Author | Ruth Rendell |
---|---|
Language | English |
Series | Inspector Wexford # 22 |
Genre | Crime/Mystery novel |
Publisher | Hutchinson (UK) Scribner (US) Doubleday Canada (Canada) |
Publication date | 2009 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
Pages | 279 pp |
ISBN | 978-0-091-93149-0 |
Preceded by | Not in the Flesh |
Followed by | The Vault |
The Monster in the Box is a novel by British crime-writer Ruth Rendell, published in 2009. The novel is the 22nd in the Inspector Wexford series. [1]
Wexford has long suspected Eric Targo of being a serial killer. Decades later, he finally admits this to DI Mike Burden, his longtime colleague and friend. In an apparently unrelated matter, DS Hannah Goldsmith and Burden's second wife Jenny both approach Wexford with concerns about Tamima, one of Jenny Burden's students.
As a young detective constable he investigated the murder of Elsie Carroll. Wexford suspects that while her husband purported to be at a whist club, he was actually with his mistress when his wife was killed. George Carroll was acquitted of his wife's murder on a technicality, but was still shunned by Kingsmarkham residents; Wexford believes him innocent. In the weeks of and following the investigation into Elsie Carroll's death, Targo, a scarf covering his prominent birthmark, walks his dog past the young Wexford's rooming house to taunt him, or so it appears to Wexford.
By the 1970s Targo has become a prosperous businessman, several times married and divorced, living in the north of England. Targo reappears in Kingsmarkam. Wexford suspects that Targo has murdered the autistic son of a Myringham widow who wishes her son dead so she can marry her longtime partner.
In the book's present Targo reappears again, still with his dogs, without the naevus, but with a private menagerie.
Lord Edgware Dies is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in September 1933 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year under the title of Thirteen at Dinner. Before its book publication, the novel was serialised in six issues of The American Magazine as 13 For Dinner.
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries.
George Morris Baker, MBE was an English actor and writer. He was best known for portraying Tiberius in I, Claudius, and Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.
Sparkling Cyanide is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1945 under the title of Remembered Death and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in the December of the same year under Christie's original title. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at eight shillings and sixpence (8/6).
Mrs McGinty's Dead is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1952 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 3 March the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.50 and the UK edition at nine shillings and sixpence (9/6). The Detective Book Club issued an edition, also in 1952, as Blood Will Tell.
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries is a British television crime drama series, produced by TVS and later by its successor Meridian Broadcasting, in association with Blue Heaven Productions, for broadcast on the ITV network. Twelve series were broadcast on ITV between 2 August 1987 and 11 October 2000. Created by renowned author Ruth Rendell, the first six series focused entirely on her main literary character, Chief Inspector Reg Wexford, played by George Baker. Repeat airings of these series changed the programme's title to The Inspector Wexford Mysteries. However, later series shifted focus to other short stories previously written by Rendell, with Wexford featuring in only three further stories, in 1996, 1998 and 2000. When broadcast, these three stories were broadcast under the title Inspector Wexford.
Chief Inspector Reginald "Reg" Wexford is a recurring character in a series of detective novels by English crime writer Ruth Rendell. He made his first appearance in the author's 1964 debut From Doon With Death, and has since been the protagonist of 23 more novels. In the TVS television series The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1987-2000), he was played by George Baker.
End in Tears (2005) is a novel by English crime writer Ruth Rendell, the twentieth in her acclaimed Inspector Wexford series.
Kissing the Gunner's Daughter is a 1992 novel by the British mystery writer Ruth Rendell, featuring the recurring character Inspector Reg Wexford. The title of the book refers to historical corporal punishment in the Royal Navy where a sailor kissing the gunner's daughter was lashed to a cannon to receive a flogging.
The Babes in the Wood is a 2002 novel by British crime-writer Ruth Rendell. It is the 19th entry in the popular Inspector Wexford series, and is set, as usual, in Kingsmarkham. In 2003, it was selected by The New York Times as one of the top five crime novels of the year.
Simisola is a 1994 novel by British crime writer Ruth Rendell. It features her recurring detective Inspector Wexford, and is the 17th in the series. Though a murder mystery, the book also touches on the themes of racism, welfare dependency and new forms of slavery.
An Unkindness of Ravens is a murder mystery by British crime-writer Ruth Rendell. First published in 1985, it is the 13th in her series featuring Inspector Wexford.
The Speaker of Mandarin is a detective novel by British crime writer Ruth Rendell, first published in 1983. It is the 12th novel in her popular Inspector Wexford series. The plot follows the popular Kingsmarkham policeman as he returns from a holiday to China and investigates the death of another tourist.
A Sleeping Life is a crime-novel by British writer Ruth Rendell, first published in 1978. It features her popular investigator Detective Inspector Wexford, and is the tenth novel in the series.
Some Lie And Some Die is a novel by British crime-writer Ruth Rendell, first published in 1973. It is the 8th entry in her popular Inspector Wexford series. The book was adapted in 1990 into a TV movie starring Peter Capaldi.
No More Dying Then is a novel by the British crime-writer Ruth Rendell. It was first published in 1971, and is the sixth title in her popular Inspector Wexford series. The Independent Mystery Booksellers Association listed the book as one of its 100 Favourite Crime Novels of the Century.
The False Inspector Dew is a 1982 humorous crime novel by Peter Lovesey and his ninth book. It won the Gold Dagger award by the Crime Writers' Association in 1982 and has featured on many "Best of" lists since.
The Vault is a novel by British crime-writer Ruth Rendell, published in 2011. The novel is the 23rd in the Inspector Wexford series. It is a sequel to her previous standalone novel A Sight For Sore Eyes. The novel is the first sequel Rendell has written, and the first to feature Wexford in retirement.
The Saint Zita Society is the 62nd novel by British crime-writer Ruth Rendell, a standalone novel. It is not part of her popular Inspector Wexford series.
No Man's Nightingale is a novel by crime writer Ruth Rendell published in 2013, It featuring her recurring protagonist Inspector Wexford. The novel is the second in which Wexford has appeared after his retirement, and on this occasion is called in to consult on a crime by his ex-colleague and friend Mike Burden.