Clodagh Brown loved climbing. First it was trees. Later, as a teenager, she would scale the electrical pylons that tower over the English countryside like giant grasshoppers — and share the experience with Daniel, her first lover. As a young woman she'd walk for miles over London's rooftops, peering through windows into people's intimate lives in a nightly ritual that bound her closely to the small group of friends with whom she lived and climbed. Looking back on it, Clodagh would claim that her passion for heights saved her life — but not without exacting a terrible cost....

Grasshopper is Ruth Rendell's ninth novel written using the pseudonym Barbara Vine. Under her own name, Ruth Rendell writes classic whodunits featuring Inspector Wexford and novels renowned for their mastery of psychological suspense. Her Barbara Vine novels are written in exquisitely crafted layers, peeled away page by page to expose the darkest longings and obsessions of the human heart.