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Thirteen Steps Down (Paperback)

by Ruth Rendell (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Thirteen Steps Down + The Water's Lovely + End in Tears
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  • This item: Thirteen Steps Down by Ruth Rendell

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Product details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd; New edition edition (30 Jun 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099474328
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099474326
  • Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 73,248 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #13 in  Books > Crime, Thrillers & Mystery > Authors, A-Z > R > Rendell, Ruth

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Like several of Ruth Rendell's other novels of suspense, Thirteen Steps Down is a book about a couple of murders waiting to happen. Mix Cellini is a half-educated mechanic specializing in exercise machines, who indulges himself in alcohol, self-medication, celebrity-stalking and an obsession with Christie, the Rillington Place murderer. What dooms Cellini, and his victims, is not so much any active principle of evil, as selfishness and a tendency to drift into things that does the job almost as efficiently.

The house where he rents an apartment is a wonderful example of the Bad Place; his eighty-something landlady Gwendolyn is another person who drifts, in her case into nostalgia and slow decay. Mix is a deeply modern monster, but Gwendolyn is one of the proofs that this is not just a bitch at modernity; Mix's potential victim, supermodel Nerissa, is charming, smart and blessed. There are a few too many coincidences here for Thirteen Steps Down to quite make it on to the list of great Rendell--her best books are more tightly constructed--but it is certainly a book which her admirers will want.--Roz Kaveney --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.



Product Description

A classic Rendellian loner, Mix Cellini is superstitious about the number 13. Living in a decaying house in Notting Hill, Mix is obsessed with 10 Rillington Place, where the notorious Christie committed a series of foul murders. He is also infatuated with a beautiful model who lives nearby - a woman who would not look at him twice. Mix's landlady, Gwendolen Chawcer is equally reclusive - living her life through her library of books. Both landlady and lodger inhabit weird worlds of their own. But when reality intrudes into Mix's life, a long pent-up violence explodes.
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Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars RR still the best, 1 Dec 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Thirteen Steps Down (Hardcover)
Loved this book. After so many years, you might expect other writers to dim in quality, certainly in sharpness of focus, but not Rendell - if anything, this book is more focused than ever, especially in its portrait of two characters whose personalities are in dangerous contention throughout.

Chilling and chilly, this is another success. The only slight flaw is the tiny twist at the end, which, I don't know...jarred me a little. Other than that, get this book! Crime novels rarely come better.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly original, 24 Aug 2005
By M. V. Clarke (Durham, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Ruth Rendell's 'Thirteen Steps Down' is a story of obsession, violence, mental instability and morbid fascination. It's a complex plot, with many characters, most of whom are connected to each other in all manner of family or business relationships. The central figures are Mix, an engineer with a fitness company, and his elderly landlord Gwendolen. Mix is a complex character - fascinated by a local murderer of yesteryear, ghosts, and a fashion model. His attempts to balance all 3 interests, or more accurately, obsessions, lead to him losing his job and ending up in all sorts of awkward and confusing situations. Meanwhile, Gwendolen is lost in a bygone age, not comprehending the machinations of the modern world, and pining after her first love, Dr Stephen Reeves.

The plot is long and winding, and involves all characters in a convincing and steady build up. Rendell's portrayal of moods and conversations is superb. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it without hesitation. I often find Rendell's standalone novels to be better than the Wexford series, and this is no exception.

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Woman of No Particular Importance, 20 Nov 2004
By Eileen Pollock (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Thirteen Steps Down (Hardcover)
Thank you to the reviewer just below ("thought provoker") for insightful comments. I wanted to add that Rendell points out through the interactions of Gwendoline and her two elderly friends the indignities and cruelties facing elderly women who are alone. The more frail rely on loyal friends, alone themselves, who give unstintingly. One of these older ladies remarks to herself when she receives an invitation to a party, that she was rather honored to be invited, as she was "a woman of no particular importance." How essential it is to be "someone", a person of particular importance, if you are to be an older woman. Otherwise you will be ignored and left to die alone, seems to be Rendell's ironic message. Rendell faces us with uncomfortable truths, particularly in the shocker ending (don't look at the last page!), when her elderly anti-heroine is spared one final cruelty of old age. Rendell writes about moral issues, about right and wrong, cruelty and kindness, and as such, reading her novels is so much more than entertainment.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Mice in the attic
Well written and relatively free from the 'data dumps' that have marred her books since the mid nineties. It builds tension and is genuinely involving. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Bitter Shurn

1.0 out of 5 stars Probably the worst book I've ever read!
This is a terrible book. The plot is way to contrived to be taken seriously, the characters are thin and without substance and I had to struggle to keep reading to the end. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mrs. Tessa M. Cross

2.0 out of 5 stars Oh get on with it...!
I tried, I really did. To be honest though the story just went on and on, and the build up is not such that kept me wanting to know just a bit more. Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2007 by Cadeyes

4.0 out of 5 stars Unique
This is the best Rendell I have read. As a rule I am not a big fan. Her characters were believable and at times even annoying. Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2007 by L. Hay

5.0 out of 5 stars A good scene builder and great finish
I must compliment Ruth Rendell on an excellent crime novel. She conducts a masterclass in the genre and there are few contemporary writers that can match her skill in developing... Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2006 by Bc V. Price

4.0 out of 5 stars Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places
4.99 stars
"In Rendell's view, we seldom understand how life works and how little control we have over it; criminals are the biggest dolts of all for risking so much on... Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2005 by prisrob

4.0 out of 5 stars Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places
4.99 stars
"In Rendell's view, we seldom understand how life works and how little control we have over it; criminals are the biggest dolts of all for risking so much on... Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2005 by prisrob

4.0 out of 5 stars Rendell back on form
As with many readers, I've been somewhat put off by some recent Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine novels. However this was a real return to form. Read more
Published on 25 Jul 2005 by I. D. Miller

4.0 out of 5 stars Rendell still rules.
Mix Cellini has chosen his place of abode to fall in with his own particular obsession; the deaths and times of the English killer John Christie. Read more
Published on 6 Jul 2005 by A. J Thompson

5.0 out of 5 stars Rendell in great form
I have read dozens of Rendell's books and have not often been disappointed. This one is intricate and really riveting.
I really recommend it.
Published on 15 Feb 2005 by H. Lacroix

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