The Monster in the Box

Apr 21, 2025 4:58 AM

Author:Ruth Rendell

The twenty-second book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford.

Wexford had almost made up his mind that he would never again set eyes on Eric Targo's short, muscular figure. And yet there he was, back in Kingsmarkham, still with that cocky, strutting walk.

Years earlier, when Wexford was a young police officer, a woman called Elsie Carroll had been found strangled in her bedroom. Although many still had their suspicions that her husband was guilty of her violent murder, no one was convicted.

Another woman was strangled shortly afterwards, and every personal and professional instinct told Wexford that the killer was still at large. And that it was Eric Targo. A psychopathic murderer who would kill again...

As the Chief Inspector investigates a new case, Ruth Rendell looks back to the beginning of Wexford's career as a detective, even to his courtship of the woman who would become his wife. The villainous Targo is not the only ghost from Wexford's past who has re-emerged to haunt him in the here and now...

Reviews

Yet further proof of Rendell's amazing criminal mastery

—— Evening Standard

[Targo] is as good a villain as Wexford ever tried to pin down . . . hauntingly nasty

—— Spectator

Targo haunted this world, as he haunts the reader: the monster is out of the box and it's impossible to put him back once this book has been closed

—— Independent

One of the best-written detective series in the genre's history . . . At any time we can return to Kingsmarkham to explore the darker side of humanity with Wexford as our reassuring and humane guide

—— Washington Post

Ruth Rendell is marvellous at psychological tension... She knits all the threads together with a casual flourish that shows veteran expertise

—— Sunday Times

One of the best-written detective series in the genre's history... At any time we can return to Kingsmarkham to explore the darker side of humanity with Wexford as our reassuring and humane guide

—— Washington Post

A brooding study of how one thoughtless action can have catastrophic consequences

—— Metro Scotland

Fossum never forgets that her primary duty is to entertain, and she keeps her cut-to-the-bone mystery moving briskly

—— Barry Forshaw , Sunday Tribune

Norwegian writer Karin Fossum has been turning out a steady and impressive body of work since long before Steig Larsson first put pen to paper...This is a first-rate psychological thriller, one of Fossum's best books to date.

—— The Review

A complex novel of mystery and suspense narrated by three fascinating characters...I thoroughly recommend this title

—— Landers Bookshop , Independent on Sunday

Well worth the ride

—— Sunday Telegraph

Pears is in a class of his own; no one else could possibly succeed in making the world of big finance so hugely entertaining.

—— www.thetruthaboutbooks.com

this thoughtful, thoroughly satisfying novel... clever storytelling to reach imaginative heights

—— Waterstone's Books Quarterly

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