Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (née Grasemann; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015), was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries.
Rendell's best-known creation, Chief Inspector Wexford, was the hero of many popular police stories, some of them successfully adapted for TV. But Rendell also wrote a second type of crime novel that deeply explored the psychological background of criminals and their victims, many of them mentally afflicted or otherwise socially isolated. This theme was developed further in a third series of novels, published under the pseudonym Barbara Vine.
Da hånden fra et lig dukker frem af jorden ved et forladt hus tæt ved skoven, må Kriminalkommissær Wexford i mere end en forstand til at grave i fortiden. Liget har ligget begravet i omtrent ti år og arbejdet med at identificere det, bliver derfor ikke ukompliceret. Området er befolket af sælsomme eksistenser og efterforskningen bringer nabolagets indbyrdes stridigheder og forviklede relationer frem i lyset. IKKE I KØD OG BLOD er et sandt studie i hvor langt folk er villige til at gå for egen vindings skyld.