aucune indication précise sur leur détention. Dans cette atmosphère d'angoisse générale, un détenu condamné pour pédophilie est remis en liberté, ce qui ne fait qu'accroître l'inquiétude des habitants de Kingsmarkham. Responsable de ces deux affaires, Wexford enquête dans la cité où s'est installé le pédophile et où habite l'une des jeunes filles enlevées. Très vite, les événements prennent un tour dramatique, et deux meurtres successifs sont commis... Sans dommage apparent, un pur " Wexford ", est du grand Ruth Rendell. Des jeunes filles disparaissent, puis reparaissent, droguées au Rohypnol. Un enfant est kidnappé. Meurtres, pédophilie, violences conjugales. Ecriture précise et suave, perversité parfaite. Ecrire l'amuse, elle ignore la page et la nuit blanches.
A woman phoned to say she and her husband went to Paris for the weekend, leaving their children with a - well, teen-sitter, I suppose, got back last night to find the lot gone and naturally she assumes they've all drowned.'There hadn't been anything like
Au lever du jour, George Marshalson est inquiet : sa fille n'est pas rentrée. Il part à sa recherche et découvre son corps à deux pas de la maison familiale. Peu après, une deuxième jeune fille est assassinée. Ces meurtres sont-ils liés ? L'inspecteur Wexford, chargé de l'enquête, imagine combien ce serait terrible s'il apprenait que l'une de ses filles a été assassinée. Sylvia, en particulier, a toujours été une source d'inquiétude: mère de deux enfants, qu'elle élève seule, elle en attend un troisième, ce qui n'est pas sans provoquer de vives tensions entre Wexford et sa femme. Il entreprend l'enquête la plus perturbante de sa carrière pour s'assurer que personne d'autre n'accouchera dans la douleur.
En cherchant des truffes avec son chien, un homme découvre des restes humains ensevelis. L'autopsie révèle qu'il s'agit d'un homme mort depuis une dizaine d'années, mais rien ne permet de déterminer son identité ou la cause du décès. L'inspecteur Wexford et son équipe se trouvent confrontés à un défi de taille quand ils découvrent la liste impressionnantes des personnes disparues durant cette période. Leur tâche se complique lorsqu'un second corps est retrouvé sur le même site. Pour savoir si les deux affaires sont liées, l'inspecteur Wexford doit explorer le passé d'une petite communauté fermée, où chacun garde jalousement ses secrets et où les gens disparaissent sans traces, ni chair, ni sang...
L'inspecteur Wexford soupçonne Eric Targo, dont la femme a été étranglée. Bien qu'aucune condamnation n'ait eu lieu, une autre femme a subi le même sort. Des années plus tard, Wexford se retrouve à nouveau face à Targo.
L'impossible s'est produit: l'inspecteur Wexford a pris sa retraite ! Or une rencontre inattendue avec une ancienne connaissance, le commissaire Ede, va bouleverser ses plans. Les corps de deux femmes et d'un homme ont ete decouverts dans la cave a charbon d'une maison cossue de St John's Wood a Londres. Rien ne permet de les identifier, mais on a trouve dans la veste de l'homme des bijoux d'une valeur de quarante mille livres. Intrigue, Wexford accepte d'aider le commissaire, tout en menant une enquete parallele sur le maniaque qui a attaque sa fille en plein jour. Il est loin de se douter des perils qu'il va affronter une fois la cave a charbon videe.
No Man's Nightingale- the eagerly anticipated twenty-fourth title in Ruth Rendell's bestselling Detective Chief Inspector Wexford series. The woman vicar of St Peter's Church may not be popular among the community of Kingsmarkham. But it still comes as a profound shock when she is found strangled in her vicarage. Inspector Wexford is retired, but he retains a relish for solving mysteries especially when they are as close to home as this one is. So when he's asked whether he will assist on the case, he readily agrees. But why did the vicar die? And is anyone else in Kingsmarkham in danger? What Wexford doesn't know is that the killer is far closer than he, or anyone else, thinks.
A collection of five short mystery stories featuring Chief Inspector Wexford.
