As a Rendell fan, I enjoyed this last novel. If I had picked this up as the first book I had read by her, I probably wouldn't pick up another book by her. She's written lots better. And this book doesn't dampen my enthusiasm for her mysteries.

Dark Corners was Ruth Rendell’s last novel, but the first one of hers that I have read. After his father dies, Carl Martin inherits his London home along with all of its contents—including a wide array of medications, including controversial diet pills. With the increasing trendiness of the neighborhood, Carl decides to rent out the upstairs room for extra income, and his tenant seems perfect always keeping to himself, and promptly paying his rent every month. Life seems to be going well until Carl sells some of the diet pills to one of his friends, a semi-famous actress who dies because of taking them. The following days and months take an increasingly series of dark turns as things progressively get worse for Carl and the people in his life.


This was a very well written and well-paced book, and I greatly enjoyed the building suspense as the story progresses. It’s too bad that I didn’t discover Rendell’s books until now, but I have all of her previous ones to look forward to.

Disclaimer: I received an early review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.