New and uncollected tales of murder, mischief, magic, and madness. Ruth Rendell was an acknowledged master of psychological suspense; these are ten (and a quarter) of her most chillingly compelling short stories, collected here together for the first time. In these tales, a businessman boasts about cheating on his wife, only to find the tables turned. A beautiful country rectory reverberates to the echo of a historical murder. A compulsive liar acts on impulse, only to be led inexorably to disaster. And a wealthy man finds there is more to his wife's kidnapping than meets the eye. Atmospheric, gripping, and never predictable, this is Ruth Rendell at her inimitable best. The stories are: Never sleep in a bed facing a mirror; A spot of folly; The price of joy; The irony of hate; Digby's wives; The haunting of Shawley rectory; A drop too much; The thief; The long corridor of time; In the tim.