The birthday present

The Birthday Presentby Barbara Vine - a gripping, psychological thriller packed with menace

Intensely imagined, fearful and satisfying'Sunday Times

Tory MP Ivor Tesham has unconventional tastes. And in bored housewife Hebe Furnal he finds someone to share and enact his sexual fantasies. However, one day it all goes terribly wrong. Ivor plans a special liaison for Hebe's birthday - a daring sexual adventure. But dangerous games have unforeseen costs and consequences. And when there is an accidental death, scandal and ruin cannot be far behind . . .

How long can a secret stay a secret?
How long will friends protect a reputation?
And how long before guilt catches up with you?

'The pre-eminent genius of the psychological thriller'Herald

'Gripping, compelling'Mail on Sunday

'Vintage Vine'Literary Review

If you like P.D. James, Ian Rankin and Scott Turow, you will loveThe Bithday Presentby Barbara Vine.

Barbara Vine is the pen-name of Ruth Rendell. She has written fifteen novels using this pseudonym, includingA Fatal InversionandKing Solomon's Carpetwhich both won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger Award. Her other books include:A Dark Adapted Eye;The House of Stairs;Gallowglass;Asta's Book;No Night Is Too Long;In the Time of His Prosperity;The Brimstone Wedding;The Chimney Sweeper's Boy;Grasshopper;The Blood Doctor;The Minotaur;The Birthday PresentandThe Child's Child.