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Harpur & Iles #10
Roses, Roses
The mystery series continues with the stabbing death of the wife of Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur by a railway station, the culmination of her affair with a London police detective with a shady background and a strange fear of persons unknown.
204 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
48 people want to read
About the author
Bill James
61 books26 followersBill James (born 1929) is a pseudonym of James Tucker, a Welsh novelist. He also writes under his own name and the pseudonyms David Craig and Judith Jones. He was a reporter with the Daily Mirror and various other newspapers after serving with the RAF He is married, with four children, and lives in South Wales.
The bulk of his output under the Bill James pseudonym is the Harpur and Iles series. Colin Harpur is a Detective Chief Inspector and Desmond Iles is the Assistant Chief Constable in an unnamed coastal city in southwestern England. Harpur and Iles are complemented by an evolving cast of other recurring characters on both sides of the law. The books are characterized by a grim humour and a bleak view of the relationship between the public, the police force and the criminal element. The first few are designated "A Detective Colin Harpur Novel" but as the series progressed they began to be published with the designation "A Harpur & Iles Mystery".
His best known work, written under the "David Craig" pseudonym and originally titled Whose Little Girl are You, is The Squeeze, which was turned into a film starring Stacy Keach, Edward Fox and David Hemmings. The fourth Harpur & Iles novel, Protection, was televised by the BBC in 1996 as Harpur & Iles, starring Aneirin Hughes as Harpur and Hywel Bennett as Iles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_James_(novelist)
The bulk of his output under the Bill James pseudonym is the Harpur and Iles series. Colin Harpur is a Detective Chief Inspector and Desmond Iles is the Assistant Chief Constable in an unnamed coastal city in southwestern England. Harpur and Iles are complemented by an evolving cast of other recurring characters on both sides of the law. The books are characterized by a grim humour and a bleak view of the relationship between the public, the police force and the criminal element. The first few are designated "A Detective Colin Harpur Novel" but as the series progressed they began to be published with the designation "A Harpur & Iles Mystery".
His best known work, written under the "David Craig" pseudonym and originally titled Whose Little Girl are You, is The Squeeze, which was turned into a film starring Stacy Keach, Edward Fox and David Hemmings. The fourth Harpur & Iles novel, Protection, was televised by the BBC in 1996 as Harpur & Iles, starring Aneirin Hughes as Harpur and Hywel Bennett as Iles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_James_(novelist)
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 4, 2021
Moglie mia levati di mezzo
La moglie di Harpur, Megan, viene uccisa in un parcheggio dopo essere stata a Londra, in compagnia del suo amante.
Questo è il cuore del romanzo, che si occupa principalmente più dei flashback di Megan e delle dinamiche interne alla famiglia sopravvissuta, le due figlie e il loro padre, che del caso in sé.
Se ne occupa forse un po' troppo, considerando che l'accaduto non ha avuto un impatto emotivo poi tanto evidente su tutti loro. Ci sono lacrime, certo, ma più vicine a quelle di circostanza che a un vero senso di dolore. O forse, semplicemente, sono io a non essere in sintonia con lo humor britannico in quella particolare situazione.
L'Harpur poliziotto - ma anche l'uomo - resta comunque freddo, indaga per conto suo senza riferire ai suoi capi, mette nei guai qualche collega inconsapevole e, alla fine, grazie ai suoi fidati informatori, arriva al nocciolo dell'omicidio. E qui l'autore alza finalmente il tiro piazzando un finale tutto da intuire, in cui la distinzione tra crimine e legalità si assottiglia fino a scomparire.
La moglie di Harpur, Megan, viene uccisa in un parcheggio dopo essere stata a Londra, in compagnia del suo amante.
Questo è il cuore del romanzo, che si occupa principalmente più dei flashback di Megan e delle dinamiche interne alla famiglia sopravvissuta, le due figlie e il loro padre, che del caso in sé.
Se ne occupa forse un po' troppo, considerando che l'accaduto non ha avuto un impatto emotivo poi tanto evidente su tutti loro. Ci sono lacrime, certo, ma più vicine a quelle di circostanza che a un vero senso di dolore. O forse, semplicemente, sono io a non essere in sintonia con lo humor britannico in quella particolare situazione.
L'Harpur poliziotto - ma anche l'uomo - resta comunque freddo, indaga per conto suo senza riferire ai suoi capi, mette nei guai qualche collega inconsapevole e, alla fine, grazie ai suoi fidati informatori, arriva al nocciolo dell'omicidio. E qui l'autore alza finalmente il tiro piazzando un finale tutto da intuire, in cui la distinzione tra crimine e legalità si assottiglia fino a scomparire.
June 29, 2020
Si può dire divertente di un giallo dove un marito poliziotto è costretto, più dal suo carattere che dai suoi capi, a indagare sull'omicidio della moglie?
Sì, se siamo in un giallo inglese dal dissacrante humour nero, dove non si salva niente e nessuno dal Natale al sacramento matrimoniale alle serate letterarie di provincia.
Mi colpisce, al mio secondo James, la predilezione di questo scrittore per le situazioni di bovarismo femminile, che avrà sicuramente il suo perché. Diciamo che se alla terza prova ritrovassi l'ennesimo plot focalizzato sui turbamenti delle mogli infedeli, comincerei a pensare che si tratti di ossessione vera e propria.
Sì, se siamo in un giallo inglese dal dissacrante humour nero, dove non si salva niente e nessuno dal Natale al sacramento matrimoniale alle serate letterarie di provincia.
Mi colpisce, al mio secondo James, la predilezione di questo scrittore per le situazioni di bovarismo femminile, che avrà sicuramente il suo perché. Diciamo che se alla terza prova ritrovassi l'ennesimo plot focalizzato sui turbamenti delle mogli infedeli, comincerei a pensare che si tratti di ossessione vera e propria.
May 22, 2017
What an unpleasant book.
The beginning was confusing, maybe assuming that the reader had read previous books in the series which I had not so I had no familiarity with the characters. We are dumped right in and expected to catch up.
I had a hard time finding the author's voice. I thought maybe this was because I am unfamiliar with the cultural references and turns of phrase he was using. Or maybe he was being obtuse on purpose, filling all the conversations with jokes I didn't get.
The main character is a cop who lies every time he opens his mouth. His wife is in London having an affair with a different cop. He doesn't much care, he is having an affair of his own with a girl still in her teens (Do you notice how often old men write about their sexual fantasies of young girls? That and what they eat and drink. Ugh.) And it isn't just his teen lover, he has other casual meetings. And he doesn't seem to mind his girls of thirteen and fifteen having boyfriends, not showing up when expected, flirting with the friend cop who "likes them young", and talking in a way that I wouldn't accept from my fifteen year old. So mummy is screwing that one, daddy is screwing this one, that is just life. But, mummy gets murdered in a deserted car park. She is given a nice funeral. Daddy does figure out who did it, because she was his wife after all. Concessions to the marriage, but don't expect him to be a nice man. Makes a mockery of family life and marriage. I could have done without this book.
The beginning was confusing, maybe assuming that the reader had read previous books in the series which I had not so I had no familiarity with the characters. We are dumped right in and expected to catch up.
I had a hard time finding the author's voice. I thought maybe this was because I am unfamiliar with the cultural references and turns of phrase he was using. Or maybe he was being obtuse on purpose, filling all the conversations with jokes I didn't get.
The main character is a cop who lies every time he opens his mouth. His wife is in London having an affair with a different cop. He doesn't much care, he is having an affair of his own with a girl still in her teens (Do you notice how often old men write about their sexual fantasies of young girls? That and what they eat and drink. Ugh.) And it isn't just his teen lover, he has other casual meetings. And he doesn't seem to mind his girls of thirteen and fifteen having boyfriends, not showing up when expected, flirting with the friend cop who "likes them young", and talking in a way that I wouldn't accept from my fifteen year old. So mummy is screwing that one, daddy is screwing this one, that is just life. But, mummy gets murdered in a deserted car park. She is given a nice funeral. Daddy does figure out who did it, because she was his wife after all. Concessions to the marriage, but don't expect him to be a nice man. Makes a mockery of family life and marriage. I could have done without this book.
February 26, 2009
This is best I've yet read in a crime fiction series with a tone unlike any other crime fiction. If you can imagine the English dramatist John Webster writing police procedurals, you would get something like this. The characters are all driven by their passions and everyone deceives everyone else. Harpur, the hero, chooses his subordinates so he can hit on their wives. Iles, his superior, is a barely-controlled psychotic. The dialog is swift and witty. This one hits closer to home than some of the other books, which is my reason for giving it a 5 when I've given others a 4. The ending is both hilarious and horrifying, and somehow the humor and the horror intensify each other.
December 12, 2010
This was the first of the Harpur and Isles series I read, and I never looked back. James is a totally original voice writing in British crime fiction, and his series featuring the two aforementioned detectives still runs strong in 2010. Aficionados, like myself, eagerly await each new instalment, and never tire of hearing the latest news about the many characters that either star or are bit players drifting through the novels. It's the Coronation Street of crime, with black humour, deep cynicism, almost surreal dialogue and a never-ending catalogue of layered plots and sub plots. Excellent stuff.
January 27, 2014
niente sesso siamo inglesi � notoriamente una battuta e qui lo di ridimostra ampiamente. Adulteri ed adult�ri s'intrecciano a politica ed affari e mangiatoie varie e commiste. Poca azione, perch� realistica, molta societ� e caratteri e molto wit prodotto da due deliziose orfanelle modernissime, memento perenne all'evidente disgrazia d'avere un figlio stupido... ma pure averne due assai perspicaci ed acuminate non � agile. Colonna sonora The Clash - Sandinista!
July 5, 2012
This is one of 10-15 Harpur and Iles books I've read. I think Bill James is one of the very best writers in this genre, and am always a bit puzzled he's not better known, though he certainly has some dedicated fans. This is not the one to start with if you're new to the series, though it's quite good and shows most of the strengths he displays elsewhere.
January 2, 2017
Another brilliant Harpur and Isle mystery.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews