The Vault: An Inspector Wexford Novel Review

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The Vault: An Inspector Wexford Novel ReviewIn 2009, the Telegraph newspaper reported that Ruth Rendell didn't want to write any more Inspector Wexford novels after The Monster in the Box. I had read and enjoyed all the previous books in the series and I was worried about reading The Monster in the Box, thinking that if Rendell was tired of Wexford, it might show in the book. But the book was a truly enjoyable wrap-up to the series, with Wexford tackling a case that took him back to his earliest days in the police force, and his mixed-up personal life at that time.
Though Rendell's editor denied the Telegraph report of the end of Wexford, it was still a surprise to hear this year that there would be a new Wexford novel. The Vault finds Wexford retired and splitting his time, with his wife Dora, between their longtime home in Kingsmarkham and the coach house of their actress daughter's upmarket home in London. Retirement is good for Wexford's physical health, as he spends hours a day taking long walks in the city, but he finds himself at loose ends without his detective work. He's relieved when Tom Ede of London's Metropolitan Police, an old acquaintance, asks him to provide consulting assistance in the investigation of four long-dead bodies found down an ancient coal-hole on the grounds of a fine house in quiet St. John's Wood.
The Vault is a sequel of sorts to one of Rendell's non-Wexford suspense novels, A Sight for Sore Eyes. There is no need to have read A Sight for Sore Eyes to follow The Vault, but it adds interest. And added interest is a good thing to have in this case. The Vault is not a bad book, but it lacks sparkle, is sometimes plodding and just not quite up to Rendell's usual standard.
With a couple of exceptions, the various witnesses and suspects are so one-dimensional that it's difficult to keep them straight. The secondary story strand, about Wexford and Dora's Kingsmarkham daughter, Sylvia, is somehow lurid and dull at the same time. The editing could use some work too. Yearly dates are given as, for example, twenty-oh-six, two thousand six, and 2006. A long paragraph on the first page of the book is unclear and I needed to re-read it a couple of times to be sure I had it straight. But there were some interesting observations on Wexford's new role as a consulting detective; someone who has no official standing, and how it affects his interactions with interviewees and the police.
I was glad to spend time again with Inspector Wexford and hope to read more in the series. Wexford's unofficial role presents some new possibilities that I hope Rendell will explore. I just hope that next time around, the book is more up to the series' usual standard. If you haven't read any Inspector Wexford books, this isn't the book to start with. That would be the first in the series, From Doon With Death. Alternatively, The Monster In the Box can be read as a standalone.The Vault: An Inspector Wexford Novel Overview

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