Books like The second Wexford omnibus by Ruth Rendell

When a commuter train ride turns into a shocking glimpse of another life, Rachel’s curiosity pulls her deep into a murder mystery that challenges her own sense of reality.

Walter Hartright, a drawing master, becomes entangled with Laura Fairlie, Sir Percival Glyde, and the scheming Count Fosco as questions of identity and madness intertwine in 19th‑century England.

Detective Cassie Maddox transfers out of Dublin Murder Squad but is called back to solve a murder that looks almost identical to her past self.

Inspector Wexford investigates the brutal strangulation of timid housewife Margaret Parsons in the quiet town of Kingsmarkham, a case that launches a harrowing detective novel.

When a new road threatens the ancient woods of Framhust, environmentalists mobilize and an extremist group kidnaps five people—including Inspector Wexford’s wife—in a race against time to stop the destruction.

Inspector Wexford, sent to London for rest, finds his nephew Howard leading a grim investigation into a girl’s unsolved murder in an overgrown cemetery.

Inspector Reginald Wexford calmly tackles the violent murder of a celebrated author, her husband, and their daughter, amidst intense media scrutiny.

Chief Inspector Wexford returns to investigate a cold case in Kingsmarkham when new evidence from a family member forces a reexamination of the decades‑old murder of Mrs. Primero.

"I very much need to be dead." These are the chilling last words left by a man who had everything to live for but took his own life. In the void that remains stands his widow, FBI agent Jane Hawk, surrounded by questions destined to go unanswered unless she does what all the grief and fury inside her demand: Find the truth, no matter what. People of talent and accomplishment, people seemingly happy and sound of mind, have recently been committing suicide in surprising numbers. A disturbing pattern is beginning to emerge. Jane is determined to give up everything to find out why. And if that means going rogue and becoming America's Most Wanted, then so be it. Those arrayed against her are legion, and devoted to protecting something profoundly important-or terrifying-enough to exterminate any and all in their way. But Jane is as clever as these enemies are cold-blooded, as relentless as they are ruthless. And she is driven by a righteous rage they can never comprehend. Because it is born of love.

During a rock festival in the fictional English village of Kingsmarkham, Inspector Wexford confronts a brutal quarry murder and investigates the tangled links between a troubled local girl and an influential pop star.

Across a bleak London backstreet, three ordinary men confront obsession—Stanley Manning’s crosswords and inherited wealth, Alan Groombridge’s bank‑money scheme, and Martin Urban’s sudden fortunes—leading to tangled debts and danger.