''He had never told anyone. The strange relationship, if it could be called that, had gone on for years, decades, and he had never breathed a word about it. He had kept silent because he knew no one would believe him. None of it could be proved, not the stalking, not the stares or the conspiratorial smiles, not the killings, not any of the signs Targo had made because he knew Wexford knew and could do nothing about it''. Wexford had almost made up his mind that he would never again set eyes on Eric Targo''s short, muscular figure. And yet there he was, back in Kingsmarkham, still with that cocky, strutting walk. Years earlier, when Wexford was a young police officer, a woman called Elsie Carroll had been found strangled in her bedroom. Although many still had their suspicions that her husband was guilty, no one was convicted. Another woman was strangled shortly afterwards, and every personal and professional instinct told Wexford that the killer was still at large. And it was Eric Targo. A psychopath who would kill again...As the Chief Inspector investigates a new case, Ruth Rendell looks back to the beginning of Wexford''s career, even to his courtship of the woman who would become his wife. The past is a haunted place, with clues and passions that leave an indelible imprint on the here and now.
Ruth Rendell has won many awards, including the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger for 1976s best crime novel with A Demon in My View; a second Edgar in 1984 from the Mystery Writers of America for the best short story, 'The New Girl Friend and a Gold Dagger award for Live Flesh in 1986. She was also the winner of the 1990 Sunday Times Literary award, as well as the Crime Writers Association Cartier Diamond Dagger. In 1996 she was awarded the CBE and in 1997 became a Life Peer.
En 1968, la enfermera sueca Kerstin Kvist acepta un trabajo en Essex para estar cerca de Mark, su amante londinense. Su cometido es cuidar de John Cosway, quien ha perdido la cabeza y permanece recluido en su biblioteca. A su llegada a la decadente mansion de Lydstep Old Hall conoce a Julia, la matriarca, una anciana fria y obsesionada con que John no deje de tomar sus dosis de Largactil. Y tambien a sus tres hijas solteronas, dos de ellas enfrentadas tras haber compartido lecho con el artista de la localidad. De modo que la muchacha no tardara en albergar dudas sobre que miembro de los Cosway se encuentra en el lado bueno de la frontera de la locura.Cuenta la leyenda que Barbara Vine es el seudonimo del que se sirve Ruth Rendell, gran dama de la novela de misterio britanica, cada vez que desea escarbar en los apartados mas psicologicos de una historia, aunque sin abandonar el suspense por ello. En ese sentido, El Minotauro es el ejemplo perfecto: un caseron rural que ha conocido tiempos mejores, cuatro mujeres enfrentadas como solo es posible cuando se pertenece a una misma familia, un monstruo escondido en el corazon de su laberinto y una recien llegada dispuesta a testimoniar, y quiza incluso desencadenar, la tragedia
When Stuart Font decides to throw a house-warming party in his new flat, he invites all the people in his building. After some deliberation, he even includes the unpleasant caretaker and his wife. There are a few other genuine friends on the list, but he definitely does not want to include his girlfriend, Claudia, as that might involve asking her husband. The party will be one everyone remembers. But not for the right reasons. All the occupants of Lichfield House are about to experience a dramatic change in their lives Living opposite, in reclusive isolation, is a young, beautiful Asian woman, christened Tigerlily by Stuart. As though from some strange urban fairytale, she emerges to exert a terrible spell. And Mr and Mrs Font, the worried parents, will have even more cause for concern about their handsome but hopelessly naive son. Darkly humorous, piercingly observant of human behaviour, Ruth Rendell has created here another compelling fable of our lives and crimes.
