Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries. Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Sixth edition. Ed. by Margaret Drabble. Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 847. . A second string of works was a series of unrelated crime novels that explored the psychological background of criminals and their victims. This theme was developed further in a third series of novels, published under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. She has sold an estimated 20 million copies.

Early life

Rendell was born as Ruth Barbara Grasemann in 1930, in

South Woodford South Woodford is an area of East London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Woodford Green to the north, Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. T ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

(now

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

). Her parents were teachers. Her mother, Ebba Kruse, was born in Sweden to Danish parents and brought up in Denmark; her father, Arthur Grasemann, was English. As a result of spending Christmas and other holidays in Scandinavia, Rendell learned Swedish and Danish. Rendell was educated at the County High School for Girls in

Loughton Loughton () is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill, and lies north-east of Charing Cross. For statistical purposes ...

, Essex, the town to which the family moved during her childhood. In 2016 a blue plaque was unveiled at her former home, 45 Millsmead Way, Loughton, in recognition of her time living there. After high school, she became a feature writer for her local Essex paper, the ''Chigwell Times''. She submitted a story narrating a local sports club dinner she had not attended. Because of her absence at the dinner, she did not know that the after-dinner speaker had died midway through the speech, and failed to report it. She was subsequently forced to resign.

Personal life

Rendell met her husband Don Rendell when she was working as a newswriter. They married in 1950, when she was 20, and in 1953 had a son, Simon, now a psychiatrist-social worker who lives in the U.S. state of Colorado. The couple divorced in 1975 but remarried two years later. Don Rendell died in 1999 from

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

. She made the county of

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

her home for many years, using the settings in several of her novels. She lived in the villages of Polstead and later Groton, both east of Sudbury. She was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 1996 Birthday Honours and a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baroness Rendell of Babergh, of

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the English county, county of Suffolk, England, north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the comp ...

in the County of Suffolk, on 24 October 1997. She sat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

for the Labour Party. In 1998, Rendell was named in a list of the party's biggest private financial donors. She introduced into the Lords the bill that would later become the

Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 (c. 31) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom applying to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It replaced the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985, extending the ban on female genital mu ...

(the intent was to prevent the practice). In August 2014, Rendell was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue. Rendell was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

who was described as living mostly on fruit."Ruth Rendell"
thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2023. She described herself as "slightly

agoraphobic Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by symptoms of anxiety in situations where the person perceives their environment to be unsafe with no way to escape. These situations can include public transit, shopping centers, crowds and q ...

" and slept in a specially made four-poster bed because "I like to feel enclosed."

Awards

Baroness Rendell's awards include the Silver,

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, and Cartier Diamond Daggers from the

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors' organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its "Dagger" awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. ...

, three Edgars from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is a professional organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the E ...

, The Arts Council National Book Awards, and

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

Literary Award. A number of her works (see the section below) have been adapted for film or television. She was also a patron of the charity Kids for Kids which helps children in rural areas of

Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...

. There is a blue plaque on one of her homes, 45 Millsmead Way, in

. This was unveiled by her son Simon on 24 February 2016. Four of her novels appear on the British-based Crime Writers Association Poll (1990) of the best crime fiction novels ever written: two under the Rendell name and two under her pen name of Barbara Vine. Her Crime Writer’s Association Dagger wins (four Gold, one Silver and one Cartier Diamond) remains unmatched, as does her record of being the first author to be nominated and win under multiple names. Her unparalleled Edgar and Dagger finalist nominations include: ''A Judgement In Stone'' (1977 Gold Dagger finalist), ''A Sleeping Life'' (1979 Edgar finalist for Best Novel), ''Make Death Love Me'' (1980 Edgar finalist for Best Novel), The ''Speaker Of Mandarin'' (1983 Gold Dagger finalist), ''An Unkindness Of Ravens'' and ''The Tree Of Hands'' (both 1986 Edgar finalists for Best Novel), ''A Dark-Adapted Eye'' (as Barbara Vine, 1986 Gold Dagger finalist), ''A Fatal Inversion'' (as Barbara Vine, 1988 Macavity Award finalist for Best Novel), and ''Going Wrong'' (1990 Gold Dagger finalist.)https://thecwa.co.uk/past-winners/page/2?search=ruth rendell&from_year&to_year Additionally, she was nominated four times in the Edgar Best Short Story category (in 1976 for "The Fall Of The Coin" and 1977 for "People Don’t Do Such Things"), winning twice for "The Fallen Curtain" (1975) and "The New Girlfriend" (1984).

Death

Rendell suffered a stroke on 7 January 2015, and she died on 2 May at St George's Hospital in

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The name is of Anglo-Saxon ori ...

, London.

Legacy

The Ruth Rendell Award was introduced in 2016 by the

National Literacy Trust The National Literacy Trust is an independent charity (registered no. 1116260 in England and Wales and registered no. SCO42944 in Scotland) based in London, England, that promotes literacy. It was founded by Sir Simon Hornby, former chairman of ...

. It is awarded to authors for their work in inspiring children and improving their literacy.

Developing the thriller genre

Rendell wrote two unpublished novels before the 1964 publication of '' From Doon with Death'', which was purchased for £75 by John Long; it was the first mystery to feature Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford. Rendell said that the character of Wexford was based on herself. '' The Monster in the Box'', released in October 2009, was widely suggested to be Wexford's last case. This was incorrect; however it was the final novel featuring Wexford as an employed policeman. In the two following novels, '' The Vault'' and '' No Man's Nightingale,'' he was retired but was still involved in police investigations as a "consultant". In ''Introducing Chief Inspector Wexford'' by Daniel Mallory he says (based on a 1990 interview with Rendell by

Marilyn Stasio Marilyn Stasio is a New York City author, writer and literary critic. She has been the "Crime Columnist" for ''The New York Times Book Review'' since about 1988,Marilyn Stasio Marilyn Stasio is a New York City author, writer and literary critic. She has been the "Crime Columnist" for ''The New York Times Book Review'' since about 1988,police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

s starring Wexford, Rendell wrote psychological crime novels exploring such themes as romantic obsession, misperceived communication, the impact of chance and coincidence, and the humanity of the criminals involved. Among such books are '' A Judgement in Stone'', '' The Face of Trespass'', '' Live Flesh'', '' Talking to Strange Men'', '' The Killing Doll'', '' Going Wrong'' and '' Adam and Eve and Pinch Me''. For the last novel published in her lifetime, ''The Girl Next Door'', she returned to the Loughton of her childhood, with an implied comparison of the moral climate of wartime England and 2014. Rendell created a third strand of writing with the publication in 1986 of '' A Dark-Adapted Eye'' under her pseudonym Barbara Vine (the name was derived from her own middle name and her great-grandmother's maiden name). '' King Solomon's Carpet'', '' A Fatal Inversion'' and '' Asta's Book'' (alternative U.S. title, ''Anna's Book''), among others, inhabited the same territory as her psychological crime novels while further developing themes of human misunderstandings and the unintended consequences of family secrets and hidden crimes. The author was noted for her elegant prose and sharp insights into the human mind, as well as her cogent plots and characters. Rendell injected the social changes of the last 40 years into her work, bringing awareness to such issues as

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

Adaptations of her works

The Inspector Wexford series was successfully televised, starring George Baker as Inspector Wexford and Christopher Ravenscroft as Detective Mike Burden, under the title '' The Ruth Rendell Mysteries'', with 48 episodes from 1987 to 2000. Rendell praised Baker's performance, stating "It was a marvellous achievement as an actor to make him more and better than the author intended." Many of her other works have been adapted for film and television. She said that

Claude Chabrol Claude Henri Jean Chabrol (; 24 June 1930 – 12 September 2010) was a French film director and a member of the French New Wave (''nouvelle vague'') group of filmmakers who first came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. Like his colleagues an ...

's 1995 version of '' A Judgement in Stone'', ''

La Cérémonie ''La Cérémonie'' ( English: lit. ''The Ceremony'') is a 1995 French-German psychological thriller film by Claude Chabrol, adapted from the 1977 novel '' A Judgement in Stone'' by Ruth Rendell. The film echoes the case of Christine and Lea Papi ...

'' with

Sandrine Bonnaire Sandrine Bonnaire (; born 31 May 1967) is a French actress, film director and screenwriter who has appeared in more than 40 films. She won the César Award for Most Promising Actress for '' À Nos Amours'' (1983), the César Award for Best Actre ...

, was one of the few film adaptations of her work that she was happy with. The novel was also filmed in 1986 with Rita Tushingham. Chabrol made '' La Demoiselle d'honneur'' in 2004, based on '' The Bridesmaid''. Other adaptations are '' Diary of the Dead'' (1976), from the book '' One Across, Two Down''; the 1997

Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and author. His films are distinguished by Melodrama (film genre), melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular c ...

film '' Live Flesh''; '' The Tree of Hands'', directed by

Giles Foster Giles Foster has been an English television director since 1975, specialising in television dramas. He has also directed in Australia and in Germany (2012-2014). He wrote some television dramas in the 1970s. He is from Bath, Somerset and was edu ...

for Granada with

Lauren Bacall Betty Joan Perske (September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014), professionally known as Lauren Bacall ( ), was an American actress. She was named the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the America ...

(U.S. title: "Innocent Victim"); and another version of ''The Tree of Hands'', '' Betty Fisher et autres histoires'' (2001, a.k.a. ''Alias Betty''), with screenplay and direction by

Claude Miller Claude Miller (20 February 1942 – 4 April 2012) was a French film director, producer and screenwriter. Life and career Claude Miller was born to a Jewish family. A student at Paris' IDHEC film school from 1962 through 1963, Miller had his f ...

. François Ozon's 2015 film '' The New Girlfriend'' was based on Rendell's short story of the same name. Two episodes of '' Tales of the Unexpected'' were based on Rendell's short stories - "A Glowing Future" ( series 4, episode 15) and "People Don't Do Such Things" ( series 8, episode 1).

Awards and honours

*1975 –

Best Short Story Edgar: '' The Fallen Curtain'' *1975 - Current Crime's Silver Cup for Best Crime Novel: '' Shake Hands Forever'' *1976 - Gold Dagger for Fiction: '' A Demon In My View'' *1980 - Martin Beck Award for Best Crime Novel: '' Make Death Love Me'' *1981 - Arts Council National Book Award for Genre Fiction: '' The Lake Of Darkness'' *1984 -

Best Short Story Edgar: '' The New Girlfriend'' *1984 - Silver Dagger for Fiction: '' The Tree Of Hands'' *1986 - Gold Dagger for Fiction: '' Live Flesh'' *1987 –

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

: '' A Dark-Adapted Eye'' *1987 – Gold Dagger for Fiction: '' A Fatal Inversion'' *1988 – Angel Award for Fiction: '' The House of Stairs'' *1990 – ''Sunday Times'' Award for Literary Excellence *1991 – Gold Dagger for Fiction: '' King Solomon's Carpet'' *1991 – Cartier Diamond Dagger for a Lifetime's Achievement in the Field *1996 –

(CBE) *1997 -

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baroness Rendell of Babergh *1997 -

Grand Master Award *2004 – Mystery Ink Gumshoe Award for Lifetime Achievement *2005 – CWA Dagger of Daggers (best crime novel to have won the Gold Dagger award (shortlist)): '' A Fatal Inversion'' *2007 – Gumshoe Award for Best European Crime Novel (shortlist): '' The Minotaur'' *2007 – Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award (longlist): '' End in Tears'' *2010 –

Lost Man Booker Prize The Lost Man Booker Prize was a special edition of the Man Booker Prize awarded by a public vote in 2010 to a novel from 1970 as the books published in 1970 were not eligible for the Man Booker Prize due to a rules alteration; until 1970 the priz ...

(longlist): '' A Guilty Thing Surprised''

Bibliography

Inspector Wexford series

#'' From Doon with Death'' (1964) #''

A New Lease of Death A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' (1967) (American title: ''The Sins of the Fathers'') #'' Wolf to the Slaughter'' (1967) #'' The Best Man to Die'' (1969) #'' A Guilty Thing Surprised'' (1970) #'' No More Dying Then'' (1971) #'' Murder Being Once Done'' (1972) #'' Some Lie and Some Die'' (1973) #'' Shake Hands Forever'' (1975) #'' A Sleeping Life'' (1978) #'' Put on by Cunning'' (1981) (American title: ''Death Notes'') #'' The Speaker of Mandarin'' (1983) #'' An Unkindness of Ravens'' (1985) #'' The Veiled One'' (1988) #'' Kissing the Gunner's Daughter'' (1991) #'' Simisola'' (1994) #''

Road Rage Road rage is aggressive or angry behavior exhibited by people driving a vehicle. These behaviors include rude and verbal insults, yelling, physical threats or dangerous driving methods targeted at other drivers, pedestrians, or cyclists in an ...

'' (1997) #'' Harm Done'' (1999) #'' The Babes in the Wood'' (2002) #'' End in Tears'' (2005) #'' Not in the Flesh'' (2007) #'' The Monster in the Box'' (2009) #'' The Vault'' (2011) #'' No Man's Nightingale'' (2013)

Stand alone novels

*''

To Fear a Painted Devil ''To Fear a Painted Devil'' is a novel by British writer Ruth Rendell published in 1965 by John Long Ltd in the UK and Doubleday in the US. Her second book, it is a stand-alone crime thriller in which "there is less reliance on suspense and th ...

'' (1965) *'' Vanity Dies Hard'' (1966) (American title: ''In Sickness and in Health'') *'' The Secret House of Death'' (1968) *'' One Across, Two Down'' (1971) *'' The Face of Trespass'' (1974) *'' A Demon in My View'' (1976) *'' A Judgement in Stone'' (1977) *'' Make Death Love Me'' (1979) *'' The Lake of Darkness'' (1980) *'' Master of the Moor'' (1982) *'' The Killing Doll'' (1984) *'' The Tree of Hands'' (1984) *'' Live Flesh'' (1986) *'' Talking to Strange Men'' (1987) *'' The Bridesmaid'' (1989) *'' Going Wrong'' (1990) *'' The Crocodile Bird'' (1993) *'' The Keys to the Street'' (1996) *'' A Sight for Sore Eyes'' (1998) *'' Adam and Eve and Pinch Me'' (2001) *'' The Rottweiler'' (2003) *'' Thirteen Steps Down'' (2004) *'' The Water's Lovely'' (2006) *'' Portobello'' (2008) *'' Tigerlily's Orchids'' (2010) *'' The Saint Zita Society'' (2012) *'' The Girl Next Door'' (2014) *'' Dark Corners'' (2015)

Novellas

*''Thornapple'' (1982). Collected in ''The Fever Tree.'' *'' Heartstones'' (1987). Uncollected. *''Piranha To Scurfy'' (1990). Collected in ''Piranha To Scurfy'' *''High Mysterious Union'' (1990). Collected in ''Piranha To Scurfy'' *''The Strawberry Tree'' (1995). Collected in ''Blood Lines.'' *'' The Thief'' (2006). Collected in ''A Spot of Folly.''

Written as Barbara Vine

*'' A Dark-Adapted Eye'' (1986) *'' A Fatal Inversion'' (1987) *'' The House of Stairs'' (1988) *'' Gallowglass'' (1990) *'' King Solomon's Carpet'' (1991) *'' Asta's Book'' (1993) (American title: ''Anna's Book'') *'' No Night Is Too Long'' (1994) *'' The Brimstone Wedding'' (1995) *'' The Chimney Sweeper's Boy'' (1998) *''

Grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

'' (2000) *'' The Blood Doctor'' (2002) *'' The Minotaur'' (2005) *''

The Birthday Present ''The Birthday Present'' is a 1957 British drama film directed by Pat Jackson and starring Tony Britton and Sylvia Syms. The screenplay was by Jack Whittingham who also produced the film for British Lion Films. Plot Simon Scott, a top toy s ...

'' (2008) *'' The Child's Child'' (2012)

Short story collections

*'' The Fallen Curtain'' (1976) *'' Means of Evil and Other Stories'' (1979) (five Inspector Wexford stories) *'' The Fever Tree'' (1982) *'' The New Girlfriend'' (1985) *'' The Copper Peacock'' (1991) *'' Blood Lines: Long and Short Stories'' (1995) *'' Piranha to Scurfy'' (2000) *''Collected Short Stories, Volume 1'' (2006) *''Collected Short Stories, Volume 2'' (2008) *'' A Spot of Folly'' (2017)

Uncollected short stories

*"The Martyr", included in Midsummer Nights (ed. ''Jeanette Winterson''), Quercus, 2009

Uncollected round-robin short stories to which Rendell was a contributor

*"Death in the Square", co-authored with Peter Levi,

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

and

Ted Willis Edward Henry Willis, Baron Willis (13 January 1914 – 22 December 1992) was an English playwright, novelist and screenwriter who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. He created several television serie ...

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

, 1988 *"Web of Intrigue", co-written with members of the public.

, 1997

Non-fiction

*''Ruth Rendell's Suffolk'' (1989) *''Undermining the Central Line: giving government back to the people'' (with

Colin Ward Colin Ward (14 August 1924 – 11 February 2010)

, 1989) a political tract *'' The Reason Why: An Anthology of the Murderous Mind'' (1995)

Children's books

* ''Archie & Archie'' (2013)

References

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rendell, Ruth 1930 births 2015 deaths 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century English novelists 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English women writers Anthony Award winners English women mystery writers Cartier Diamond Dagger winners Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Edgar Award winners English crime fiction writers English mystery writers English people of Swedish descent English women novelists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Labour Party (UK) donors Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Literary peers Members of the Detection Club People from Aldeburgh People from Loughton People from Woodford, London Pseudonymous women writers British television show creators Writers from the London Borough of Redbridge