100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Overnight NZ-wide delivery on in-stock orders πŸš€

The Blunderer

A Virago Modern Classic
3.7 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 3,493 ratings, 435 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Blunderer by Patricia Highsmith is a gripping psychological crime thriller that explores the dark complexities of human nature. The plot follows Walter Stackhouse, a successful lawyer who becomes obsessed with a murder case that eerily mirrors his own crumbling marriage. As his fascination grows, Walter finds himself entangled in a web of deceit and suspicion, leading to a perilous dance with danger and desperation.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2999
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this gripping thriller if you're captivated by psychological suspense and the intricate exploration of guilt. Patricia Highsmith skilfully intertwines complex characters with a tense and twisting plot, making it a must-read for those who appreciate tales of obsession and moral ambiguity.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

First published in 1953, The Blunderer is often hailed as Highsmith's finest novel, about the rise and fall of a faithful suburban husband who plots his wife's demise in fantasies gruesome and eerily serene.

First published in 1953, The Blunderer is often hailed as Highsmith's finest novel, about the rise and fall of a faithful suburban husband who plots his wife's demise in fantasies gruesome and eerily serene.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The Blunderer was written by Highsmith in between Strangers on a Train and The Talented Mr Ripley. The novel follows the young, successful, and handsome Walter Stackhouse, who seems to have it all, that is, until the day his wife's body is found at the bottom of a cliff.

Under the intense scrutiny of the investigation, he commits one mistake, then another, untilβ€”in true Highsmithian fashionβ€”Walter finds his perfect life derailed. Now Walter is running from the obsessions of the murderer, the suspicions of the lead cop, and his own increasingly life-threatening blunders.

'The No.1 Greatest Crime Writer' β€” The Times

Series: Virago Modern Classics

View all
  • Rebecca
    "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again..." In Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier weaves a suspenseful and atmospheric tale that captures the reader from its very first line. As a young and inexperienced lady's companion, the unnamed heroine's life is marked by yearning and meekness. Her mundane existence takes an unexpected turn on a trip to the South of...
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • An Angel At My Table
    An Angel at My Table by Janet Frame is a poignant and compelling autobiography that traces the extraordinary journey of one of New Zealand's most acclaimed authors. The narrative begins with her enchanting childhood, unfolding the wonders and curiosities of her early years. As Frame grows, she faces the dark and harrowing experiences of being misdiagnosed with schizophrenia, resulting in...
    Paperback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God
    ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL NOVELS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 'This novel is a packet of surprises as we have no idea what's going to happen next' GUARDIAN 'One of the greatest writers of our time' TONI MORRISON 'Devilishly funny and academically solid: delicious mixture' MAYA ANGELOU 'There is no novel I love more' ZADIE SMITH She was stretched on...
    Paperback
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Heartburn
    A BESTSELLING NOVEL AND MAJOR FILM STARRING MERYL STREEP AND JACK NICHOLSON 'I have bought more copies of this book to give to people, in a frenzy of enthusiasm, than any other . . . Heartburn is the perfect, bittersweet, sobbingly funny, all-too-true confessional novel' - NIGELLA LAWSON 'A perfect example of Ephron's gift for turning tragedy into comedy' -...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Valley Of The Dolls
    Before Jackie Collins, Candace Bushnell and Lena Dunham, Jacqueline Susann held the world rapt with her tales of the private passions of Hollywood starlets, high-powered industrialists and the jet-set. Valley of the Dolls took the world by storm when it was first published, fifty years ago. Never had a book been so frank about sex, drugs and show business. It...
    Paperback
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Dark Horse
    By the author of Black Narcissus and The River '[Godden's] distinctive, poised and unsentimental books have never lost a shred of their almost hypnotic appeal' β€” ROSIE THOMAS, GUARDIAN 'One of our best and most captivating novelists' β€” PHILIP HENSHER '[Godden has] a genius for storytelling' β€” EVENING STANDARD 'All horses can walk - some badly, some well, but to...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • In this House of Brede
    INTRODUCED BY LAUREN GROFF 'Rumer Godden's novels have a timeless shimmer' GUARDIAN 'One hundred years after her birth, Rumer Godden's novels still pulse with life' MATTHEW DENNISON, TELEGRAPH 'Her craftsmanship is always sure' NEW YORK TIMES 'The motto was Pax but the word was set in a circle of thorns. Peace, but what a strange peace, made of unremitting toil...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • An Episode of Sparrows
    Someone has dug up the private garden in the Square and taken buckets of dirt, and Miss Angela Chesney of the Garden Committee is sure that a gang of boys from Catford Street must be to blame. Angela's sister, Olivia, isn't so sure. She wonders why the neighbourhood childrenβ€”the 'sparrows' she sometimes watches from her windowβ€”have to be locked out...
    Paperback
    $2399
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Carrie's War
    One of the most loved and enduring wartime novels, Carrie's War is a modern classic. WITH A NEW FOREWORD BY MICHAEL MORPURGO AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALAN MARKS 'A touching, utterly convincing book' JACQUELINE WILSON 'Poignant and realistic... Carrie's War captures the true reality of war for a child, and it doesn't sentimentalise war' SHIRLEY HUGHES, GUARDIAN 'I did a dreadful...
    Paperback
    $2300
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Rebecca
    NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX FILM starring Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily Collins. 'The moment I finished this story, I turned to page one and started it over again' Malorie Blackman 'Excellent entertainment . . . du Maurier created a scale by which modern women can measure their feelings' Stephen King Rebecca is a masterpiece in which...
    Hardback
    $4499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Noel Streatfeild's Holiday Stories
    Classic Noel Streatfeild at her warm-hearted best. I absolutely loved it – Hilary McKay, author of The Skylarks' War Such rewarding reading – Daily Telegraph There are stories for every reader in this delightful collection - exciting crime-solving adventures; nervous young actors in the spotlight for the first time; unforgettable holidays and unlikely friendships. Featuring beautiful illustrations by Peter Bailey...
    Paperback
    $1999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Little Women
    I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. The four March sisters couldn't be more different: Meg, the eldest, is dutiful and patient; Jo is adventurous, with dreams of being a great writer; shy, musical Beth is the peacemaker; and headstrong Amy likes the finer things in life. They may not always get...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Blunderer by Patricia Highsmith is described as an almost unputdownable read, with the author being likened to a spider writing about flies, suggesting a gripping narrative. The book's unsettling nature makes it comparable to bad dreams that linger, indicative of Highsmith's ability to craft profoundly disturbing and engaging thrillers.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780349004525

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 07 May 2015

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Virago Press Ltd

Contributors:

  • Introduction by Denise Mina

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 19.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 220g

Pages: 384

About the Author

Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) was born in Fort Worth, Texas. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, was made into a classic film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. The Talented Mr Ripley, published in 1955, introduced the fascinating anti-hero Tom Ripley, and was made into an Oscar-winning film in 1999 by Anthony Minghella. Graham Greene called Patricia Highsmith 'the poet of apprehension', saying that she 'created a world of her own - a world claustrophobic and irrational which we enter each time with a sense of personal danger'. Patricia Highsmith died in Locarno, Switzerland, in February 1995. Her last novel, Small g: A Summer Idyll, was published posthumously, the same year.

Also by Patricia Highsmith

View all
  • Ripley Under Ground
    Reissued to mark the centenary of Patricia Highsmith and the upcoming BBC adaptation, Ripley, these beautiful new editions mark Highsmith's entry into Vintage Classics. You're always good on ideas, Tom... An American art collector is claiming that the expensive masterpiece he bought is a fake. He wants to meet with the artist - but Tom Ripley knows that artist no...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Talented Mr Ripley
    Reissued to mark the centenary of Patricia Highsmith and the upcoming BBC adaptation, Ripley, these beautiful new editions mark Highsmith's entry into Vintage Classics. As seen on Write Around the World with Richard E Grant 'The No.1 Greatest Crime Writer' - The Times 'Ripley, amoral, hedonistic and charming, is a genuinely original creation' - Daily Telegraph 'He is using you...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Strangers on a Train
    Reissued to mark the centenary of Patricia Highsmith and the upcoming BBC adaptation, Ripley, these beautiful new editions mark Highsmith's entry into Vintage Classics. With a new introduction by Paula Hawkins, author of Girl on a Train "Hey! Cheeses, what an idea! I kill your wife and you kill my father! We meet on a train, see, and nobody knows...
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Talented Mr Ripley
    Vintage Quarterbound Classics - Bound to be beautiful. A beautiful, hardback edition of the iconic crime classic, now a major Netflix series. Tom Ripley wants money, success, and the good life - and he's willing to kill for it. Struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors, and the law, Ripley leaps at the chance to start afresh on...
    Hardback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • A Dog's Ransom
    The bestselling author of The Talented Mr Ripley, Carol and Strangers on a Train 'The No.1 Greatest Crime Writer' The Times 'The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense' Mark Billingham 'No one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying' Vogue 'Dear Sir, I suppose you are pretty pleased with yourself? Superior to everyone, you think....
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Deep Water
    If I really don't like somebody, I kill him . . . You remember Malcolm McRae, don't you? Melinda Van Allen is beautiful, headstrong and sexy. Unfortunately for Vic Van Allen, she is his wife. Their love has soured, and Melinda takes pleasure in flaunting her many affairs to her husband. When one of her lovers is murdered, Vic hints...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Boy Who Followed Ripley
    When a troubled young runaway arrives on Tom Ripley's French estate, he is drawn into a world he thought he'd left behind: the seedy underworld of Berlin, involving kidnapping plots, lies and deception. Ripley becomes the boy's protector as friendship develops between the young man with a guilty conscience and the older one with no conscience at all. The Boy...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks
    My secrets - the secrets that everyone has - are here, in black and white. Before Alfred Hitchcock adapted her debut novel, Strangers on a Train, for the big screen; before Thomas Ripley snaked his way into the canon of psychological suspense; before Carol became a cult classic of romantic obsession, who was Patricia Highsmith? Beginning in 1941 and encompassing...
    Paperback
    $3499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Carol
    Carol, with a new foreword by Val McDermid, unfolds in 1950s New York. Therese is just an ordinary sales assistant working in a department store when a beautiful, alluring woman in her thirties walks up to her counter. Standing there, Therese is wholly unprepared for the first shock of love. Therese is an awkward nineteen-year-old with a job she hates...
    Paperback
    $2499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • This Sweet Sickness
    It was jealousy that kept David from sleeping, drove him from a tousled bed out of the dark and silent boarding house to walk the streets... David Kelsey has an unswerving conviction that life is going to work out for him - if he can just fix the 'Situation'. His one true love, the brilliant, beautiful Annabelle, has married another...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Talented Mr Ripley
    The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith is a masterful blend of crime and psychological fiction, hailed as 'The No.1 Greatest Crime Writer' by The Times. 'Ripley, amoral, hedonistic and charming, is a genuinely original creation,' praises the Daily Telegraph. Tom Ripley is struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors and the law when an unexpected acquaintance offers...
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2699
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Carol
    A BEAUTIFUL NEW QUARTERBOUND EDITION OF THE BELOVED, CLASSIC LOVE STORY Therese is just an ordinary sales assistant working in a New York department store when a beautiful, alluring woman in her thirties walks up to her counter. Standing there, shy, inexperienced Therese is wholly unprepared for the first shock of love. Therese is an awkward, dissatisfied nineteen-year-old with a...
    Hardback
    $4999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from Crime & Thriller

View all
  • New Release
    Every Lake
    Scary stories are fun... until your life becomes one. When Alice was fifteen, her father killed Mia Heywood in their lakefront cottage before vanishing into the trees. At least that's what the locals think happened. Over a decade later, Alice has lost her job as a journalist, she's going through an expensive divorce and she desperately needs to sell the...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    It Could Have Been Her
    PREPARE TO BE HOOKED: The no. 1Β Sunday TimesΒ and MULTI-million-copy bestselling author is back with a brand-new spine tingling thriller. It was the night she almost died. Jane Trevally, newly divorced and feeling a little lost, agrees to accompany a man she doesn't know to his house in the darkest corner of Hampstead Heath. She's offered a drink, goes in, and...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    26 Beauties
    The twenty-sixth thrilling novel in the globally bestselling Women's Murder Club series. Beautiful young women are disappearing by the dozen. A celebration is cut short when a concerned father crashes Detective Inspector Lindsay Boxer's party. His daughter is missing - and she's not the only one. DI Lindsay Boxer has been tracking a chilling pattern: a Jane Doe washed ashore,...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Secrets We Hide
    The stunning new North Falls thriller by the bestselling author ofΒ We Are All Guilty Here 'Quite simply, Karin Slaughter is the best of us' Dervla McTiernan Welcome back to North Falls -- a small town with big secrets. The house at 1601 Iris Drive looks like any other in the quiet, residential street. But rumours are rife about the Vickery...
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    The Parkwood Murders
    They came for an escape, but can they escape a killer? Detective Nicola Bridge returns in another gripping and immersive mystery For its loyal guests, Parkwood Holiday Village in west Dorset is a haven- woodland walks, a tranquil lake, service around the clock. Until, just after midsummer, a body is found floating in the swimming pool. Detective Nicola Bridge, exhausted...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Hope Rises
    'BALDACCI IS STILL PEERLESS' - THE SUNDAY TIMES REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD . . . Walter Nash, working under the alias of Dillon Hope, is on the road to revenge after becoming an informant for the FBI against a global criminal operation headed up by Victoria Steers. Steers has ripped everything Nash held dear away from him....
    Paperback
    $3099
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Slash
    A year after a brutal shootout left her lover dead, ex-police sergeant Honey Chalmers is a hot mess, drinking too much and eating too little, working casual gigs for a shady firm of private investigators β€” while holding conversations with a ghost. A desperate father asks her to investigate his missing son β€” a double-murder suspect last seen during the...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    A River Red With Blood
    The players call it the Game, and its aim is simple: to abduct and kill a stranger without getting caught. They're very good at it. They've been playing it for a long time. And they can keep playing as long as everyone sticks to the rules: No Killing Close to Home and No Killing Outside the Game. But those rules...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Shadow Step
    The new Detective Miller thriller from bestselling author Mark Billingham, full of tension, wit and incredible twists. The Shadow Step: One taken simultaneously by a pair of dancers facing the same direction, one of them behind and slightly shifted leftwards ('in the shadow') Typically, such a step perfectly demonstrates synchronized elegance. It showcases a couple in near telepathic harmony with...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Backorder
    Ships mid August
  • Blue Lightning
    New Release
    Blue Lightning
    Blue Lightning The fourth Shetland novel A remote island on lockdown. A killer on the loose . . . Shetland detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming when he returns to Fair Isle to introduce his fiancΓ©e to his parents. With the autumn storms raging, the island is cut off from the rest of the world. Then...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Red Bones
    New Release
    Red Bones
    Red Bones is the third Shetland novel featuring detective Jimmy Perez. Sometimes the dead won't stay buried... When a young archaeologist uncovers a set of human remains, the island settlers are intrigued. Is it an ancient findβ€”or a more contemporary mystery? Then an elderly woman is shot in what appears to be a tragic accident in the middle of the...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Last to Drown
    New Release
    The Last to Drown
    Praise for Noelle W. Ihli: 'Hands down one of my favourite reads of the year' - FREIDA MCFADDEN 'A true classic in the genre' - LISA JEWELL 'A propulsive story that haunts and mesmerizes' - KARIN SLAUGHTER FIVE DAYS. TWENTY STRANGERS. NO PHONE SIGNAL. The rafting trip was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime. But now that Kaia's...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.