Ruth Rendell Books in Order (Updated February 18, 2026)

Ruth Rendell (1930–2015) wrote in three distinct “lanes”: the Inspector Wexford mysteries (one continuous character timeline), her standalone psychological crime novels (no shared continuity), and the Barbara Vine novels (same author, different byline, usually more family-secret driven).

Ruth Rendell Books in Order (Updated February 18, 2026)

Reading order only truly matters for Wexford.

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Continuity cheat sheet

  • One long series: Inspector Wexford (read in order to preserve character development and late-series callbacks).
  • Separate books: Ruth Rendell standalones (any order).
  • Separate byline, same author: Barbara Vine (any order; publication order is simplest).

The Inspector Wexford novels (publication order)

  1. From Doon with Death (1964): Wexford’s first case begins with a “ordinary” victim and a secret life that changes the investigation.
  2. A New Lease of Death (1967): A violent crime in a big house forces Wexford to read a family’s tensions as evidence.
  3. Wolf to the Slaughter (1967): A missing woman case tightens into something darker as the town’s assumptions collapse.
  4. The Best Man to Die (1969): A celebratory weekend turns fatal, and Wexford has to separate social theater from motive.
  5. A Guilty Thing Surprised (1970): A death and an inheritance angle push Wexford into questions of entitlement and resentment.
  6. No More Dying Then (1972): A sudden death disrupts a community that would rather keep its private rules intact.
  7. Murder Being Once Done (1972): Wexford follows a case where the past is not background, it’s the mechanism.
  8. Some Lie and Some Die (1973): A public event becomes the stage for a crime rooted in personal history.
  9. Shake Hands Forever (1975): A teenage disappearance exposes how quickly a neighborhood can rewrite its own story.
  10. A Sleeping Life (1978): A long-missing person reappears through consequences rather than explanations.
  11. Put On By Cunning (1981): A series of deaths forces Wexford to confront how “respectable” lives can hide predation.
  12. The Speaker of Mandarin (1983): A family’s private world turns lethal, and Wexford has to decode what they won’t say.
  13. An Unkindness of Ravens (1985): A missing young woman becomes a case about control, fear, and who gets believed.
  14. The Veiled One (1988): A buried history resurfaces, and the investigation follows the seams where truth was stitched shut.
  15. Kissing the Gunner’s Daughter (1992): A shocking murder pulls Wexford into institutional pressure and public scrutiny.
  16. Simisola (1994): Wexford fights indifference and prejudice while chasing a victim others prefer to ignore.
  17. Road Rage (1997): A violent act reverberates through families, turning anger into a long fuse.
  18. Harm Done (1999): A disappearance and a household’s secrets force hard judgments about complicity.
  19. The Babes in the Wood (2002): New discoveries reopen an old case and show how time distorts witnesses and motives.
  20. End in Tears (2005): The investigation peels back family loyalty until it looks like evidence.
  21. Not in the Flesh (2007): A case brings Wexford into uneasy proximity with the effects of earlier lives and earlier crimes.
  22. The Monster in the Box (2009): Wexford confronts a dangerous figure from the past while his own role begins to shift.
  23. The Vault (2011): A body found during redevelopment forces the past into the present with bureaucratic complications.
  24. No Man’s Nightingale (2012): A controversial death lands on Wexford’s radar, with community fault-lines driving the case.

Optional Wexford short-story collection:

  • Means of Evil (1979): Wexford stories that work best once you’ve read a few early novels and know his voice.

Ruth Rendell standalones (publication order)

  1. To Fear a Painted Devil (1965): A tense, contained crime story built around suspicion and misdirection.
  2. Vanity Dies Hard (1965): A relationship-driven psychological trap where appearances are treated as currency.
  3. The Secret House of Death (1968): A murder pulls focus to what people conceal behind ordinary routines.
  4. One Across, Two Down (1971): A domestic setup turns into an escalating moral and legal crisis.
  5. The Face of Trespass (1974): Obsession and entitlement collide, and the fallout spreads through a small social circle.
  6. A Demon in My View (1976): A disturbed mind at the center of the story makes the everyday feel unsafe.
  7. A Judgement in Stone (1977): A devastating crime is traced back through class, secrecy, and a fatal imbalance of power.
  8. Make Death Love Me (1979): A dangerously fixated character turns longing into a plan.
  9. Talking to Strange Men (1980): A chance connection becomes a slow-burn threat as motives clarify too late.
  10. The Lake of Darkness (1980): A series of choices turns into a web where guilt and fear do most of the work.
  11. Master of the Moor (1982): A solitary man becomes the focus of suspicion while violence and rumor feed each other.
  12. The Killing Doll (1984): A psychologically sharp thriller where the crime is only part of the control dynamic.
  13. The Tree of Hands (1984): A child-centered plot becomes a study in obsession, displacement, and exploitation.
  14. Live Flesh (1986): A crime fractures a set of lives, and the aftermath becomes its own trap.
  15. Heartstones (1987): Family pressure and secrecy push ordinary people toward extraordinary damage.
  16. The Bridesmaid (1989): A woman’s fixation turns romantic expectation into menace.
  17. Going Wrong (1990): A seemingly small encounter becomes an obsession that refuses to stay “small.”
  18. The Crocodile Bird (1993): A daughter raised in isolation tries to enter the world, and the past follows.
  19. The Keys to the Street (1996): A London-focused thriller where routine, chance, and vulnerability intersect.
  20. Thornapple (1998): A death reshapes a household’s story, and everyone edits their role.
  21. A Sight for Sore Eyes (1998): A woman’s life takes a dangerous turn as perception and truth fall out of sync.
  22. Adam and Eve and Pinch Me (2001): Identity and deceit drive a plot that punishes assumptions.
  23. The Rottweiler (2003): A city mystery where fear spreads faster than facts.
  24. Thirteen Steps Down (2004): A close-quarters psychological suspense novel with escalating fixation.
  25. The Water’s Lovely (2006): A family’s long-buried crime resurfaces, and loyalty becomes a hazard.
  26. Portobello (2008): Interlinked lives in London reveal how small decisions can turn lethal.
  27. Tigerlily’s Orchids (2010): A cross-section of characters shows how obsession and loneliness can curdle into danger.
  28. The Saint Zita Society (2012): A domestic world becomes a stage for rivalry, secrets, and quiet cruelty.
  29. The Girl Next Door (2014): A community’s remembered past collides with what was actually done and allowed.
  30. Dark Corners (2015): A late novel of mistaken identity and bad choices tightening into a crime spiral.

The Barbara Vine novels (same author; publication order)

  1. A Dark Adapted Eye (1986): A family history is retold with the sense that the narrator is protecting someone, possibly herself.
  2. A Fatal Inversion (1987): A past summer’s freedoms are re-examined once consequences arrive years later.
  3. The House of Stairs (1988): A marriage and a house become the container for pressure, secrecy, and exposure.
  4. Gallowglass (1990): A complicated household dynamic turns into a slow-moving disaster.
  5. King Solomon’s Carpet (1991): A web of lives links through place and circumstance until the pattern becomes sinister.
  6. Asta’s Book (1993): A family’s hidden story reshapes the present once the missing pieces surface.
  7. No Night Is Too Long (1994): A narrator’s version of events keeps shifting as the past refuses to stay buried.
  8. In the Time of His Prosperity (1995): A long view of relationships and secrets where the crime is inseparable from the history.
  9. The Brimstone Wedding (1995): A relationship’s origin story becomes a mystery about control and narrative ownership.
  10. The Chimney Sweeper’s Boy (1998): A death opens a door into a private life built on omissions.
  11. Grasshopper (2000): Family structures and loyalties are tested as hidden connections come to light.
  12. The Blood Doctor (2002): An inheritance of secrets and identity questions tightens into peril.
  13. The Minotaur (2005): A vulnerable narrator’s perspective makes every kindness feel double-edged.
  14. The Birthday Present (2008): Power and consent become the fault-line as a relationship’s “gift” turns into a trap.
  15. The Child’s Child (2012): A legacy story where family secrets remain active forces, not historical curiosities.

Short story collections (optional, high overlap across editions)

  1. The Fallen Curtain (1976): Rendell short fiction that shows her precision in smaller spaces.
  2. The New Girlfriend (1978): Stories that lean into obsession, misreading, and escalating consequences.
  3. The Copper Peacock (1980): A collection shaped around unease that starts in the ordinary.
  4. The Fever Tree (1982): Suspense stories where the “why” matters as much as the act.
  5. Collected Short Stories (1987): A larger gathering that’s useful if you want a single-volume approach.
  6. Wexford (1988): Wexford stories best read after you’ve met him in the novels.
  7. Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1990): Stories aligned with her crime-fiction range and recurring concerns.
  8. Unguarded Hours (1990): A shared collection that includes Rendell alongside other writers.
  9. Blood Lines (1995): Short fiction focusing on relationship fractures and hidden motives.
  10. A Dark Blue Perfume (1996): A compact entry point if you want Rendell in short form.
  11. A Needle for the Devil (1996): Stories built around small triggers and big outcomes.
  12. Piranha to Scurfy (2000): A broader sweep of shorter work, depending on edition.
  13. Three Cases for Chief Inspector Wexford (2002): Wexford shorts that work as “extra cases” once you know the cast.
  14. Collected Stories II (2008): Later-curated follow-up volume for readers who want more depth.
  15. Expectations / Lizzie’s Lover / Shreds and Slivers / The Carer / Unacceptable Levels (2011): A grouped set of shorter works often encountered in reprint form.
  16. A Spot of Folly (2017): A posthumous collection that gathers short work for modern readers.

Recommended reading order (three routes that avoid common mistakes)

Route A: One long relationship with Wexford

  • Start: From Doon with Death (1964): Meet Wexford at the beginning so later-life changes land properly.
  • Then: Continue straight through No Man’s Nightingale (2012): This preserves character growth and avoids late-series spoilers.

Route B: “Standalone Rendell” first, series later

  • Start: A Judgement in Stone (1977): A complete, ruthless psychological crime novel with no prerequisites.
  • Next: Going Wrong (1990): A clean demonstration of how she builds obsession.
  • Then: Begin Wexford when you want a longer arc: From Doon with Death (1964).

Route C: Barbara Vine as your main course

  • Start: A Dark Adapted Eye (1986): The clearest doorway into Vine’s family-history mode.
  • Then: Follow publication order if you like it: The books reward steady progression, not puzzle-solving.

Latest Releases

Latest Releases: The recent book released by the author is: A Spot of Folly (2017).

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Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.