A Sleeping Life

Rating:
Summary: A Humerous Wexford Mystery
Review: Although first published in 1964 this book is still completely readable today. A Sleeping Life is an Inspector Wexford mystery which deals with the investigation into the stabbing of a middle-aged woman whilst visiting her ill relative in Kingsmarkham. Although he knows her name, the womans life away from Kingsmarkham remains a mystery which haunts Wexford. There are many twists and turns as Wexford comes nearer to discovering what drove the woman to hide the truth about herself. The conclusion, while perhaps not as shocking today as it was then, is nicely done.

As usual Rendell has created a diverse range of interesting, and in some cases psychologically-flawed, characters. The scenes I enjoyed most were those with Sylvia, Wexford's daughter. She has left her husband after becoming interested in Woman's Lib, and has moved back in with her parents, Wexford and Dora. I was particularly amused by a piece of dialogue where Sylvia cries:
"By God, my life is more his than it is mine!"
(Referring to her husband, Neil). It really does point out how gender roles in the past have stiffled women - thank goodness that times have changed! However, I liked the way that Rendell also gave Neil's point of view about his wife's views so it wasn't one sided.

Overall A Sleeping Life is great. There are plenty of opportunities for Wexford to use his dry, clever wit. The plot is solid and there is a good twist at the end. The sub-plot is entertaining and the characters are unusual.

JoAnne

Rating:
Summary: A Humerous Wexford Mystery
Review: Although first published in 1964 this book is still completely readable today. A Sleeping Life is an Inspector Wexford mystery which deals with the investigation into the stabbing of a middle-aged woman whilst visiting her ill relative in Kingsmarkham. Although he knows her name, the womans life away from Kingsmarkham remains a mystery which haunts Wexford. There are many twists and turns as Wexford comes nearer to discovering what drove the woman to hide the truth about herself. The conclusion, while perhaps not as shocking today as it was then, is nicely done.

As usual Rendell has created a diverse range of interesting, and in some cases psychologically-flawed, characters. The scenes I enjoyed most were those with Sylvia, Wexford's daughter. She has left her husband after becoming interested in Woman's Lib, and has moved back in with her parents, Wexford and Dora. I was particularly amused by a piece of dialogue where Sylvia cries:
"By God, my life is more his than it is mine!"
(Referring to her husband, Neil). It really does point out how gender roles in the past have stiffled women - thank goodness that times have changed! However, I liked the way that Rendell also gave Neil's point of view about his wife's views so it wasn't one sided.

Overall A Sleeping Life is great. There are plenty of opportunities for Wexford to use his dry, clever wit. The plot is solid and there is a good twist at the end. The sub-plot is entertaining and the characters are unusual.

JoAnne

Rating:
Summary: Shouldn't a mystery mystify?
Review: I don't know about you, but a mystery is supposed to mystify. Part of the fun is not knowing "Whodunit" until close to the end of the story (the closer, the better).

In my opinion, if the writer can't prevent us from guessing who the guilty one is until close to the end, then he/she has failed in the foremost goal of a mystery novelist.

In this novel, I figured out the "key" to the story (and therefore whodunit) less than half-way through. Since I wanted to be surprised--fooled even--I kept hoping I was wrong.

I wasn't.

If this is a typical Rendell, I may not read any of her others.

Rating:
Summary: Shouldn't a mystery mystify?
Review: I don't know about you, but a mystery is supposed to mystify. Part of the fun is not knowing "Whodunit" until close to the end of the story (the closer, the better).

In my opinion, if the writer can't prevent us from guessing who the guilty one is until close to the end, then he/she has failed in the foremost goal of a mystery novelist.

In this novel, I figured out the "key" to the story (and therefore whodunit) less than half-way through. Since I wanted to be surprised--fooled even--I kept hoping I was wrong.

I wasn't.

If this is a typical Rendell, I may not read any of her others.

Rating:
Summary: Shouldn't a mystery mystify?
Review: I don't know about you, but a mystery is supposed to mystify. Part of the fun is not knowing "Whodunit" until close to the end of the story (the closer, the better).

In my opinion, if the writer can't prevent us from guessing who the guilty one is until close to the end, then he/she has failed in the foremost goal of a mystery novelist.

In this novel, I figured out the "key" to the story (and therefore whodunit) less than half-way through. Since I wanted to be surprised--fooled even--I kept hoping I was wrong.

I wasn't.

If this is a typical Rendell, I may not read any of her others.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Effort
Review: I'm in the midst of reading back Ruth Rendell novels because I love mysteries and I've just discovered her and loved the first one I read. I have to confess here though that even though I always appreciate her writing, humor, and her Wexford character, this story was just bottom of the barrel. Fortunately, it's more of a novella and wasted no more than 3 hours of my time. The plot follows the investigation of a woman found murdered in her home town while back visiting her sick father. Wexford knows the woman's identity but can not find a trace of her life in London where she has resided for over twenty years. Admittedly, part of the problem with this book is that it writes very dated views on men's and women's roles despite being written in the late 70's. The more important problem is that the solution to the 'mystery' is so clear so early in the novella that it's a struggle to turn the pages and watch for the 'experts' catch up. I still like Ruth Rendell the writer... but this story should have stayed asleep.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Effort
Review: I'm in the midst of reading back Ruth Rendell novels because I love mysteries and I've just discovered her and loved the first one I read. I have to confess here though that even though I always appreciate her writing, humor, and her Wexford character, this story was just bottom of the barrel. Fortunately, it's more of a novella and wasted no more than 3 hours of my time. The plot follows the investigation of a woman found murdered in her home town while back visiting her sick father. Wexford knows the woman's identity but can not find a trace of her life in London where she has resided for over twenty years. Admittedly, part of the problem with this book is that it writes very dated views on men's and women's roles despite being written in the late 70's. The more important problem is that the solution to the 'mystery' is so clear so early in the novella that it's a struggle to turn the pages and watch for the 'experts' catch up. I still like Ruth Rendell the writer... but this story should have stayed asleep.

Rating:
Summary: Well Organized, Intriguing, and Stylishly Written
Review: Many critics praise Ruth Rendall for her psychological insight into the characters she presents. I have never understood this; from my own point of view, her psychological insight usually consists of inconsistencies and uncertain motivations--the latter of which most often arise from a vaguely drawn plot that seldom has any "mystery" to it at all.

Clearly, I am not among Rendell's fans. Still, if I were hard pressed to recommend a Rendell novel, I would most likely recommend A SLEEPING LIFE--for although very typical of her work in terms of character, it is indeed a reasonably well structured mystery with a double-folded solution that few will completely anticipate.

The story concerns Rhoda Comfrey, an unattractive woman of fifty years whose body is found twice-stabbed along a path. But when Inspector Wexford attempts to trace Comfrey's movements, he is unexpectedly stymied: although her bed-ridden father resides in the area, she herself does not--and although it is generally understood that she lives in London, no one has any idea where, nor does an appeal through the press bring forth her address, her occupation, or even any one in all of England who has seen her, much less actually knows her.

As the days pass in mounting frustration, Inspector Wexford gradually finds himself also drawn into the somewhat suspicious absence of noted novelist Grenville West, who may or may not know Comfrey and who may or may not have suddenly disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Is there any connection--or is it just another wild goose chase so typical of this particular case?

In spite of my general dislike of Rendell's work, I found myself quite caught up in this particular title, which shows Rendell at her stylistic best and working with intriguing characters and a well-organized story. If you must read a Ruth Rendell novel, this would be a good choice.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Rating:
Summary: Yes, probably the best Wexford mystery
Review: Rendell is a difficult writer to pin down; while, working as she does within the mystery/crime genre, her books inhabit different areas of that particular literary country. The Wexford series has always been best classified as police procedural, while the othe books are more psychological, plotted less closely along conventional crime novel lines. Within the Wexford series, Rendell has of late been injecting a lot of social commentary into her books and the plotting - Rendell fans must admit that her puzzles are easier to figure out than most - has fallen off. Her best crafted Wexford mysteries (as opposed to "novels" or "literature," which came a bit later) were from the 1970s (here, 1978). Rendell's best, most prominent characteristics are all here; the emphasis on psychological makeup and motive, the ability to draw characters and relationships with only a few lines of dialogue or interior monologue, the presence of details that few other writers put to such good use in delineating said characters, the use of dead ends, mistakes, and wrong assumptions and guesses by Wexford in the exposition. While Rendell is outstanding at what she does, not all crime fiction fans like her stuff. One would do worse than to begin here to find out where you stand. If you like this, moving on to other Wexford books, or the darker, non-series classics like "A Dark-Adapted Eye" is only a small step. If not, forget it.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, probably the best Wexford mystery
Review: Rendell is a difficult writer to pin down; while, working as she does within the mystery/crime genre, her books inhabit different areas of that particular literary country. The Wexford series has always been best classified as police procedural, while the othe books are more psychological, plotted less closely along conventional crime novel lines. Within the Wexford series, Rendell has of late been injecting a lot of social commentary into her books and the plotting - Rendell fans must admit that her puzzles are easier to figure out than most - has fallen off. Her best crafted Wexford mysteries (as opposed to "novels" or "literature," which came a bit later) were from the 1970s (here, 1978). Rendell's best, most prominent characteristics are all here; the emphasis on psychological makeup and motive, the ability to draw characters and relationships with only a few lines of dialogue or interior monologue, the presence of details that few other writers put to such good use in delineating said characters, the use of dead ends, mistakes, and wrong assumptions and guesses by Wexford in the exposition. While Rendell is outstanding at what she does, not all crime fiction fans like her stuff. One would do worse than to begin here to find out where you stand. If you like this, moving on to other Wexford books, or the darker, non-series classics like "A Dark-Adapted Eye" is only a small step. If not, forget it.