Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford Monthly Selection - Buddy Readalong with Susan, Barbara, and the "Wexeteers"

[Barbara K]

Two things about appliances struck me, as an American, when we lived in England not that long ago. One was that most English people seemed quite happy with their waist high refrigerators, and it was difficult to find housing with space for an “American” style fridge. And the other was that at least half the people we knew took pride in not having a clothes dryer. I had no issues with hanging my clothes outside when there was a reasonable chance they’d dry the same day, but that tended not to be the case in winter.

Altogether I found it to be a culture much more sensitive to conserving resources than is the case in the US.

[Susan]

Dorothy, did you grow up in the UK? I am just so curious. I was born in 1953 and I literally knew no one with a refrigerator so I am wondering if this is a geographic thing?

Barbara, very insightful. I Like House Hunters International and I see Americans struggling with the idea of small refrigerators. I liked your comment about clothes dryers. I noticed on the show many houses with washers and no dryers. Often the washing machine is in the kitchen which is also odd for us.

I guess every place is different but Dorothy with no refrigerator, phone or electricity in the late 1960's is hard to imagine.

[Bionic Jean]

Barbara - yes you've described it quite well. We only know one couple with an American style fridge, and they are quite upmarket. Most of us would never have the room! And even large houses may prefer to use the space for something else. Tall fridge freezers are the most common, although many still have waist high fridges, with a small part inside the top for frozen goods, especially if space is at a premium.

Susan - did you mean "no one without a refrigerator"?

My grandma, who died in the 1970s, never had a fridge or a phone in her life. She only had cold water on tap, and the only appliance she had was a gas oven - eventually - although until the late 1960s she cooked on a range fuelled by a coal fire. She lived in an average terraced house in a city, with no bathroom, and the toilet was outside. None of this was particularly unusual.

Also, those in country areas took a lot longer to get an electricity supply, and some remote areas are still not on the national grid.

So it's not at all hard to imagine, for me! In 2020, I have some appliances, but perhaps not all the gadgets Americans would expect. We have no dishwasher, and no shower, for example.

[Susan]

My mother had an outhouse when she was growing up but that was the 1920's. My grandmother had a wringer washer and I can still remember that. It took forever to do the laundry but that was replaced in the 1960's. Both my mother and grandmother preferred to dry their clothes on the line outside mostly because of the smell but both had dryers.

I don't have a dishwasher either, Jean, because I have a tiny house but I do have a shower and a walk in bathtub so I am set.

[Penny]

I found this first book to be interesting in terms of the mystery but lacking in terms of tension. I did guess the kind of ending that was coming too. I do feel the setting of the scenes are done really well and the characters are fully there. Wexford himself seemed less formed but I think that is true for a lot of first books.

[Susan]

I agree, Penny. I guessed the ending but it's hard to know if it's because I have read it before and a glimmer of knowledge remained. I think it was a very daring book for the times and wonder if she caught any flack for it at the time.

[Bionic Jean]

Is anyone else joining this? There have been no comments for over a week ... but we still have nearly half the month left, so there's plenty of time to read it :)

The only other continuing buddy read is for the Sherlock Holmes stories starting next month. That's already well planned, and has the advantage that practically everybody here has heard of Sherlock Holmes! But there will be some readers wondering why we have an ongoing buddy read of someone they've never heard of. In Great Britain we had 6 TV series with George Baker as Inspector Wexford, LINK HERE, but when I posted a picture of him I'm not sure many recognised it.

Susan will give you a heads-up about the next book near the end of May, but it would be a shame not to be in right at the beginning, when there are 24 novels in the series, plus some short stories.

Perhaps you could give newbies some idea of who "Inspector Wexford" is, Susan (or anyone), such as where and when does he live, does he work alone, and why you think we should read these books.

We know they are English, to qualify for this group, but what sort? Cosy, humorous, procedural, or different? This one is from 1964, so what's the attraction, when there are so many other contemporary detective books around?

Let's tempt some others :)

[Susan]

In an interview in "The New York Times Book Review" in 1990, Ruth Rendell, surprisingly to me, said, "I hate Agatha Christie so much." She continues, "I can hardly bear to say the name of that village (St. Mary Mead) where one finds a lot of normal-law abiding people living ordinary, blameless lives who suddenly decide to murder their aunts. Well, I don't believe that".

She creates in Kingsmarkham, home of Inspector Wexford, a different community of "ugly modern buildings, huge supermarkets, open car lots and bus garages, and sprawling blocks of local authority housing."

Did the setting strike anyone? I hadn't thought of the difference before but now that do I see a marked difference. I always thought of Kingsmarkham as very realistic though.

[Bionic Jean]

Fascinating! Thank you Susan :)

From my experience, we have both types of places here. (I should be in a pretty village of old stone thatched cottages right now actually, if I weren't shielding :( ). The villages don't have quite as many murders as St. Mary Mead and its environs ... but then perhaps neither do the sprawling housing developments!

[Susan]

In this book, the first of 21, Inspector Wexford is 52 and "thick set without being fat" with a level and sound voice. The author describes him as being "a big, solid type, very cool and calm, and quite witty."
In later books, his wife, Dora, and his daughters, Sheila and Sylvia, are introduced. He is also quite erudite like P.D. James character, Adam Dalgliesh. In this book he quotes "Romeo and Juliet" and Omar Khayyam.
The author says he reminds her of her father. He reminds me of mine too. Did he remind you of anyone?

[Candy]

I was mostly struck by the fact that the author started out her series (in the 60's) with such a controversial ending. I was still in my teens then but I don't think it was a widely discussed subject. Being gay was still highly unforgivable. So to begin her series with such a strong topic speaks to her skill and bravery as a writer in my opinion. I don't even remember this from when I read this book probably 40 years ago.

[Bionic Jean]

To put this in context, (as dates vary in other countries) homosexuality was legalised in the UK in 1967, so it was actually quite a "hot topic" here then. Not in the States though, perhaps, particularly since legalisation varied from state to state?

[Susan]

Absolutely agree, Candy. I wasn't struck by that before because the times were changing then so when I read the book being gay was accepted at least in my world. It didn't strike me as unusual but looking back and putting it into context, it seems remarkably brave.

[Bionic Jean]

When was it legalised for your States Susan and Candy?

[Susan]

I don't really remember, Jean. I live in CA. and near SF so I suspect fairly early. I remember growing up that both my 4th grade and 5th grade teachers were gay and everyone knew it (small towns).

[Bionic Jean]

Perhaps it was fairly similar, then :)

[Pamela]

Rita wrote: "I have to read Kissing the Gunner's Daughter #15 next. I have read all the books in the series until then so I may just follow along."

I've read it but its been a while. Hope you enjoy it!

[Pamela]

I rediscovered Rendell's work in 2013 and have enjoyed just about all of them, Wexford and stand alone, very much. Read From Doon With Death in 2013 and most recently The Keys to the Street last year. Its about time that I begin another.

[Candy]

Bionic Jean wrote: "When was it legalised for your States Susan and Candy?"

It's hard to pin down an exact time when gay relationships were protected by the laws of the US but I don't see much that was changed until 1997 when Ellen Degeneres came out on TV. There were lots of movements and activities from the 60's on but it has taken until closer to the 21st century for LGBT citizens to have much freedom. So back in the 60's when this book was written I wasn't even aware of much about being gay as I didn't know any people who were open about it.

[Bionic Jean]

Gosh, that's 20 years later than the UK. Almost an entire generation different! Thank for the info, Candy.

[Barbara K]

In our former state, NY, same sex marriage was legalized in the summer of 2011 thanks to intense pressure from Governor Cuomo on the legislature. Ironically, it was legalized in the UK within months of our moving there in 2014. We moved to VA last summer and in a few weeks LBGTQ rights will officially be protected here. All of that would have been unimaginable in the 60’s, either in the US or the UK.

[Penny]

Yes Barbara it’s so varied across the world. I think the UK had civil partnerships from 2004 which gave a legal standing to couples. Just general acceptance has widely changed since the mid-1980s

[Susan]

Just a reminder that June 1 we start Sins of the Fathers. "It was a brutal vicious crime-sixteen years old. A helpless old woman battered to death with an axe." A man hung for it and Inspector Wexford is certain they got the right man but Reverend Archery isn't sure. His son wants to marry the murderer's daughter.

I don't remember this book at all so I am excited to read it. I hope you join in and enjoy it with us.

[Barbara K]

I’m in. Just bought the audiobook from Audible.

[Susan]

Yeah!

[Bionic Jean]

Thanks Susan :)

In case it's relevant to anyone with old copies on their shelves, the original title was A New Lease of Death, and this is the title of the TV episode too.

[Susan]

We are starting our buddy read for June tomorrow, Sins of the Fathers . I am starting it tonight. I hope others join me.

[Susan]

I noticed in reading this that Kingmarkham is a market town. After reading Ken Follett, I know that market towns were started in the medieval days under a king's order so people could sell their wares. I wonder what it means now. I've noticed town's stating they are market towns and wonder if it means something now. Can anybody tell me?

[Susan]

When Wexford receives the letter from Rev. Archery is put off by the use of Greek E's. I know what he means it's pretentious. What sets you off? For me it's people from the East Coast who mispronounce Nevada. For heavens sake, we only have 50 states. You have to believe they have heard the correct way to say it by now. Why don't they? What's it for you?

[Bionic Jean]

Susan wrote: "market towns were started in the medieval days under a king's order so people could sell their wares. I wonder what it means now..."

It still means that, here in England. They are usually very pretty small towns in a rural setting, which have been given an historic legal right to hold a weekly market. They often have an old moot hall too, and tend to value their traditional way of life.

[Susan]

It sounds just lovely.

[Susan]

Great.

[Barbara K]

I must confess to being somewhat disappointed in this book, primarily because Archery, not Wexford or Burden, was the central "sleuth". Still, I did see that marvelous skills for bringing characters to life in a very authentic way through interior monologues that I've always enjoyed in Rendell's work.

Re: market towns, we lived close to one in the east Midlands that still had a regular cattle market, but was in all other respects a pretty mundane community. OTOH, we enjoyed driving an hour to another market town (that even had market in its name!) with a splendid town center and lots of history. Some good shops and cafes, and a generally pleasant ambience.

[Susan]

I just had a friend read this book and had the exact same complaint on this book- not enough Wexford. I am hoping to see him more in action in the next one. In this one he just kind of sat back and said I did good work all those years ago. We need more Wexford and Burden.

That is so interesting about the market towns. I wouldn't be thrilled with a regular cattle market but the other one sounds quite interesting. I am surprised that designation is still in play and find it quite wonderful. I suppose that's where we get our Farmers Market concept from.

[Candy]

I also noticed the focus away from Wexford but it was one of his cases that was being questioned. I thought Rendell handled it in a unique way that brought out all the complexities that result from a single incident. And how far into the distance that the results can affect the families of the families involved.
I didn't find it to be a fascinating page turner but all-in-all it was quite clever.

[Susan]

I agree, Candy. I think it showed quite a bit about Wexford's character. He was so sure that he had done a good job and was irritated that someone was questioning his work. Yet he was confident enough to assist in the inquiry. I think it gave us some good insights into him.

[Bionic Jean]

Just a heads-up to everyone that the next book in the Inspector Wexford series is Wolf to the Slaughter, the third one, and reading and discussion starts in two days!



I hope everyone enjoyed A New Lease of Death, (or Sins of the Fathers, its alternative title). Susan has been busy elsewhere on GR for the past fortnight, so hopefully she will be back for the discussion, and you all have time to get the new book :)

Who's joining in with Wolf to the Slaughter?

[Barbara K]

Just got an e-book copy from the library, so I’m in.

[Bionic Jean]

Great, Barbara :)

[Susan]

It's time to get ready for book 3 Wolf to the Slaughter. I am excited about this one. Please do not think you have to have read the first two to join in. This works so well as a stand alone. Please join us for some Wexford magic.

[Susan]

Barbara wrote: "Just got an e-book copy from the library, so I’m in."

I wish I had gotten an e-book copy. I got one of the old trade books and the print is so small. My Kindle is spoiling me. I am glad you are joining in, Barbara.

[Penny]

everybody read number 2 yet? I am just starting!

[Susan]

I read Number 2 and enjoyed it. Don't worry about just starting it. No pressure from this group. I want it to be enjoyable.

[Susan]

Yeah! July 1 and time for a new Inspector Wexford book, Wolf to the Slaughter. I have an old book and the printing is so small that I am having trouble reading it. I am so spoiled by my Kindle!

As I am reading this, I am having trouble with Burden. I am not caring for him much. I can't wait to hear what others think of him.

[Susan]

It's not too late to jump in and join the buddy read. I'd love some company.

[Barbara K]

I have every intention of starting, today or tomorrow.

[Susan]

Yeah, Barbara. Thank you.

[Susan]

I was surprised to see this book was one of the ones picked to be in the TV series. Has anyone seen it? I can only get a few Rendell shows and this isn't one of them.

[Bionic Jean]

I've seen them all Susan, (almost 100 episodes!) as "The Ruth Rendell Mysteries" but don't remember which was which! What is this one about? And is the title a clue, as it often is in mysteries?

Wiki tells me Wolf to the Slaughter was the first one ever dramatised :)

[Barbara K]

Well, I've given up with trying to read the e-book I got from the library. Just don't have the time to sit and read. But I didn't give up on the book - Audible to the rescue! I've been reading during errands and dog walking this morning and I'm making good progress.

I'm intrigued by the introduction of the character Drayton. My recollections of the books in this series that I'd read previously only include Wexford and Burden.