So, my latest read was another mystery book. And honestly, I have mixed feelings about this book. Reviewing it will be difficult because I’m not even sure what to think of it. Plus, I don’t want to give out any spoilers. After all, spoilers will completely ruin a mystery book. But, I’ll do my best. Here is my review on A New Lease of Death.
A New Lease of Death Summary
This book was the second book in the Inspector Wexford Mysteries series. Written by Ruth Rendell, the book takes place in Europe. I did recently discover these books were written back in the 1960s, which makes some of the aspects of the book make more sense. Like the way women dressed and acted. In this book, Inspector Wexford is visited by a clergyman who is inquiring about a murder that happened quite a few years ago. It was Inspector Wexford’s first murder. The clergyman, Archery, asks if it’s possible that they caught and executed the wrong man. Wexford insists he didn’t and is amused when Archery asks for permission to talk to anyone involved in the case to see if he can get to the bottom of it.
Playing Detective
The reason Archery wants to find out the truth is because his son is in love with a girl. The girl happens to be the daughter of the murderer and Archery is worried that a murderers blood flows through her veins as well. Wexford allows Archery to investigate and the clergyman begins searching out people and talking to them. During this time Wexford stays out of it and continues with business as usual.
Positives
I really do love the way that Ruth writes her mysteries. She’s very good at steering you in one direction and then swinging you in another direction and dancing around before giving the big reveal. I do like Inspector Wexford’s character as well, especially when he’s portrayed as a grumpy old man. I was very curious to see if the man who had been charged and killed was indeed the killer, or if the police got the wrong guy.
Negatives
The book is classified as an Inspector Wexford Mystery, but Inspector Wexford was barely a part of the book. He was more of a side character who didn’t have much to do with the story. The story mainly revolved around Archery and then some of the people involved in the case. It also felt like there was just a lot of other stuff going on that took away from the main mystery, though I could see how Ruth was trying to tie it all together. And when Archery’s son came into the story to “help” he just ended up stirring up trouble for him and his dad and I didn’t like him one bit. I knew I was supposed to be rooting for him, but I just didn’t like his personality.
A New Lease of Death Rating
I gave this book a 3 star rating. I enjoyed the mystery and I could tell what Ruth was trying to do with the story. But I don’t think she succeeded in my opinion. This book was not as enjoyable as the first one. It has not put me off reading more books in the series though. I just hope that the next one I read has more of Inspector Wexford and Inspector Burden, as I enjoyed those two characters the most in the first book.
30 Books
My next book will be my 30th book out of 50. I’m sure if I keep trying I’ll get to 50 books read by the end of the year. Even as tricky as it has been getting to 50, I would still like to up my reading challenge next year to 100. There are some ideas floating around in my mind that will help me reach that goal, but we shall see what happens. Taking a month off to relax and recharge will certainly help me to get a lot of reading done. For those of you who have suggested audio books to me – I’m just not an audio book girly. I’ve tried, twice, to get into audio books and it just didn’t work out. In fact, the narrator’s voices just annoyed me. Nothing against you if you love audio books. I guess I’m just old school and like to have a physical book in my hands. Maybe I’ll get a kindle next year. Anything is possible, if I try.
