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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
Clunkiest of the Wexford novels. Maybe it gets better, but I set it aside after about 100 pages.
It was ok. I expected Wexford and Burden to do the active investigation.
This book is aka 'Sins of the Fathers'
This book is aka 'Sins of the Fathers'
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol
Minor: Child abuse
A 2.5. I read a lot of Ruth Rendell in the 80s and 90s but realised I hadn't read this one. I'll start with the positives. Rendell writes beautifully and with complete confidence. This book is no exception. But.... and it is a big but. Nothing in this book actually matters. I was about half way through it when I realised every character was pretty vile and truly deserve each other. I can safely say that as Wexford was really an extra on this occasion, little more than a cameo role. The premise for revisiting a relatively historical case seemed bizarre until I realised this book was written over 50 years ago and much of the narrative reflected an even earlier time. I'm not convinced Tess's parentage would have mattered so much in those days either. Another minus - the ending. No spoilers, but good grief!
Forever in love with Wexford - my disappointment here (if I ever dare to be disappointed with the marvelous Rendell is .... just not enough Wexford...
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book must be one of the worst crime thrillers I have read. It has very little to do with Inspector Wexford, but more to do with Rev. Archery trying to prove Wexford wrong in an old murder case. In any case, the description of the town is not really good. The characters are never alive in this book. I would not call the book a thriller either. Simply a hopeless book.
This is a different beast to the first one, with Wexford barely involved and having very little to do with driving the plot. Instead he flits in and out and seems to take delight in winding people up.
We instead spend most of the time with Archery, a clergyman going through a midlife crisis. He’s a well written if slightly whiny and emo character and his journey contrasts nicely with the central mystery.
It doesn’t feel much like a classic detective story but it does paint an vivid portrait of small town English life of a certain era and stands up psychologically rather well. I’m certainly keen to read more of the series.
We instead spend most of the time with Archery, a clergyman going through a midlife crisis. He’s a well written if slightly whiny and emo character and his journey contrasts nicely with the central mystery.
It doesn’t feel much like a classic detective story but it does paint an vivid portrait of small town English life of a certain era and stands up psychologically rather well. I’m certainly keen to read more of the series.
Very Unorthodox 2nd Outing
Review of the Arrow Books paperback edition (1981) of the original Hutchinson hardcover (1967)
Ruth Rendell surprised me with A New Lease of Death, which is listed as No. 2 in her Inspector Wexford (1964-2013) series. What is shocking about this book, with a supposed series character, is that Inspector Wexford DOES ABSOLUTELY NO DETECTING OR INVESTIGATING IN IT!
Charles, the son of the Reverend Henry Archery, intends to marry Tess, whose father Painter was condemned for the brutal murder of an elderly widow 16 years ago. The then supposed open and shut case was the first murder ever investigated and solved by Wexford. The Reverend Archery now approaches him to investigate the possible innocence of the executed man, in order to remove the stigma of a cursed bloodline from his possible future descendants. Wexford is confident about the early conviction, but admits that he can't prevent Archery from talking to the surviving witnesses.
Archery proceeds with various lines of enquiry and proposes several alternative solutions to the crime. Wexford is still adamant that the correct murderer was caught and rightly convicted. There are several sub-plots which occur during the course of Archery's amateur efforts which do not appear at first to be related at all to the main plot. Everything becomes clear in the end though with a cleverly devised twist ending which satisfies everyone. Saying anything more would be a major spoiler.
I read A New Lease of Death due to the discovery of a hoard of my old 1980's mystery paperbacks while cleaning out a storage locker. I only have a few of the old Ruth Rendell paperbacks, so this isn't the start of one of my binge re-reads. Rendell is definitely one of the masters of the Silver Age of Crime though and I will certainly be re-reading several of her books.
Trivia and Links
A New Lease of Death was adapted for television in the long running series of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1987-2000), sometimes called 'The Inspector Wexford Mysteries'. It ran as Episodes 1 to 3 of Series 5 in 1991. The entire 3 Episodes can be viewed on YouTube here. The TV series stars actor George Baker as Inspector Wexford.
Review of the Arrow Books paperback edition (1981) of the original Hutchinson hardcover (1967)
Ruth Rendell surprised me with A New Lease of Death, which is listed as No. 2 in her Inspector Wexford (1964-2013) series. What is shocking about this book, with a supposed series character, is that Inspector Wexford DOES ABSOLUTELY NO DETECTING OR INVESTIGATING IN IT!
Charles, the son of the Reverend Henry Archery, intends to marry Tess, whose father Painter was condemned for the brutal murder of an elderly widow 16 years ago. The then supposed open and shut case was the first murder ever investigated and solved by Wexford. The Reverend Archery now approaches him to investigate the possible innocence of the executed man, in order to remove the stigma of a cursed bloodline from his possible future descendants. Wexford is confident about the early conviction, but admits that he can't prevent Archery from talking to the surviving witnesses.
Archery proceeds with various lines of enquiry and proposes several alternative solutions to the crime. Wexford is still adamant that the correct murderer was caught and rightly convicted. There are several sub-plots which occur during the course of Archery's amateur efforts which do not appear at first to be related at all to the main plot. Everything becomes clear in the end though with a cleverly devised twist ending which satisfies everyone. Saying anything more would be a major spoiler.
I read A New Lease of Death due to the discovery of a hoard of my old 1980's mystery paperbacks while cleaning out a storage locker. I only have a few of the old Ruth Rendell paperbacks, so this isn't the start of one of my binge re-reads. Rendell is definitely one of the masters of the Silver Age of Crime though and I will certainly be re-reading several of her books.
Trivia and Links
A New Lease of Death was adapted for television in the long running series of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1987-2000), sometimes called 'The Inspector Wexford Mysteries'. It ran as Episodes 1 to 3 of Series 5 in 1991. The entire 3 Episodes can be viewed on YouTube here. The TV series stars actor George Baker as Inspector Wexford.