A young woman, sheltered from the outside world, comes to terms with her deluded, murderous mother-and what she must do to survive When the police come to the door at the gatehouse of a remote British estate, sixteen-year-old Liza and her mother know that their lives are about to change forever. After all, Liza watched her mother kill a man-well, more than just one. Having lived as a virtual hermit on the estate, Liza knows nothing of the outside world, but she sets off to find her way with the help of a newly won lover. As she learns about those around her, she begins to discover herself-and just how alike she and her mother might be. Rendell carefully unravels this tale of an obsessive bond between mother and daughter and of hope for a new life in a strange land.
"A strong performance that should spoil the trains-and-planes readership rotten."
The Independent
"Ruth Rendell excels in depicting the damaged life, the ruined soul whose fierce, elemental pain is refracted into the world as ritualistic, orderly, and even apparently calm behavior."
San Francisco Chronicle
"In a sea of slasher novels, Ruth Rendell's The Crocodile Bird is an oasis of clean writing, clear thinking, and genuine insight that deserves the description 'psychological thriller.'"
