Readers of PD James, Ann Cleeves and Donna Leon will love this deliciously tense and suspenseful thriller from multi-million copy and SUNDAY TIMES bestselling author Ruth Rendell. An absolute page-turner you won't be able to stop reading...

'If crime fiction is currently in rude good health, its practitioners striving to better the craft and keep it fresh, vibrant and relevant, this is in no small part thanks to Ruth Rendell.' -- Ian Rankin
'One of the best novelists writing today' - PD James
'The best mystery writer anywhere in the English-speaking world' - Boston Globe
'A remarkable talent' -- The Times Literary Supplement
'First rate thriller' -- Boston Globe
'A steadily engrossing tale' -- Publisher's Weekly
'As usual Ruth Rendell has penned a masterpiece. It was full of suspense and surprise. I really enjoyed reading it' -- ***** Reader review
'Very good book had me gripped right until the last' -- ***** Reader review
'Superb in every way' -- ***** Reader review
'Read it in a single go' -- ***** Reader review

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Anita Margolis has vanished. Dark and exquisite, Anita's character is as mysterious as her disappearance. There was no body, no crime - nothing more concrete than an anonymous letter and the intriguing name of Smith.

According to headquarters, it wasn't to be considered a murder enquiry at all.

With the letter providing them with only one questionable lead to follow, Wexford and his sidekick Inspector Burden are compelled to make enquiries. They soon discover Anita is wealthy, flighty, and thoroughly passionate and immoral. The straight-laced Burden has a very clear idea of what happened to her. But Wexford has his own suspicions...

He knows that passion can be lethal.

Wolf to the Slaughter is the third book to feature the classic crime-solving detective, Chief Inspector Wexford. You can continue to read about him in The Best Man to Die.

One of the best novelists writing today -- P.D. James
Ruth Rendell has quite simply transformed the genre of crime writing. She displays her peerless skill in blending the mundane, commonplace aspects of life with the potent murky impulses of desire and greed, obsession and fear * Sunday Times *
A firm grasp of social concerns ensure that her novels are reflective of our own times, as well as hugely absorbing -- Louise Welsh * The Times *
The best mystery writer anywhere in the English-speaking world * Boston Globe *
An unusual detective story... intelligent, well-written, with a surprising twist at the end * Times Literary Supplement *
Rendell never fails to come up trumps, and her millions of admirers will eagerly consume this offering as they have all the others * The Irish Times *
This is Rendell on cracking form, with the entire accoutrements one expects from her * The Good Book Guide *
[Wexford] has become an old friend who gets better with age. * The Herald *
Psychologically acute and extremely disturbing, Ruth Rendell's work is outstanding. * The Times *
It's not often you pick up a book where the plot is technically perfect, where the characters all come off the page perfectly formed and the writing is so good that it's impossible to spot an unnecessary word, but which still managed to be a damn good story. I was still reading at 2 o'clock this morning... * TheBookbag.co.uk *

Ruth Rendell was an exceptional crime writer, and will be remembered as a legend in her own lifetime. Her groundbreaking debut novel, From Doon With Death, was first published in 1964 and introduced the reader to her enduring and popular detective, Inspector Reginald Wexford, who went on to feature in twenty-four of her subsequent novels. With worldwide sales of approximately 20 million copies, Rendell was a regular Sunday Times bestseller. Her sixty bestselling novels include police procedurals, some of which have been successfully adapted for TV, stand-alone psychological mysteries, and a third strand of crime novels under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. Very much abreast of her times, the Wexford books in particular often engaged with social or political issues close to her heart. Rendell won numerous awards, including the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger for 1976’s best crime novel with A Demon in My View, a Gold Dagger award for Live Flesh in 1986, and the Sunday Times Literary Award in 1990. In 2013 she was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence in crime writing. In 1996 she was awarded the CBE and in 1997 became a Life Peer. Ruth Rendell died in May 2015. Her final novel, Dark Corners, was published in October 2015.