Speaker of Mandarin: An Inspector Wexford Mystery

By Ruth Rendell

“The heiress apparent to Agatha Christie.”—Los Angeles Times

Chief Inspector Wexford is in China, visiting ancient tombs and palaces with a group of British tourists. Is he hallucinating, or does a bent old woman with bound feet follow him everywhere?

Back in England, he is called to a nearby village where a wealthy woman has been found with a bullet in her head. Murdered. He identifies her as one of the China tourists, and soon decides to question the other members of the group. When he discovers the secrets they are hiding—greed, treachery, theft, adultery—he is forced to ask not who is innocent but who is the least guilty.

“[Ruth] Rendell in top form, applying subtle psychological tints to the familiar mechanics of the police procedural . . . handsomely sculpted . . . Rendell proves once again her awesome skill at probing the criminal mind and conscience. . . . Handled with great originality.”—Philadelphia Inquirer

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 21, 2012
• ISBN: 9780307829504

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.