Inspector Wexford

Reginald Wexford
Reginald Wexford
First appearance	From Doon With Death
Last appearance	No Man's Nightingale
Created by	Ruth Rendell
Portrayed by	George Baker
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Title	Chief Inspector
Occupation	Police officer
Nationality	British

Chief Inspector Reginald "Reg" Wexford is a recurring character in a series of detective novels by English crime writer Ruth Rendell. He made his first appearance in the author's 1964 debut From Doon With Death, and has since been the protagonist of 23 more novels (plus some short stories). In the TVS television series The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1987-2000), he was played by George Baker.

Character

In a 2013 interview, Rendell stated:^[1]

Wexford is a Liberal Democrat though, and I am a Labour party member, in fact, a Labour peer, so I am further to the left than him.

Wexford is an intelligent, sensitive man. He has a placid wife, Dora, and two daughters, Sheila and Sylvia. He has a good relationship with Sheila (his favourite) but a difficult relationship with Sylvia (who feels slighted though he has never actually intended to slight her). He also has a strong friendship with DI Mike Burden.

Setting

The Wexford series of novels are set in "Kingsmarkham", a fictional town in Sussex.^[2] Kingsmarkham has been reported as "inspired by Midhurst in West Sussex".^[3]

Rendell says that Kingsmarkham "is not romantic at all, (with) ugly modern buildings, huge supermarkets, open car lots and bus garages, and sprawling blocks of local authority housing with the police station a concrete box of tricks amid the quiet crowded houses of High Street … a piece of gaudy litter in a pastoral glade and having modern furniture and (a) sleek, gleaming reception counter".^[4]

Novels

From Doon with Death (1964)
A New Lease of Death (1967) (known as Sins of the fathers in the US)
Wolf to the Slaughter (1968)
The Best Man to Die (1969)
A Guilty Thing Surprised (1970)
No More Dying Then (1971)
Murder Being Done Once (1972) (known as Murder being once done in the US)
Some Lie and Some Die (1973)
Shake Hands Forever (1975)
A Sleeping Life (1978)
Put on By Cunning (1981) (known as Death notes in the US)
The Speaker of Mandarin (1983)
An Unkindness of Ravens (1985)
The Veiled One (1988)
Kissing the Gunner's Daughter (1992)
Simisola (1994)
Road Rage (1997)
Harm Done (1999)
The Babes in the Wood (2002)
End in Tears (2005)
Not in the Flesh (2007)
The Monster in the Box (2009)
The Vault (2011)
No Man's Nightingale (2013)

References

^ Thorpe, Vanessa (18 August 2013). "Ruth Rendell: 'Withholding information from the reader should be part of any story'". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
^ "Ruth Rendell, crime writer - obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
^ Dennison, Matthew (19 August 2014). "Fifty years of Inspector Wexford – and a new detective on the block". The Spectator. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
^ Rendell, Ruth (2007) [1964]. From Doon with Death (2 ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-345-49845-8. (Introducing Chief Inspector Wexford by Daniel Mallory; from 1990 Rendell interview with Marilyn Stasio)

External links

Inspector Wexford - celebrating the books, and the tv series.

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[The_Guardian_-_18_August_2013_-_Ruth_Rendell:_'Withholding_information_from_the_reader_should_be_part_of_any_story'-1] Thorpe, Vanessa (18 August 2013). "Ruth Rendell: 'Withholding information from the reader should be part of any story'". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 December 2015.

[The_Daily_Telegraph_-_2_May_2015_-_Ruth_Rendell,_crime_writer_-_obituary-2] "Ruth Rendell, crime writer - obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2018.

[The_Spectator_-_19_August_2014_-_Fifty_years_of_Inspector_Wexford_–_and_a_new_detective_on_the_block-3] Dennison, Matthew (19 August 2014). "Fifty years of Inspector Wexford – and a new detective on the block". The Spectator. Retrieved 20 November 2022.

[4] Rendell, Ruth (2007) [1964]. From Doon with Death (2 ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-345-49845-8. (Introducing Chief Inspector Wexford by Daniel Mallory; from 1990 Rendell interview with Marilyn Stasio)

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v t e Ruth Rendell
Inspector Wexford novels	From Doon with Death A New Lease of Death Wolf to the Slaughter The Best Man to Die A Guilty Thing Surprised No More Dying Then Murder Being Once Done Some Lie and Some Die Shake Hands Forever A Sleeping Life Put on By Cunning The Speaker of Mandarin An Unkindness of Ravens The Veiled One Kissing the Gunner's Daughter Simisola Road Rage Harm Done The Babes in the Wood End in Tears Not in the Flesh The Monster in the Box The Vault No Man's Nightingale
Stand-alone novels	To Fear a Painted Devil Vanity Dies Hard The Secret House of Death One Across, Two Down The Face of Trespass A Demon in My View A Judgement in Stone Make Death Love Me The Lake of Darkness Master of the Moor The Killing Doll The Tree of Hands Live Flesh Heartstones Talking to Strange Men The Bridesmaid Going Wrong The Crocodile Bird The Keys to the Street A Sight for Sore Eyes Adam and Eve and Pinch Me The Rottweiler Thirteen Steps Down The Thief The Water's Lovely Portobello Tigerlily's Orchids The Saint Zita Society The Girl Next Door Dark Corners
As Barbara Vine	A Dark-Adapted Eye A Fatal Inversion The House of Stairs Gallowglass King Solomon's Carpet Asta's Book No Night is Too Long The Brimstone Wedding The Chimney Sweeper's Boy Grasshopper The Blood Doctor The Minotaur The Birthday Present The Child's Child
Short story collections	The Fallen Curtain Means of Evil The Fever Tree The New Girlfriend The Copper Peacock Blood Lines Piranha to Scurfy A Spot of Folly
TV series	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries The Barbara Vine Mysteries