Sins of the Fathers: An Inspector Wexford Mystery (Formerly Titled : a New Lease of Death) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Ruth Rendell (Author) "IT WAS FIVE IN the morning..." (more)
Key Phrases: Victor's Piece, Chief Inspector, Alice Flower (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
It was a brutal, vicious crime -- sixteen years old. A helpless old woman battered to death with an axe. Harry Painter hung for it, and Chief Inspector Wexford is certain they executed the right man. But Reverend Archery has doubts . . . because his son wants to marry the murderer's beautiful, brilliant daughter. He begins unravelling the past, only to discover that murder breeds murder -- and often conceals even deeper secrets . . .


From the Inside Flap
It was a brutal, vicious crime -- sixteen years old. A helpless old woman battered to death with an axe. Harry Painter hung for it, and Chief Inspector Wexford is certain they executed the right man. But Reverend Archery has doubts . . . because his son wants to marry the murderer's beautiful, brilliant daughter. He begins unravelling the past, only to discover that murder breeds murder -- and often conceals even deeper secrets . . .

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (December 12, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345342534
• ISBN-13: 978-0345342539
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 3.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,245 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 3 in The Chief Inspector Wexford Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rendell's "Sins" finds you out!, February 2, 2001

By	Billy J. Hobbs "billhobbs" (Tyler, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It happened over sixteen years ago--but now, like the troll under the bridge, it raises its ugly head! This was no ordinary crime--it was an axe murder, the death of an old woman. Justice was summarily served, with Harry Painter hanging for the crime. In Ruth Rendell's "Sins of the Fathers," we find Chief Inspector Wexford and assistant Mike Burden painstakingly--and painfully--reinvestigating. It's unusual, of course, in that the Reverend Archery has raised doubts about the crime--fittingly so, as his son plans to marry the daughter of Harry Painter (and, of course, "daughter of a murderer" doesn't look so good on the bridal registry at Marks and Spencers!). Rendell's very successful Wexforfd series continues with this episode, which carries its own weight. Rendell's pacing, her attention to detail, her "execution" of the police procedural is right on target here, complete with deeply held--and dangerously held--secrets and brilliant crime solving by

Wexford and Burden. ([e-mail])

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As Usual, a Rendell Ending with a Twist, September 23, 2001

By	Nancy Trease (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This is a much older Rendell, an Inspector Wexford from 1967. It probably seems a bit dated and therefore poorly reviewed. I see another example of Rendell's beautifully written and convoluted plots. The book that you think you are reading as you go along turns abruptly in the midst of the story, several times.

Having developed a relationship with Wexford, his family, and side-kick Michael Burden, I enjoyed the return to their antecedents. And in its totality, I enjoyed the book very much.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Did He or Didn't He?, December 10, 2000

By	C. Gilbert "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

A young girl who wants to marry a Reverend's son insists that her father wasn't a murderer. But Wexford is sure that the right man had hanged for the crime, and he should know because it had been his first murder case...

Ruth Rendell is generally a fairly reliably entertaining writer and my low rating is really an exception. The trouble for me was that the ending was extremely obvious from a very early point-- unfortunately I read the rest of the book with a growing sense of disappointment that the answer to the mystery took the easy way out. Skip this one.