The Crocodile Bird: A Novel

by Ruth Rendell

A mother and a daughter live quietly in the rustic gatehouse of Shrove House, an isolated British estate. Their life seems perfectly ordinary except that daughter Liza has been kept isolated from the outside world for all of her sixteen years. And that he has seen her beautiful mother commit murder... more than once. Now, as the police come searching for a missing man, Liza's sheltered, strange world begins to fall apart. Piece by piece she will reveal her mother's tale of betrayal, desire, and obsession. Step-by-step we discover how much like mother, like daughter she is.

• ISBN10: 0440218659
• ISBN13: 9780440218654
• Publish Date: 10 October 1994 (first published 2 September 1993)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780440218654

Reviews

[Cameron Trost]

A fascinating tale about a mother and daughter. In this novel, more so than in most of Rendell's, we follow the life of these two characters in their isolated environment. We grow with Liza, a girl who knows almost nothing of the world beyond what her mother has allowed her to glimpse. She is both held back and nurtured by her mother's profound anxieties and grand principles. This tale is heavier on psychology and drama than suspense, and the description of the characters, their internal dialogue, and the beautiful environment of Shrove House and the gatehouse are impressive. The only reason I didn't give The Crocodile Bird five stars is the absence of surprises. The story is wonderfully told but we know just what will happen and where it will end. Rendell knows how to throw wicked twists into her plots and it would have been good to have at least one here.