See More From Book Club Friends

Sign up and log in to post, comment and join the conversation.

Book Club Friends is 100% Canadian 🇨🇦

Ruth Rendell
A Guilty Thing Surprised
Book #5 of the Inspector Wexford series
See the list of Inspector Wexford books in order

A Guilty Thing Surprised

In A Guilty Thing Surprised, multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell has created a thriller so taut and tense and full of twists and turns, you’ll be gripped from page one. An absolute must for fans of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon.

‘Ruth Rendell is England’s premier detective-thriller writer’ — Spectator
‘The best mystery writer in the English-speaking world’ — The Times
‘Ruth Rendell has a sharp and perceptive eye for everyday detail, an uncanny understanding of human behaviour and, above all, the ability to colour innocence with evil’ — The Sunday Telegraph
‘I could not put the book down!’ — ***** Reader review
‘You’ll love it!’ — ***** Reader review
‘A real page-turner’ — ***** Reader review
‘Wexford at his compelling best’ — ***** Reader review

**********************************************************************
EVEN THE DEAD HAVE SOMETHING TO HIDE…

The discovery of Elizabeth Nightingale’s broken body in the woods near her home could not have come as a bigger shock.

Called in to investigate, Chief Inspector Wexford quickly determines that the Nightingales were considered the perfect couple – wealthy, attractive and without an enemy in the world.

However, someone must have been alone with Elizabeth that night in the woods. Someone who hated – or perhaps loved – her enough to beat her to death.

The case seems straightforward. But Wexford soon learns that beneath the placid surface of the Nightingales’ lives lie undercurrents and secrets no one ever suspected…

Author: Ruth Rendell
Published: 1970
Page Count: 300

This page may include affiliate links.

Purchase on:

Amazon
Amazon

Book Club Discussion Questions For A Guilty Thing Surprised

A Guilty Thing Surprised
Discuss A Guilty Thing Surprised With Your Book Club Friends

Do you want to take a deeper dive intoA Guilty Thing Surprised? Chat about themes, characters, settings, plots and let’s celebrate this book for our Book of the Month discussion!

Suggest A Guilty Thing Surprised

More Book Club Discussions

A Better Man
A Fatal Grace
A Great Reckoning
A Rule Against Murder
A Trick of the Light
A World of Curiosities
All the Devils Are Here
An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s
Beautiful Ugly
Bury Your Dead
Glass Houses
How the Light Gets In
How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future
Iron Lake (20th Anniversary Edition)
Kingdom of the Blind
On Tyranny
State of Terror
Still Life
The Beautiful Mystery
The Boyfriend
The Briar Club
The Brutal Telling
The Crash
The Cruelest Month
The Frozen River
The Grey Wolf
The Housemaid
The Life We Bury
The Long Way Home
The Madness of Crowds
The Mighty Red
The Nature of the Beast
The River We Remember
The Rose Code
The Searcher
The Thursday Murder Club
See All Discussions

Highly Recommended Books by Ruth Rendell Book Club Friends

Bring Me Back
City of Endless Night
Silent In The Sanctuary
Mrs de Winter
The Seagull
Black and Blue
A Sleeping Life
Trick Or Treat
The Unlocking Season
The Confession
Death of Riley
Make Death Love Me
The Flood
Blind Descent
Seven Years
Mortal Prey
The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories
A Case of Spirits
A Moment on the Edge: 100 Years of Crime Stories by Women
Broken Promise
The House of Unexpected Sisters
Justice Hall
Three-Day Town
Dull Knife
The Spy Coast
Gravity
Clete
Desolation Mountain
Song of the Lion
Find Them Dead
Mrs Pollifax and the Golden Triangle
Asta's Book
Riptide
The Searcher
Dark Road
The Shifting Tide: A William Monk Novel
Still Life Deluxe Edition
The Devil's Star
A Study in Sherlock
Send Bygraves
Dreaming of the Bones
Splinter the Silence
Mulholland Dive: Three Stories
Daylight
Murder on the Serpentine
The Web: An Alex Delaware Novel
The Perfect Husband
A Sudden
Duel to the Death
Moscow Rules
Lion in the Valley
Find You First
X
Ice Cold: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel
Gone Missing
First Family
The Black Ascot
A Christmas Legacy: A Novel
Ill Wind
Dust: A Richard Jury Mystery
The Best American Mystery Stories 2011
Through the Evil Days
A Fatal Grace
The September Society
Jennie
The Trespasser
Raven Black
Walking Shadows
From Potter's Field
Garden of Lamentations
Extraordinary People
The Way of the Bear: A Mystery Novel
A New York Christmas: A Novel
No Man's Nightingale
Ends of Justice
Blood Ties
The Western Star: A Longmire Mystery
The Breakdown
The Golden One
The Kate Martinelli Series: Books 1-3
Bertie and the Crime of Passion
Cardington Crescent
The Windsor Protocol
Sons of the Wolf
Cold Vengeance
In the Bleak Midwinter
Land of the Living
Dolphin Junction: Stories
Borderline
Scratch a Woman
The Dark Wind
The Cold Dish: A Longmire Mystery
The Mary Russell Series: Books 2-4
Smoke and Mirrors
Earthly Delights
The Secret Place
Too Close for Comfort: The Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series
Letters to a Soldier
How to Solve Your Own Murder
The Stills
Sins of the Fathers
Bitterroot
The Long Call
206 Bones
Wilde Lake
Backtrack: A Mike Bowditch Short Mystery
Rock Paper Scissors
In a Dark House
A Treacherous Curse
The Judas Battalion
Union Jack
Cop Town
The Nature of the Beast
The A List
Royal Flush
Rainbow's End: A Richard Jury Mystery
His & Hers
The Last Devil to Die
Bruno and Le Pere Noel: A Bruno
Shadow Prey
The Serpent on the Crown
The Cuckoo's Calling
House of Stone
Winter's Child
He Shall Thunder in the Sky
Two for Texas
Day of Atonement
Milk and Honey: A Decker/Lazarus Novel
As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
I
A Christmas Journey
A Dark-Adapted Eye
Death of a Ghost
Death of a Butterfly
Dangerous Minds
Deception: An Alex Delaware Novel
The Burnt House
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
Never Tell
The Price of Love and Other Stories
Talking God
Seven Dials
The Dollhouse
Unnatural History: An Alex Delaware Novel
The Crocodile Bird
Mercy Falls
Whisper to the Blood
Edge of Evil
The Custom of the Army: An Outlander Novella
Telling Tales
Night in the City
The Blood Doctor
Private Eyes
Shroud for a Nightingale
The Devil's Bed
Freeze Frame
The Graveyard of the Hesperides
Into the Darkness
The Moor
Careless in Red
A Comedy of Terrors
Wicked Charms
Dream Girl
The Second Death
Mind Prey
Kills Well with Others
No Graves As Yet: A Novel
Death at Victoria Dock
A Match Made for Murder
The Blood Card
A Grave in the Woods
The Dirty Duck
An Echo of Murder: A William Monk Novel
A Killer in King's Cove
Fox Creek
The Tree of Hands
Master of Souls
Baltimore Blues
The Mummy Case
A Measure of Darkness
Aftermath: An Inspector Banks Novel
An East End Murder: A Charles Lennox Short Story
Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
The Forgotten Affairs of Youth
The Black Cat: A Richard Jury Mystery
All the Colors of the Dark
One Fine Day You're Gonna Die
OverKill
No Man's Land
Our Lady of Pain: An Edwardian Murder Mystery
Long Spoon Lane
Uncharted Waters
The Crack Cocaine Diet
A Burial at Sea
Silhouette in Scarlet: A Vicky Bliss Novel of Suspense
Last Car to Elysian Fields
Diamond and the Eye
Killing Raven
At Risk
A More Perfect Union
Daisy Darker
Ruth's First Christmas Tree
The Hippopotamus Pool
F is for Fugitive
E is for Evidence
Hard Eight
The Pearl Diver
The Therapist
Dakota
A Banquet of Consequences
Nothing to Lose
Another Girl: A Kings Lake Investigation
Ammie
The Maharani's Pearls: A Bess Crawford Story
Ring In the Dead: A J. P. Beaumont Novella
Plum Lucky
Thunder Bay
Under the Knife
Death of a Macho Man
The Silent Wife: A Novel
Uniform Justice
Witch Hunt
Six Years
The Vinegar Mother
The Edge
Invisible Girl
Agatha Raisin and The Witch of Wyckhadden
Serpentine: An Alex Delaware Novel
Upon a Dark Night
A Better Man
The Mary Russell Companion
I is for Innocent
Flash and Bones
Hard Truth
The Last Mrs. Summers
Fatal Pursuit
Death of a Dreamer
Believing the Lie
The Birthday Present
A Finer End
We Shall Not Sleep
The Chocolate War
Dismissed with Prejudice
They Thought I Was Dead: Sandy's Story
Rutland Place
The Torment of Others
The Lions of Fifth Avenue
Daughters of Rome
Masked Ball at Broxley Manor
After I'm Gone
Evans to Betsy
Pieces of Her: A Novel
Improbable Cause
The Silent Spirit
A Grave Denied
A Hanging at Dawn: A Bess Crawford Short Story
A Christmas Resolution: A Novel
Ordinary Grace
Rain Gods
What to Do When Someone Dies
Hiss and Hers
A Superior Death
False Prophet: A Decker/Lazarus Novel
Say Goodbye
Die Again: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel
Deadly Stakes
Electra
What's Past Is Prologue
Clown Town
Forever and a Day: A James Bond Novel
Pros and Cons: A Short Story
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Skeleton in the Closet
D is for Deadbeat
After That Night: A Will Trent Thriller
Eyes of Prey
Evil Bones
Reese Witherspoon Harlan Coben Novel
John Doe: A Rizzoli & Isles Short Story
House Of Stairs
The Curse of the Pharaohs
To Kill a Troubadour
An Evil Heart
A Christmas Revelation: A Novel
Bloody Genius
The Obsidian Chamber
Where Memories Lie
Endangered Species
Tigerlily's Orchids
One True Love
The Sheen on the Silk
Indemnity Only
In a Dark
The Hollows
Heartstone
A Simple Murder: A Kate Burkholder Short Story Collection
The Empress File
Killing Time: An Agatha Raisin Mystery
Five Fires