Inspector Wexford

Inspector Wexford is the Chief Inspector protagonist of Ruth Rendell's long-running Inspector Wexford series — one of British crime fiction's great characters, a large, cultivated, humane detective working in the fictional Sussex town of Kingsmarkham across a career spanning from 1964 to 2013. Rendell wrote Wexford in parallel with her standalone psychological thrillers (published as Barbara Vine), and the contrast between the two bodies of work illuminates both.

Wexford is defined by his long marriage to Dora, his two daughters, his wide reading, and his genuine interest in the people involved in his cases — victims, perpetrators, and witnesses alike. His partnership with the younger, more impetuous Mike Burden provides professional tension and personal contrast across the series. Rendell uses the Kingsmarkham setting to track changes in English life across fifty years of social transformation.

The television adaptations starring George Baker as Wexford gave the character a definitive visual identity for British audiences. Rendell is widely considered one of the greatest crime writers in the English language.

Begin with From Doon with Death (1964) and read in publication order.