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Wexford Awakes
Review of the Arrow Books/Cornerstone Digital Kindle eBook edition (2010) of the original Hutchinson (UK) hardcover (1978)

The woman was dead, but death by murder is in a way not an end but a beginning. The lives of the naturally dead may be buried with them. Hers would now gradually be exposed, event after event, obscure though she had been, until it took on the character of a celebrity’s biography. - The investigators ponder the consequences of murder.

This was an easy 5-star rating, I think my first of the Chief Inspector Wexford series, which are usually solid 3s or 4s at least (I do have a later 1 or 2 rating coming up though). A Sleeping Life has quite an incredible twist ending, but in an interesting way it is likely more guessable in the present day than it was when originally released in the 1970s. Saying anything more about that would be a spoiler though.

The body of a middle-aged woman named Rhoda Comfrey is found stabbed to death in Kingsmarkham. She was on a visit to her ailing father from her home in London. As Wexford and Burden being to investigate they find there is very little known about the woman after she left home for big city life. Clues found on the body lead them to investigate an historical fiction author named Grenville West and his typist/secretary Polly Flinders. But the solution of the case eludes them until Wexford makes a breakthrough and explains all in the end.

A Sleeping Life continues my 2023 binge read / re-read of Ruth Rendell (aka Barbara Vine) and this is the 10th of the Inspector Wexford series.

See cover image at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/ASleepingLife.jpg
Cover image for the original Hutchinson hardcover edition from 1978. Image sourced from Wikipedia. By http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=11560886237, Fair use, Link

Favourite Quotes
There were plenty of Wexford's quotes and allusions to classic literature in this one. Some favourites below:

In English law one can call oneself what one likes. What you call yourself is your name. People think you have to change your name by deed poll but you don’t. I could call myself Waterford tomorrow and you could call yourself Fardel without infringing a hairsbreadth of the law.’ Looking puzzled, Burden said, ‘I suppose so. Look, I see the Waterford thing, but why Fardel?’ ‘You grunt and sweat under a weary life, don’t you? - Wexford quotes from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Burden looked injured, and when they had said good-bye and were crossing the Circus to Parish Oak station, remarked that Clements was a very nice chap. ‘Very true,’ sneered Wexford with Miss Austen, ‘and this is a very nice day and we are taking a very nice walk.’ - Wexford quotes from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.

Loring who was a romantic young man thought that it was in just such a tone that the Shunamite had said to the watchmen: Have ye seen him whom my soul loveth? - The Bible - Song of Solomon.

Burden went to the window and said wonderingly, ‘There’s a cloud up there.’ ‘No bigger than a man’s hand, I daresay.’ ‘Bigger than that,’ said Burden, not recognizing this quotation from the Book of Kings. - The Bible.

‘Now where shall I begin?’ ‘At the beginning,’ said Wexford with perfect gravity. ‘Go on to the end and then stop.’ - Wexford quotes from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Trivia and Links
A Sleeping Life was adapted for television as part of the Ruth Rendell / Inspector Wexford Mysteries TV series (1987-2000) as Season 3 Episodes 4 to 6 in 1989 with actor George Baker as Inspector Wexford. You can watch the entire 3 episodes on YouTube here. ( )

Cuando su padre cae enfermo, Rhoda Comfrey regresa a su Kingsmakham natal para hacerse cargo de él, pero su vida en Londres continúa siendo un misterio para sus antiguos vecinos. Esta circunstancia resultaría del todo irrelevante si no hubiesen encontrado su cuerpo brutalmente apuñalado en un descampado. La única pista con que cuenta el inspector Wexford apareció en el bolso de la víctima: una cartera de piel con los datos del escritor Grenville West. La policía trata de ponerse en contacto con él, pero el señor West ha partido de vacaciones y está ilocalizable... Teniendo en cuenta que entre ellos no existía ninguna relación sentimental ni jamás se les vio juntos, ¿qué extraño vínculo unía a estas dos personas? ¿Por qué la secretaria del escritor se muestra tan reacia a hablar de Rhoda?

Another one of my favorites in the Wexford series. The primary focus is on Wexford and his family, with his Kingsmarkham and London staff involved only as they are needed in their roles as his support team. That was a pleasant change, part of a nice balance across the length of the series.

I was struck on this re-read (just as I was when I first read it long ago) at how successful this book is at reflecting social conditions of the time. Rendell's effort to incorporate issues related to the then-contemporary rock culture in [b:Some Lie and Some Die|508905|Some Lie and Some Die (Inspector Wexford, #8)|Ruth Rendell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1300540274l/508905._SY75_.jpg|3187097] seem dated now, but not so with the women's equality issues she tackles in this book.

Of course, it could be that it's just me, remembering the feeling of feminism at that time, and also sensitive to the ongoing nature of the struggle for women to achieve parity in their work and home lives. But I don't really think that's it.

The book is just really well plotted, the characters realistic, and the settings well developed. I love the way Wexford's personality develops logically over time, and the way he is open to accepting the validity of cultural change.

There is no question that this series is like comfort food for me. It's nice knowing that there are a dozen more left to re-read! ( )

(48) I think 10 or 11th in the Inspector Wexford Series - and hey, I figured out half the mystery. A middle aged woman is found stabbed to death in Kingsmarkham while home visiting her ailing elderly father. It proves nearly impossible to find out where she came from or anything about her life outside of her hometown. In seemingly unrelated matters, Wexford's younger daughter has left her husband after reading all those nasty new fangled 'women's lib' authors. Good old Dora - Reg's wife - doesn't go in for all that nonsense. It is hard to know what Ruth Rendell herself thinks. Methinks she presents a much more close minded and sexist attitude than she herself subscribed too. But it is oh-so-interesting to see how devastatingly 'politically incorrect' these books are. Even written by someone who was likely a 'bluestocking' liberal elite of her time.

This one was of similar quality to the others I have read. They are all so similar in style, atmosphere, tone that it is hard to have a favorite or to truly judge these novels independently. I bet when I read others' reviews it will be clear that my more modern sensibility blunted the 'big reveall.' and made it easier to "see." - just like in Book 1 of the series. Oh, is that all?....

I am committed to a series I was lukewarm about for awhile - now I look forward and settle in to an accustomed style. I don't quite have the quote right, nor do I know where it comes from but I liked - "I am the monster I see in the mirror." Yup, most days. ( )