Adam and Eve and Pinch Me

In Adam and Eve and Pinch Me, celebrated mystery writer Ruth Rendell demonstrates her mastery at creating a rich cast of interacting characters. At the outset, the reader has no idea how a series of vicious stabbings could possibly connect the lives of these four: an obsessive young woman who is beginning to be visited by the ghost of her boyfriend, recently killed in a car crash; a gay Conservative Member of Parliament who marries a childhood friend to avoid being outed; a radio talk-show host whose life is threatened by an eating disorder; and the first black policeman in the U.K. to rise above the rank of sergeant.

As Rendell pulls together the colourful strands of these various lives, a pattern emerges, and their ties to the series of vicious murders become ever tighter. Adam and Eve and Pinch Me is a page-turner of the first magnitude from a writer who continues to astonish us with the power and subtlety of her craft.

Ruth Rendell has won numerous awards, including three Edgars and the Grand Master Award from Mystery Writers of America; and four Gold Daggers, one Silver Dagger, and a Diamond Dagger for outstanding contribution to the genre from England’s prestigious Crime Writers’ Association. She lives in London, where she is a Life Peer in the House of Lords.