Undercover

Harpur & Iles #29

by Bill James

When Harpur and Iles are called in to investigate an undercover investigation gone wrong, they can sense dark, hazardous times ahead . . .

After a gang shooting involving an undercover police officer, Colin Harpur and his boss Assistant Chief Constable Desmond Iles are called to another Force’s ground to investigate what the Home Office see as spectacular failings. Harpur can imagine the pressure the officer would have been under. If a gang decided to kill, a spy would have to go along with it. But with careers of fellow officers – who might be in secret, dangerous alliance with villains – at risk, Harpur knows that he and Iles have an exceptionally tough inquiry ahead.

Genres: Mystery

208 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

Bill 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)

Reviews

[Paul Shepherd · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't get into, seem to complex, the literature too advanced for me, only read 1st couple of chapters.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is vintage Bill James (Harpur and Iles) yet fresh and lively and with the author's ability to enter the minds of his characters - both villains and police. Undercover work is an excellent topic to reveal his writing talents as he captures so many different voices whilst giving a sense of the inevitable dangers - physical and psychological - involved. There is humour in his accounts of how the crooks feel they must dress and how they choose their van title to give opportunities for spy holes and yet the lightly sinister tone prevails along with the moral problems encountered in setting up the scheme and in being the agent. There is a range of narrative styles from inner monologue to interview and an interesting new character in Maud Logan Chatsworthy as well as our favourites from other novels. It is set in time sequences before and after the killing and, whilst it would be too heavy to call it metafiction, it is skilfully experimental - and an excellent read.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harpur and Iles are seconded to another force to investigate the murder of one of their undercover officers. Given Iles' loss of one of his own undercover men in an earlier book, this is a task that is fraught with potential conflicts. The narrative moves back and forth between the story of the undercover officer leading up to his death and the investigation following it.

As usual, James' use of language is stellar, and the characters are complex and fascinating.

[Stan Lanier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill James's Harpur & Iles series is crime fiction's "Dance to the Music of Time." Of course, Bill James,writing under his real name, did write a full study of Anthony Powell's works. This is an engaging series, the production of which brings true reading pleasure with each additional volume. (BTW, there are now thirty volumes, best read chronologically, in my experience.)

[Herzog · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite series and I struggled to even give it 3 stars. As usual, there was some very solid humorous dialogue between Harpur and Iles, but only a very brief cameo from Harpur's precocious daughters. The story itself was a real slog.

[Rog Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is set off Harpur and Iles' patch and involves their investigation of an undercover policeman in another area who has been killed. Bill James tells a good story and Iles is as monstrous as ever.

[Steven Pilling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill James and his Harpur and Iles novels just pure reading pleasure.

I dont know if you could start reading Harpur and Iles this late on.

Just fantastic start at book 1 and read them all

[Dancomfort]

Another excellent book in the long series of Harpur and Iles stories.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Undercover operation goes very wrong Harpur and Iles story continues