Shake Hands Forever
 First edition (UK) | |
| Author | Ruth Rendell |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Inspector Wexford #9 |
| Genre | Crime, Mystery novel |
| Publisher | Hutchinson |
Publication date | 25 April 1975 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 215 pp |
| ISBN | 0-09-122760-7 |
| OCLC | 44533117 |
| 823/.9/14 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.R4132 Sh PR6068.E63 |
| Preceded by | Some Lie and Some Die |
| Followed by | A Sleeping Life |
Shake Hands Forever is a novel by British writer Ruth Rendell, first published in 1975. It is the 9th entry in her popular Inspector Wexford series.
Plot summary
Most people would have screamed. Mrs Hathall made no sound. She had seen death many times before, but she had never before seen a death by violence. Heavily, she plodded across the room and descended the stairs to where her son waited. 'There's been an accident,' she said. 'Your wife's dead.'Chief Inspector Wexford could discover no motive, no reason, no suspect, and he had no sausages on his plate- all he had were his own intuitive suspicions. Probably he was reading meaning where there was none; probably Angela Hathall really had picked up a stranger, and that stranger had killed her. But why such doubt? Was Wexford becoming cynical and untrusting - or was this simply one of the most ingenious crimes he had ever tackled?