Blood Lines: Long and Short Stories

by Ruth Rendell

Hailed by Patricia Cornwell as "unequivocally the most brilliant mystery writer of our time, " Ruth Rendell now delivers an all-new collection of long- and short-story mysteries. As always with Rendell, these stories of mystery and wrongdoing shine their light into the dark places of the human psyche.

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Thriller, British Literature, Adult Fiction

215 pages, Hardcover

First published August 17, 1995

About the author

A.K.A. Barbara Vine

Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBE, who also wrote under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, was an acclaimed English crime writer, known for her many psychological thrillers and murder mysteries and above all for Inspector Wexford.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of short stories. I echo the other reviewers and my favorite was ‘The Strawberry Tree.
Set in pre-Majorca mass tourism. A story of loneliness, a mystery and acceptance. Normally Rendell doesn’t always allow her characters to get away with anything.

Bloodlines was good too with Wexford grinding down of a key witness. Other stories also featured domestic violence and clothes the unusual addiction of a shopaholic.

Overall an entertaining collection of stories.

[Fiona MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable selection of short stories from Ruth Rendell.
The one I enjoyed the least was the novella length story "The Strawberry Tree." The others were just nice, bite-sized creepy and weird experiences.
My favourite of the stories were "Clothes", "In all honesty", The Man who was the God of Love" and the title story "Blood Lines."
Ruth Rendell continues to entice and excite my brain.

[Cameron Trost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blood Lines is not Ruth Rendell's strongest collection overall (I would recommend starting with The Fallen Curtain, The Fever Tree, and Piranha to Scurfy) but it includes a number of excellent works of short fiction. Shreds and Slivers, Burning End, and In All Honesty demonstrate Rendell's incredible ability to create characters that are quirky but mundane at the same time. The neurotic lady in the latter is a prime example. What makes her writing more remarkable though - and this can be seen in many of the stories in this collection - is how she plays with criminal intent and uncontrollable circumstance in a way that leaves you wondering whether you have just witnessed a cleverly planned murder or a freak accident.

[Bettie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read by Nigel Anthony

Description: In this collection of stories, Ruth Rendell probes behind the patterns of everyday life to pinpoint the deceptions and guilty secrets of human beings.

Not only were the stories short, the overall caboodle is very short. SWIZZ

3* From Doon With Death (Inspector Wexford, #1)
3* A New Lease of Death (Inspector Wexford, #2)
3* Wolf to the Slaughter (Inspector Wexford, #3)
2* The Best Man to Die (Inspector Wexford, #4)
3* A Guilty Thing Suprised #5
3* No More Dying Then (Inspector Wexford, #6)
3* Murder Being Once Done (Inspector Wexford, #7)
3* Some Lie and Some Die (Inspector Wexford, #8)
3* Shake Hands Forever (Inspector Wexford, #9)
3* A Sleeping Life (Inspector Wexford, #10)
3* Put on by Cunning (Inspector Wexford #11)
1* Speaker of Mandarin (Inspector Wexford, #12)
3* An Unkindness of Ravens (Inspector Wexford, #13)
3* The Veiled One (Inspector Wexford, #14)
3* Kissing the Gunner's Daughter (Inspector Wexford, #15)
3* Road Rage (Inspector Wexford, #17)
3* Harm Done (Inspector Wexford, #18)
3* The Babes in the Wood (Inspector Wexford, #19)

3* Not in the Flesh (Inspector Wexford, #21)
2* The Vault (Inspector Wexford, #23)

2* Blood Lines

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was, I felt, an uneven collection. The first story was great. As was the last. And a couple of the middle ones. But, over all, it felt as if Rendell had cleaned off her desk and bound what she found there into a book.

Having said all this, I will admit that I've never read any Rendell before, although I have seen adaptations of her work on PBS. I feel like I need to get one of her full novels.

[C-shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been poking at this book in a quite desultory manner for four months, not because it wasn't good, but because it is a book of short stories that I used for quick reads from time to time. Some of the stories were very good and some were so-so. Ruth Rendell is masterful with horror stories and I always enjoy her writing.

[David]

Another collection of varying stories from Rendell, once again, concluding with something pretty much the length of an novella. One of the things Ruth Rendell is especially good at is narrating the story from within the perspective of someone who is very much insane, but is unaware of their own condition. Things make sense to them in a way in which they do not to the reader. We don't necessarily feel greater sympathy for the characters who commit the various crimes, but we do understand them better.

[Encarni Prados · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me gusta mucho esta mujer, tengo una colección suya en papel esperándome y ya tocaba leer uno. En este libro hay una serie de relatos de distintas temáticas, con asesinatos unos, con misterios otros, pero con una buena trama como característica común. El más largo es el último “ El madroño” una historia que te hace pensar en lo que a veces conviene más aunque duela, muy buenos todos.

[Lawanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook performed by Nigel Anthony.

[Theresa Leone Davidson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ruth Rendell, who just passed away in May of this year, is one of my favorite authors of mysteries. Her novels are always good, with strong, vivid characters, and neat little twists in the stories. She is not, however, as good at crafting short stories. The ones in this compilation are at best uneven; at worst, they are predictable and slightly dull. The last story in the book is the longest, it is really a novella, and, not coincidentally, it is the best. It does have, I thought, a somewhat unsatisfying ending, though. It also bothered me that several of the stories have lead female characters that are weak, insipid, submissive to the male characters, and that got to be annoying very fast. I would highly recommend any of Rendell's novels but not this.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so enjoy the Wexford mysteries, so I wasn't sure how I would like a short story collection by Rendell. It was great! For me, the stories have a 'Twilight Zone' or Hitchcock feel; the final story ("The Strawberry Tree") is one I will never forget. In that story we meet a character who is definitely a little off-center, but the ending is deliciously warped. Many of the stories reminded me a bit of the 2 books I have read by the same author writing as Barbara Vine...psychologically creepy.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of stories of varying lengths, with only one being a Wexford Story - Blood Lines. As much as I enjoyed all the stories the best one, for me, is the final one, The Strawberry Tree. A novella in length that spans almost a lifetime and keeps you guessing about where the story will go next. This story is slower paced than some of the others but the plot is compelling as Petra looks back over her life and reflects on what happened to her brother. A brilliant read.

[Leanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far, my favourite story is Shreds & Slivers. We read this in grade 11 or 12 english class because my teacher was awesome, and I became obsessed with Ruth Rendell. Creepiest idea ever, and would almost put me off eating mushrooms, although I kind of take a gamble on the loose ones all the time anyway.

[Jonna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a long while since I have enjoyed a mystery author's writing as much as I enjoyed these stories by Ruth Rendell. Her plots are twisty and intriguing, and her delightful descriptions of settings gave me an eyeful with each page. I will definitely be reading more of her work!

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last story--a novella, really--is excellent and worth the price of admission. Wonderfully eerie and the landscape of southern Spain (Majorca, pre-tourism) is beautifully evoked. Wish the others had been as good.

[Radhika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this collection of stories rather unexceptional. However, the last story (the long story) made up for the mediocrity by providing the perfect touch of eeriness.

[Nisar Masoom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average crime fiction. The best story was the final one: The Strawberry Tree (novella).

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will not say that this is the finest collection of short stories I have read. I will not even say this is even the finest collection of short stories by Rendell, but what I will say is that if you really want to see what it is that makes Rendell's work so fascinating, then read this book. It is full of the fun characters she always creates. Rendell just has a knack of bringing the odd and the ordinary together in order to weave together the strangest of tales. If writers really want to tell a great story whether it be on the screen or in a book, they really should leave behind the super heroes, the beautiful, and the great and mighty behind, and take a long look at the seemingly ordinary people all around them. Rendell proves over and over how everyone has a story to tell if you simply look past the packaging and check under the hood.

[Janet M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give 4-5 stars for the last story/novella, "The Strawberry Tree", a sad haunting tale with unexpected twists. Some of RR's psychological insights are amazing (see one of My Quotes on the use of a name) in this particular story. I believe TST would be worth the price of the book.

The rest of the stories were rather 2-star mediocre, not up to Rendell's caliber. I did somewhat like The God of Love story. However, as others have mentioned, I wasn't crazy about the stereotyped weak, even cloying women -- and the way these stories seem to be thrown together in a hurry.

On the whole, this collection is the weakest of RR's short story books....if you don't take into account The Strawberry Tree.

[Димитър Тодоров · Rating 2 out of 5]

Сборник клонящи към старомодност, криминални разкази с различна дължина, писани в средата на 90-те. В повечето от тях някой от героите страда от прекалено обсесивна мания (изучаване на отровни гъби, решаване на кръстословици, пазаруване на скъпи дрехи) или някое тайно занимание (ровене в чужди писма, игра на огън със служеща за лупа ваза), което го докарва до убийство в ролята на жертва, изпълнител или свидетел. Единият по-дълъг е класическо ала Агата Кристи „кой го направи“ в затворен кръг с инспектор, а последният, най-дългият, е за появила се пред мнителната и саможива сестра на младежа след 40 години мистериозно отсъствие изчезнала на остров Майорка влюбена двойка.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eleven intriguing tales sure to keep you glued to the page.
Rendell's psychological crime novels are among the best of the genre. This collection of short stories and one longer one, The Strawberry Tree are brilliant, neat in word count, set-up, characters, terribly succinct and a breeze to read in one sitting, mainly because you cannot put down the book.
My fave was the 6 page Lizzie's Lover. Cleverly written with an ending I totally did not see coming.
The bigger tale, The Strawberry Tree was a heart-break of a story with a wild twist and it all worked.
Ruth Rendell has always been a writer I've gone back to for a good solid read.

[Joanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a novel of short stories some of which have a mystery element. I only read to page 160 though.
This was the last story in the book but it was also the longest and most slow moving story in the book and so I gave up because I wasn't enjoying it. The stories prior to that one were okay but none of them stick out as anything exceptional. I know lots of people like this author but this is the third one of hers I've tried and like in baseball, three strikes and you're out. Life is too short to read books I don't like.

[Fuzzy Buzzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry I had to give up on this book after the story number 9. I really tried, believe me. I can't even recall any of the story lines I listened to (audiobook).

I am not giving up on Ruth Rendell's books though as I enjoyed The girl next door in the past and I'd love to read/listen to her other works.

[Rebecca I · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories were all good, but the very last story was the best. I kept trying to guess the way it would go - all the way through. It was very effective using the narrative style she chose and hinting at things, but saving the truth until the very end. This story highlights all the ways Rendell could use to add detail and keep the reader in suspense.

[J. Alston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of creepy, interesting stories for Halloween. The only issue I had was the last story, which seemed to take forever to get good, but honestly was quite compelling once I realized where it was going.

[Karen M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know how I’ve never read these stories before…but they were captivating and unnerving. As always the characters are detailed and dialogue flows with the story. It’s up there with the Steven King collection I read earlier. But very different.

[Rik · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag. The longer novellas are fine, well written but nothing special. The shorts were outstanding, very dark and twisted but subtle and delivered perfectly - for some reason they reminded me of Nick Cave's 'Murder Ballads' in literary form!

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

Blood lines
Lizzie's lover
*Burning end
The carer
The man who was the god of love --3
Expectations
*Shreds and slivers
*Clothes
Unacceptable levels
In all honesty
The strawberry tree

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the best in the series.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruth Rendell was, and her work remains, one of my favorites.