Ruth Rendell Denies Rumors She's Killing Off Inspector Wexford
Ruth Rendell's fans were so upset at the rumor that she was finished writing the Inspector Wexford novels, that she had to issue
a statement denying the rumors of the bestselling series' death. The legendary mystery writer says that Wexford is alive and well, and ready to do more detecting.
A report in the Telegraph yesterday suggested that Rendell, 79, didn't want to write any more Wexford novels after this autumn's publication of The Monster in the Box, her 22nd mystery featuring Detective Chief Inspector Reg Wexford. But her longtime editor, Paul Sidey at Hutchinson, said this morning that Wexford was still "living and breathing".
"I was rather surprised to hear the news, and having just spoken to Ruth she said nothing of the kind," he said. "So on it goes. I'm in my 27th year as her editor and I'd be very disappointed to lose Reggie from my life."
The Monster in the Box is published this October and casts a new light on the diligent inspector who first appeared in Rendell's 1964 debut From Doon with Death, seeing him grapple with an unsolved mystery from his past when the suspected killer returns to Kingsmarkham. Rendell also depicts Wexford's courtship of the woman who would later become his wife.
"It does reframe the Wexford story. You see him in his early years as a young policeman, meeting his wife-to-be. It's quite clever the way she's used a contemporary story and framed it with something which happened in his early years. It gives another view on the whole Wexford story," said Sidey.
Well, that's a relief. We look forward to this new take on the Wexford mythos.
