Piranha to Scurfy

A deeply unsettling collection of stories that is two parts Stephen King, one part Edgar Allan Poe.

"Piranha to Scurfy" is a brooding story of a solitary, middle-aged man who devotes his life to writing scathing letters to newly-published authors. He does so in memory of his dead mother, who nurtured his love of accuracy, and his fervent desire to set things right. She herself is buried in the garden, for reasons that become clear as the story comes to its surprising end.

"The Wink" tells the story of a young woman, raped in a small English town, who has kept the event, and the identity of her assailant, secret for many years. During their inevitable encounters in town, the rapist has added to her humiliation by giving her a leering wink. In the end, the young woman exacts her revenge.

"High Mysterious Union" is a haunting and profoundly disturbing tale of a young man who borrows his friend's vacation home in remote, rural England to work on a literary translation. Told by his friend, after the fact, the story is full of foreboding and regret that she hadn't warned him of her strange experiences with the insular local townspeople.

These and the six other stories in this collection will keep readers transfixed.

Ruth Rendell is the author of forty-five books, including Harm Done and A Sight for Sore Eyes. She is the recipient of three Edgar awards, four Gold Daggers, the Commander of the British Empire Award, and the most prestigious Edgar of them all, the Grand Master Award. She lives in London.