Thu 10 Sep 2009
RUTH RENDELL – A Sleeping Life. Doubleday, hardcover, 1978. UK hardcover: Hutchinson, 1978. Reprinted many times, in both hardcover and soft.
Chief Inspector Wexford’s approach to a murder is often based on intuition as well as fact, but this time around, working on the death of a middle-aged woman with no trace of background, he seems to run into stone walls no matter which way he heads.
Adding to his frustration is a domestic crisis at home as well, provoked by his daughter’s evangelical conversion to Women’s Lib.
Rendell obviously intends for the ending to come as quite a surprise, but unfortunately the secret’s too big to keep very well. The observant reader will eventually find that all the clues are pointing in one direction only.
Even so, the workmanship of this well-constructed mystery is exactly readers have come to expect from one of the best authors writing in the field today. There’s no way anyone’s going to be disappointed with this one.
(revised).
[UPDATE] 09-10-09. In spite of the good review I gave this book, it’s been a long time since I read anything by Ruth Rendell. I always enjoyed her Wexford books, but her standalones, mostly psychological crime novels, not so much.
September 10th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
I’m the opposite on this one. I prefer the stand alone books and her Barbara Vine books, though I like the Wexford books and the BBC adaptations with George Baker.
I’m not a huge fan of Rendell for some reason, and yet she is clearly one of the best writers in the field. For sheer skill, ability, and style she has few equals.
September 10th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
While I don’t think she’s been given much credit for them, Ruth Rendell’s written some pretty good short stories too. One of them won an Edgar, for example, back in the early 1970s.
There are three reviews of her work in 1001 MIDNIGHTS. I was going to go with someone else, but I’m going to change my mind, and I’m going to go with hers next.
September 11th, 2009 at 2:28 am
This is a well-clued puzzle and makes its point about women’s role in society. Nothing to complain of that I recall. I quit reading more recent Wexford Rendells because the balance seemed to tip so decisively in favor of social commentary.
September 11th, 2009 at 10:34 am
It’s my impression that they’ve also gotten thicker and thicker, not that there’s anything wrong with that — nor with social commentary per se. Unless as you say, the well-clued puzzle aspect has gotten squeezed out.