The Crocodile Bird

Written by Ruth Rendell

Narrated by Jill Tanner

Liza is raised in a remote rural hamlet. One evening, Liza's mother orders her to leave home forever. Paralyzed at having to fend for herself, Liza finds refuge with Sean, a drifter with whom she begins to share the bizarre story of her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781461812050

Ruth Rendell

Ruth Rendell (1930–2015) won three Edgar Awards, 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 Writ­ers’ Association. Her remarkable career spanned a half century, with more than sixty books published. A member of the House of Lords, she was one of the great literary figures of our time.

Reviews for The Crocodile Bird

[Laura Benedict · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very much a cut above the usual crime or suspense novel. Rendell’s characters are deeply human, and I love the way her point of view characters observe others.

[terzah_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book, not because of the suspense story (though that was well-done, too) but because of the realistic and, at the end, bittersweet story of Liza and Sean. It was such a good portrait of first love, even leaving out Liza's extraordinary background. I felt those strong emotions again.

[jonesli · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book! Liza and her mother Eve live on the isolated British estate Shrove House. Although Eve is more than slightly unbalanced, with an unnatural attachment to the estate, one senses that she loves her daughter.Liza is not allowed to go to school to interact with other children, watch television, or develop any other relationships besides the one with her mother. After committing several murders over Liza's lifetime, Eve's luck has finally run out and she is wanted by the police for her crimes. Liza is now sixteen and runs away with the garden hand and also her boyfriend Sean.In the manner of Scherazade, Liza recounts her life story to Sean and comes to realize she may be more like her mother than she thinks.Great psychological thriller.

[berrenss · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorite books! Ruth Rendell's novels are always suspenseful, but what I think she is best at is creating fascinating and complex characters that are all...a bit creepy. This story is about a young girl whose mother has secluded them in an isolated cottage away from essentially all contact with society. There are few people that visit... and half the ones that do are never to be seen or heard from again. A great mystery!

[jayne_charles_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An interesting scenario, dragged out a bit, and with a bit of a limp ending. Liza's early journey to the caravan got the story off to a good start and the mystery was set up well, but once we were back in the cottage the book's landscape seemed a bit limited.

[sarah1e · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book holds sinister secrets. A woman keeps her daughter shut off from the outside world. She has an unnatural attachment to Shrove, a house she doesn't own - a bond greater than she shares with any other person. She will do anything to keep her daughter sheltered within the semi-abandoned estate and refuses that there could be consequences in hers or her daughter's later life.This is not a straightforward mystery and it isn't creepy in an upfront way either. The story reveals itself slowly, to shift your perception of good and evil in the characters and what terrible things they remember.

[smiler69 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Liza, a young girl of sixteen must flee from her secluded home, the gatehouse of a great mansion, to avoid being questioned by the police about a crime that her mother Eve has just committed. She makes her way to her lover and proceeds to tell him, in the style of The Arabian Nights, the story of how she came to be in this situation, in the process revealing a life story full of intrigue and horror. Until then, Eve had tried her best to shield Liza from the world and all it's modern amenities, and most of what Liza knows about life is gleaned from the 19th century books available in the mansion. Liza looks just like Eve, and must find out whether she is a an exact copy of her mother in deed as well as in looks, or whether she can exercise her own free will. I found this tale quite gripping, enough so to include it among my favourite reads of the year, and the narration by Juliet Stephenson was of course excellent.