A spectacularly compelling story of blackmail, accidental murders, and of one life’s fateful unraveling from Ruth Rendell—“one of the most remarkable novelists of her generation” (People)—writing at her absolute best.
When his father dies, Carl Martin, a philosophy graduate and struggling novelist, inherits a house in a trendy London neighborhood. Carl needs cash, however, so he rents the upstairs room and kitchen to the first person he interviews, Dermot McKinnon. That was colossal mistake number one. Mistake number two was keeping his father’s bizarre collection of homeopathic “cures” that he found in the medicine cabinet, including a stash of controversial diet pills. Mistake number three was selling fifty of those diet pills to a friend, who is then found dead.
Now Dermot seizes a nefarious opportunity and begins to blackmail Carl, followed by his refusal to pay rent, and a truly creepy invasion of Carl’s space. Ingeniously weaving together two storylines that finally merge in one shocking turn, Ruth Rendell describes one man’s spiral into darkness—and murder—as he falls victim to a diabolical foe he cannot escape.
This is masterful storytelling that gets under your skin, brilliant psychological suspense from Ruth Rendell.
Download and start listening now!
“Rendell’s delicious, quasi tongue-in-cheek atmosphere is so finely-tuned and tightly wound that it manages to be menacing and mesmerizing while harboring a nearly over-the-top element of the melodramatic…Dark Corners proves that Rendell never lost her touch.”
— Boston Globe
“Every aspect of Ruth Rendell’s dark art is splendidly showcased in Dark Corners…It’s among the best.”
— Stephen King, #1 New York Times bestselling author“A spectacularly creepy and macabre tale from Rendell.”
— Entertainment Weekly“Dark Corners is a worthy final entry in her body of work.”
— Wall Street Journal“Dark Corners is a deliciously diabolical tale on a favorite theme: one person’s devouring of a weaker person’s identity.
— New York Times Book Review“Dark Corners, Ruth Rendell’s final mystery novel, ranks among her best…Let me finish by saluting the late Baroness Rendell in the proper British fashion: Well done, my lady.”
— Washington Post“Rendell once again exhumes the depths of obsession and traces each step in a sympathetic character’s downward spiral…Stunningly suspenseful and often downright creepy.”
— Booklist (starred review)“Narrator Ric Jerrom disappears into the seemingly ordinary characters featured in several expertly tangled story threads, allowing listeners to peer into their obsessions, compulsions, and psychopathy…Splendidly sinister. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFileBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Ruth Rendell (1930–2015) wrote more than sixty novels in a career spanning fifty years. She won numerous awards for her writing, including three Edgars—the highest accolade from Mystery Writers of America—as well as four Gold Daggers and a Diamond Dagger for outstanding contribution to the genre from England’s prestigious Crime Writer’s Association. She was also the winner of the MWA Grand Master Award. A longtime member of the House of Lords, she lived in London.
Ric Jerrom is an actor, writer, and—occasionally—director. He has also narrated audiobooks in genres from classics to romantic fiction to mystery and suspense, winning three AudioFile Earphones Awards and placing as a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award. He has written plays, film scripts, short stories, poetry, and journalism. He has performed in many radio plays, sundry theaters, and internationally for the Natural Theatre Company of Bath.