My Continuing Look at the Mystery Genre - English Cops Part 8

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

In my last entry in this thread, I discussed Peter James' Inspector Grace, Lynda Laplante's Anna Travis and John Lawton's Inspector Troy. I'll continue with this discussion today.

Peter Lovesey

1. Peter Lovesey. English writer Lovesey was born in Middlesex in 1936. He's author of historical and contemporary mysteries. I've tried one and am interested in another.

a. Sgt Cribb (Historical Crime series). This series consists of 8 novels from 1970 - 1978.The novels are set in the Victorian era. I've read the first one so far and it was interesting. The novels were adapted to a TV series on Granada TV and also as a radio dramatization.

i. Wobble to Death (1970).









"Wobble To Death by Peter Lovesey is the first book in his historical mystery series featuring Scotland Yard Sgt Cribb. It is also my first exposure to his writing. It's an interesting premise to say the least.

The story is set in London, 1879 and is centered around a pedestrian race at the Agricultural Hall. From the foreword, these races took place fairly regularly, where groups or walkers would participate in a 6 day race, with the winner being the one who was able to walk the longest distance; somewhere over 500 miles, in the six days. It reminds me of the movie They Shoot Horses, Don't They, which was about marathon dance contests.

Anyway, in this particular race one of the contestants dies and this brings in Sgt Cribb and Constable Thackeray to investigate the circumstances. It turns out the contestant was, in fact, murdered. There are a number of potential suspects that the two intrepid detectives must investigate. It's an interesting story with interesting characters, somewhat light on the mystery but still entertaining. You get a nice picture of the time and the race and contestants. It was a nice introduction to the series and I will find other books featuring Sgt Cribb. (3.5 stars) Lovesey also writes the Peter Diamond mystery series. I have the first book in that series to try as well."

ii. Abracadaver (#3 / 1972).












"A sadistic practical joker is haunting the popular music halls of London, interfering with the actors and interrupting their acts by orchestrating humiliating disasters that take place in view of the audience. A trapeze artist misses her timing when the trapeze ropes are shortened. A comedian who invites the audience to sing along with him finds the words of his song “shamefully” altered. Mustard has been applied to a sword swallower’s blade. A singer’s costume has been rigged. The girl in a magician’s box is trapped. Then the mischief escalates to murder. Or was murder intended all along? That indomitable detective team, Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray of Scotland Yard, must track down the elusive criminal."

The remaining books in this series are -
- The Detective Wore Silk Drawers (1971)
- Mad Hatter's Holiday (1973)
- Invitation to a Dynamite Party (1974)
- A Case of Spirits (1975)
- Swing, Swing Together (1976)
- Waxwork (1978)

b. Peter Diamond. Diamond is a police detective who operates out of Bath. There are 17 novels in this series. I've not yet tried the series but I have the first book in the series and a couple of others.

i. The Last Detective (#1 / 1991).












"A woman's body has been found floating in a large reservoir just south of Bristol. In order to solve the mystery of the Lady in the Lake , Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond must locate two missing letters attributed to Jane Austen and defy his superiors on the force to save a woman unjustly accused of murder."

ii. Skeleton Hill (#10 / 2009).












"Battle & burial are built into the history of Lansdown Hill, so it is no great shock when part of a skeleton is unearthed there. But Peter Diamond, Bath's Head of CID, can't ignore the fresh corpse found close to Beckford's Tower. The Hill becomes the setting for one of the most puzzling cases he has ever investigated."

iii. Cop to Corpse (#12 / 2012).

"On a Sunday morning in Bath, a policeman on beat duty is shot dead - the 3rd killing of an officer in a matter of weeks.
The assassinations are the work of a sniper who seems to be everywhere and nowhere at once, always a step ahead. The younger detectives try their best with what little evidence he leaves, but they're no match for this murderer and his merciless agenda.

When Chief Superintendent Peter Diamond joins the case, he begins to find curious connections between the dead officers after talking to their widows. But a dangerous forest encounter with the killer leaves Diamond in the lurch and the sniper in the wind. Things get even more complicated when the evidence starts to suggest that the killer might be one of Britain's finest--a theory unpopular among Diamond's colleagues. Can Diamond manage to capture an elusive and increasingly dangerous killer while keeping his team from losing faith in him?"

The remaining books in the series are -
- Diamond Solitaire (1992)
- The Summons (1995)
- Bloodhounds (1996)
- Upon a Dark Night (1997)
- The Vault (1999)
- Diamond Dust (2002)
- The House Sitter (2003)
- The Secret Hangman (2007)
- Stagestruck (2011)
- The Tooth Tattoo (2013)
- The Stone Wife (2014)
- Down Among the Dead Men (2015)
- Another One Goes Tonight (2016)
- Beau Death (2017)

 

J.J. Marric

2. J.J. Marric AKA John Creasey (Commander Gideon). J.J. Marric was one of the pen-names used by English writer, John Creasey. Creasey was born in 1908 in Surrey and died in 1973. Over the course of his life he wrote countless series under a variety of names; as John Creasey, Doctor Palfrey, Department Z, The Toff, etc; as J.J. Marric, Commander Gideon; as Anthony Morton, The Baron, and so on. Suffice it to say, he was prolific. I've read one of The Baron books and am enjoying my introductions to the Commander Gideon series. From 1955 - 1976, he wrote 21 books in this police procedural series. I've read two books in the series thus far and have a number of others to try.

a. Gideon's Day (#1 / 1955).












"Gideon's day is a busy one. He balances family commitments with solving a series of seemingly unrelated crimes from which a plot nonetheless evolves and a mystery is solved.

One of the most senior officers within Scotland Yard, George Gideon's crime solving abilities are in the finest traditions of London's world famous police headquarters. His analytical brain and sense of fairness is respected by colleagues and villains alike." (3 stars)

b. Gideon's Week (#2 / 1956). I have but have not yet read.









"Gideon’s week…was long, and getting longer! It had all started when battered wife Ruby Benson set up her wanted-killer husband Sid for capture by the cops, hoping he’d be spending the rest of his worthless life in jail. But Benson had other plans. The brutal madman had escaped. And now he was back on the streets with only one thought in mind…revenge! And it looked like it was up to Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard to save Ruby from her sadistic spouse’s blood vendetta…or die trying!"

c. Gideon's Month (#4 / 1958).









"I read my first Inspector Gideon mystery, Gideon's Day, 5 or 6 years ago. And while I've accumulated 3 or 4 more books in the series, I've kind of avoided getting back to them. My loss really. 

Gideon's Month, by J.J. Marric, aka John Creasey, is the 4th book in the series. We find Gideon now the Commander of Scotland Yard's Criminal Investigation Division, spending the month running the CID all over London, working various cases, moving and manipulating his personnel like chess pieces to try and get a hold on the varied criminal cases that are in the forefront of his schedule.

It's an interesting, very matter-of-fact police procedural. We follow Gideon, we follow various of his investigators who are working on the applicable cases and also the people who are the victims and / or the instigators of the crimes.
 
There is Frisky Lee, an arch-nemesis from Gideon's past, a man that Gideon has never been able to catch, who is moving to Australia, and who Gideon wants to sort out before he departs. There is a child crime ring; young children being taught to be pick-pockets by their mothers. This case strikes a chord with Gideon and his investigators who have strong feelings about child abuse. There is the nurse/ caretaker who seems to be killing off elder gentlemen to get their money. This is investigated by Inspector Marr, another interesting character. And there are other cases that Gideon follows, encourages his men to push forward and to try and solve the cases.

It's a month in the life, an interesting look at the criminals, the investigators and how the proceed to try and solve the crimes in their hands. I liked it very much and won't wait so long to try another of the Gideon series. (3.5 stars)"

The remaining books in the series are (I'll highlight * those I have on my bookshelf) - 
- Gideon's Night (1957)
- Gideon's Staff (1959) *
- Gideon's Risk (1960) *
- Gideon's Fire (1961)
- Gideon's March (1962) *
- Gideon's Ride (1963)
- Gideon's Vote (1964)
- Gideon's Lot (1965) *
- Gideon's Badge (1966)
- Gideon's Wrath (1967) *
- Gideon's River (1968)
- Gideon's Power (1969)*
- Gideon's Sport (1970)
- Gideon's Art (1971)
- Gideon's Men (1972)
- Gideon's Press (1973) *
- Gideon's Fog (1975) *
- Gideon's Drive (1976)

NB. There were another 5 books written after Creasey's death by William Vivian Butler)

Well, there you go, some books you might want to check out. Have a great weekend!!