{"product_id":"the-girl-next-door-9780099598756","title":"The Girl Next Door","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eRuth Rendell was an exceptional crime writer, and will be remembered as a legend in her own lifetime. Her groundbreaking debut novel, \u003ci\u003eFrom Doon With Death\u003c\/i\u003e, was first published in 1964 and introduced the reader to her enduring and popular detective, Inspector Reginald Wexford, who went on to feature in twenty-four of her subsequent novels.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith worldwide sales of approximately 20 million copies, Rendell was a regular \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller. Her sixty bestselling novels include police procedurals, some of which have been successfully adapted for TV, stand-alone psychological mysteries, and a third strand of crime novels under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. Very much abreast of her times, the Wexford books in particular often engaged with social or political issues close to her heart.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRendell won numerous awards, including the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for 1976's best crime novel with \u003ci\u003eA Demon in My View,\u003c\/i\u003e a Gold Dagger award for\u003ci\u003e Live Fles\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Girl Next Door\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eis vintage Rendell and a perfect celebration of her half-century. She’s so effortlessly prolific that it’s easy to take her for granted; we assume that if we miss one of her books, there’ll be another one along in a minute. This novel, however, reminded me of the singularity of Ruth Rendell’s talent, her effortless mastery of language and her uncanny genius for mapping a criminal mind. * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eRendell is as masterful as ever; her writing tense, brittle, and brilliant. * Sunday Mirror *\u003cbr\u003eShe is the peer of Kingsley Amis and Muriel Spark. \u003ci\u003eThe Girl Next Door\u003c\/i\u003e is as great a novel as \u003ci\u003eStanley and the Women\u003c\/i\u003e or \u003ci\u003eMemento Mori . . .\u003c\/i\u003e a joy to read. Rendell's novels establish a sense of order that is deeply satisfying. * Evening Standard *\u003cbr\u003eFifty years on, the girl from Essex has become the unchallenged crime queen of suburbia. Her powers of observation are as acute as ever, and she writes about old age with as much gusto as any of the subjects she has tackled in her long career. * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eThis book is extraordinarily courageous, a demonstration that fiction can take us where reportage dares not go. * Independent *\u003cbr\u003eRendell gives an acutely observed portrayal of old age through her characters’ regrets, losses and bewilderment . . . Difficult themes such as death, usually dressed up in mystery in a crime novel are, thanks to these elderly protagonists, real, hard-hitting and constant. * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eThat \u003ci\u003eThe Girl Next Door\u003c\/i\u003e works as a standalone novel is partly attributable to Rendell’s deftness in parrying comparisons with her best-known creation. It also unravels a satisfying mystery, stretching tentacles into the past. * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eAn excellent analysis of re-found youth, this novel shows how people can surprise themselves even in their winter years. * Sunday Express *\u003cbr\u003eIn this engaging novel, the portraits of elderly people living today and their preoccupations are presented with almost sociological precision, and scattered throughout are acute observations about changing language and manners. * Literary Review *\u003cbr\u003eNobody does the suburbs like Ruth Rendell: in her expert hands they exert a morbid fascination. Behind the immaculate exteriors lurks a world of unhappiness and deceit – and at times murder. An excellent read. * The Lady *\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cornerstone","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732328624471,"sku":"9780099598756","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780099598756.jpg?v=1719996431","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-girl-next-door-9780099598756","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}