Review: A New Lease of Death by Ruth Rendell

Review: A New Lease of Death by Ruth Rendell

A New Lease of Death (also published as Sins of the Father) by Ruth Rendell is the first book I've read, well listened to actually, in her Detective Wexford series. I'm not sure that it was the best choice of a first read in the series simply because Wexford seemed more of a secondary character; I have to assume that's not usually the case. He seemed like an interesting man, gruff, but I didn't really get much of a feel for him or his sidekick, Burden. The main character was a vicar, Henry Archery, whose son wants to marry a lovely young woman. The problem lies in the fact that she is the daughter of Painter, a man who was convicted of killing an elderly woman and hung for the crime. The story was originally published in 1967 when the class difference between the two young people was an issue, but not as much as the potential of the tendency for violence...
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