I am sorely tempted to 'cheat' and google Chief Inspector Wexford to get a firm picture in my mind of the newest sleuth that I have just added to my repertoire. I say new but I have been a very long-time admirer of Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine. I have read nearly every Vine novel of psychological suspense and a fair number of Rendell standalones.
She is by far my favorite novelist of this genre, but I am not sure why I never bothered with Wexford. She is a superlative writer in my opinion--she just does what she does so well, but I just randomly collected a few of her series mysteries over the years and left them sitting on my shelves. I guess there have just been so many other novels by her to explore, and I have a fair few favorites otherwise when it comes to detective fiction, so I left well enough alone.
As I just recently started the conversation of favorite detectives, and Ruth Rendell had been in my mind anyway, though my intention was to pick up an unread standalone, the lightbulb went off in my head--why not Wexford?! I handily had the first of the series, From Doon with Death on my shelves, so I am a third of the way through his first case. It is a slim novel of just under 200 pages (for myself a good mystery falls somewhere around or under 350 or so pages normally), but I have a very thin idea, so far, of what Wexford is like or what he looks like. I don't think I have even encountered his first name, though, I know his partner is called Mike Burden.
"He was taller than Burden, thick-set without being fat, fifty-two years old, the very prototype of an actor playing a top-brass policeman. Born u the road in Pomfret, living most of his life in this part of Sussex, he knew most people and he knew the district well enough for the map on the buttercup-yellow wall to be regarded merely as decoration."
A bit scanty on physical details so far, perhaps, but I get the sense that he is no-nonsense and does things by the book. Experienced with a sharp eye for detail and a wry sense of humor. I do know he is married, but nothing more about his personal life. So far this feels like a Rendell yet it isn't quite. The Rendell novels seem to be slighter, more concise, but Rendell can convey in fewer words more feeling that many other writers in twice the space. This first book was published in 1964 and refers to an automobile from 1962, and I do get a sense of the period even if she is only painting in background in rather larger brushstrokes. As the last Wexford novel was published in 2012 that is quite a lot of time she had to form her characters and I think she must have not let too much time pass between the stories. I do think she often wrote about social issues and it seems the stories have expanded into more space as she published.
This particular case involves a missing wife. The husband has come home to find his house empty and his house-proud wife is not only not there to greet him, but she remains missing the next day even. A body turns up in a local wood with the only clue a lipstick in a very particular and unusual shade of 'Arctic Sable'. Whoever dropped it must be involved and now it is up to Wexford and Burden to suss things out. I think I'll be speeding along to find the culprit in this one and have ordered a nice used copy of Wexford's next case to have on hand. However I might be picking up a Simenon next before getting back to Kinsey Millhone. Once again a good crime novel/detective story seems to appeal more to me at the moment than a thriller. I am find thrillers, of late, to be very mixed bags. It is good to have some reliable sleuths to return to again and again.
Before I go, the most recent CrimeReads newsletter has some really interesting articles that I will be reading tonight. I have only read the first Aimee Leduc mystery set in Paris, but I see I really need to revisit her. And this about crime writers writing non-crime books. I am SO tempted to buy the newest Laura Lippman even thought it is in hardcover. And while I do love Colm Toibin, I can only say about this article--whatever! To each his own, but I don't understand the need for authors to diss on other genres like that. I guess it offers a few inches of valuable column space and here we go talking about him and his opinions. I have no problem whatsoever with mysteries--genre fiction. There is space for everything I think and I do like variety, so it's not going to put me off. As a matter of fact, you can see what is on my nightstand at the moment!