cover image House of Stairs

House of Stairs

Ruth Rendell, Barbara Vine. Onyx Books, $4.99 (336pp) ISBN 978-0-451-40211-0

Who is the sad, reflective narrator, and what illness might she have? What hold does the tall, dark woman called Bell have on her? And what happened at the carefully described House of Stairs in London that sent Bell to prison? PW called this mystery ``profoundly memorable.'' (Aug.)