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The Best Episodes of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries

Every episode of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries!

The Best Episodes of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries

The Ruth Rendell mysteries is a British television series made by TVS and Meridian Television for ITV between 2 August 1987 and 11 October 2000.
  1. Background image for Shake Hands Forever: Part One
    8.0/10(68 votes)

    #1 - Shake Hands Forever: Part One

    S2:E4

    Angela Hathall is murdered, but Wexford can find no motive and no suspect. Maybe she picked up a stranger who killed her?The line Wexford follows alienates not just his colleagues, including Mike Burden, but his wife, too.

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    Director:Unknown
  2. Background image for A Guilty Thing Surprised: Part One
    7.8/10(70 votes)

    #2 - A Guilty Thing Surprised: Part One

    S2:E1

    Wexford finds he is dealing with a very nasty case when nature-loving Elizabeth Nightingale is murdered on one of her nightly walks through the woods around Myfleet Manor.

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    Director:Unknown
  3. Background image for Shake Hands Forever: Part Three
    7.8/10(36 votes)

    #3 - Shake Hands Forever: Part Three

    S2:E6

    No description available

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    Director:Unknown
  4. Background image for An Unkindness of  Ravens: Part One
    7.7/10(38 votes)

    #4 - An Unkindness of Ravens: Part One

    S4:E7

    Rodney Williams disappears and then his body found in the woods. Wexford investigates and finds more than one mystery.

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    Director:John Gorrie
    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for The Strawberry Tree: Part Two
    7.7/10(8 votes)

    #5 - The Strawberry Tree: Part Two

    S8:E5

    Continuing the drama about a wealthy widow who still grieves the loss of her brother.Petra is lonely. Will's constant attention is no consolation for the loss of her brother Piers. Then she receives a visit from two strangers claiming to be Piers and cousin Rosario, and her past begins to catch up with her.

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    Director:Herbert Wise
    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for A Guilty Thing Surprised: Part Three
    7.6/10(40 votes)

    #6 - A Guilty Thing Surprised: Part Three

    S2:E3

    No description available

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    Director:Unknown
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  8. Background image for Shake Hands Forever: Part Two
    7.6/10(35 votes)

    #7 - Shake Hands Forever: Part Two

    S2:E5

    No description available

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    Director:Unknown
  9. Background image for The Best Man to Die: Part Three
    7.6/10(27 votes)

    #8 - The Best Man to Die: Part Three

    S4:E6

    No description available

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    Director:Herbert Wise
    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for Put on by Cunning
    7.6/10(69 votes)

    #9 - Put on by Cunning

    S4:E9

    When a world-famous flautist is murdered Wexford wonders if his recently returned daughter had anything to do with it. He becomes obsessed with proving that she is an imposter, even getting permission to travel as far afield as the USA and France to do so.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  11. Background image for May and June: Part One
    7.6/10(56 votes)

    #10 - May and June: Part One

    S10:E5

    May Thrace and June Symonds are sisters, but their lives are very different. While June lives in the lap of luxury, May is struggling. And May becomes convinced that she has been done a great injustice.

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  12. Background image for The Best Man to Die: Part Two
    7.5/10(25 votes)

    #11 - The Best Man to Die: Part Two

    S4:E5

    No description available

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    Director:Herbert Wise
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for A Guilty Thing Surprised: Part Two
    7.4/10(40 votes)

    #12 - A Guilty Thing Surprised: Part Two

    S2:E2

    No description available

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    Director:Unknown
  14. Background image for Some Lie and Some Die: Part One
    7.3/10(65 votes)

    #13 - Some Lie and Some Die: Part One

    S4:E1

    The Kingsmarkham rock festival is going smoothly until the disfigured body of of a local girl, thought to be living in London, is found in a nearby quarry. Wexford investigates the links between a charismatic singer and a young woman gone to the bad.

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  15. Background image for An Unkindness of Ravens: Part Two
    7.3/10(23 votes)

    #14 - An Unkindness of Ravens: Part Two

    S4:E8

    No description available

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    Director:John Gorrie
    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for May and June: Part Two
    7.3/10(28 votes)

    #15 - May and June: Part Two

    S10:E6

    No description available

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  17. Background image for The Best Man to Die: Part One
    7.2/10(42 votes)

    #16 - The Best Man to Die: Part One

    S4:E4

    Wexford joins forces with the bridegroom when his best man is killed at the stag party. And Charlie Hatton's death is only the first in a string of murders which seem to be about cheating husbands, loose women and gangsters.

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    Director:Herbert Wise
    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for Bribery and Corruption: Part One
    7.2/10(86 votes)

    #17 - Bribery and Corruption: Part One

    S10:E2

    Nicholas Hawthorne is a young engineer, recently made redundant and looking for a job in the boat-building industry. He has a very realistic nightmare about a woman being murdered. Then, on an unsuccessful dinner date, Nicholas spots Julian Sorensen, the boss of the firm which has laid him off, and the woman with him isn't his wife. Sorensen pays Nicholas's dinner bill. The next day, trying to pay back the money, Nicholas sees a photograph of Sorensen's wife - and she is the woman who was killed in his dream... Nicholas decides to investigate.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for Bribery and Corruption: Part Two
    7.2/10(57 votes)

    #18 - Bribery and Corruption: Part Two

    S10:E3

    Part two of two. Nick's attempted suicide implicates him in Emma's death and Annabel casts light on the mystery.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for Thornapple
    7.2/10(80 votes)

    #19 - Thornapple

    S10:E4

    A boy obsessively collects poisons - and then he tries them out, with deadly results.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for Wolf to the Slaughter: Part One
    7.1/10(66 votes)

    #20 - Wolf to the Slaughter: Part One

    S1:E1

    One evening, someone messes up a love-nest on a side street in a small country town. The carpet is soaked with human blood, but there is no body to be found. Meanwhile, a beautiful, promiscuous woman goes missing - as does the bundle of cash she was carrying. But Wexford and Burden have different theories about the disappearance of the eccentric Anita Margolis.

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  22. Background image for Harm Done
    7.1/10(131 votes)

    #21 - Harm Done

    S12:E1

    Wexford copes with two abductions of teen-aged girls, the disappearance of a 3 year old from her bedroom, and the return of a paroled pedophile to the town.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  23. Background image for Wolf to the Slaughter: Part  Four
    7.0/10(40 votes)

    #22 - Wolf to the Slaughter: Part Four

    S1:E4

    No description available

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  24. Background image for Some Lie and Some Die: Part Two
    7.0/10(27 votes)

    #23 - Some Lie and Some Die: Part Two

    S4:E2

    No description available

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  25. Background image for Wolf to the Slaughter: Part Two
    6.9/10(40 votes)

    #24 - Wolf to the Slaughter: Part Two

    S1:E2

    No description available

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  26. Background image for Wolf to the Slaughter: Part Three
    6.9/10(41 votes)

    #25 - Wolf to the Slaughter: Part Three

    S1:E3

    No description available

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Best Episodes Summary

"Shake Hands Forever: Part One" is the best rated episode of "The Ruth Rendell Mysteries". It scored 8/10 based on 68 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Clive Exton, it aired on 9/23/1988. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "A Guilty Thing Surprised: Part One".