Top Banana

Harpur & Iles #13

by Bill James

Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur investigates the murder of thirteen-year-old Mandy Walsh, a drug runner, who was caught in the crossfire between two rival drug gangs

Genres: Mystery

284 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

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

[Craig Pittman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the craziest police procedural I have ever read.

The detective, Sgt. Colin Harpur, spends as much time navigating between his brilliant but caustic superior Desmond Iles and his downbeat but idealistic chief, Mark Lane, as he does investigating the death of a 12-year-old drug courier apparently killed in a gangland crossfire. At least half of the book is take up by the musings of drug gang boss Mansel Shale, who at one point declares he must go to the child's funeral because someone has to uphold traditional values. Meanwhile it seems like there's a lot of inappropriate sexual behavior involving Iles and Harpur. And there are some hysterically funny nicknames, the best of which is "Panicking Ralph."

I had never heard of this long-running detective series by Welsh writer Bill James (not the baseball stats guy) but stumbled across it in my fave used book store so I thought I would give it a try. I am glad I did. James is less concerned about the plot (which zags when you think it should zig and vice versa) and instead is more interest in society's response to crime -- both among the cops and the crooks, as well as the average joe. The great debate in this book is whether the cops, in the name of keeping order, should form an alliance with Shale to turn a blind eye to the drug trade in exchange for keeping the violence down. Iles is in favor, Lane is not, and Harpur debates with himself which is better even as he meets with a snitch to get clues about the killing and turns a blind eye to the snitch's own wrongdoing.

Shale, who really wants an alliance with the cops, is a great comic creation, a man who loves riding his bike but puts up with riding in a chauffeur-driven Jag because it's expected. And Iles' rip-roaring dialog -- subtly ripping Lane or berating Harpur - is a riot for readers.

It took me a while to get into this book -- James cuts you no slack if you're new and just starting on his work -- but once I did I raced through it, and plan to read some more books in this series to see if they're all at this fine level. Why has this not been turned into a Netflix series? Iles reminded me of the caustic main character in "In the Loop."

[Procyon Lotor · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'eterogenesi dei fini. Pi� duro dei precedenti � parte da uno scontro a fuoco in una Scamp�a britannica (le hanno anche quegli ipocriti) per il sempiterno controllo del territorio dove perde la vita una ragazzina modernissimamente scombinata e scuolafobica che � lo si scopre subito � � un distributore di droga. Il classico delitto da prima pagina, da "dove siamo finiti signoramia che tempi!!!" Quello il cui scandalo scombina i piani di chiunque e azzera qualsiasi accordo sottobanco. Scritto in uno stile inusuale, c'� lo scrittore-dio onnisciente, c'� lo scrittore ed il lettore onniscienti, c'� lo scrittore che cela, quello che bara (quello oracolarmente oscuro � solitamente perch� nemmeno lui sa dove dirigere il racconto) e l'ibrido James che mostra tutto al lettore ma solo di ci� che � in scena in quel momento. Da quella posizione non onnisciente ma di chi ne sa pi� di tutti, chi � stato lo si capisce volutamente presto ma non � questo il punto. James crea una macchina assai pi� aderente alla realt� frammentaria dove i Boss cercano un abboccamento � guidati dal "Top Banana" il mattatore del titolo - colla Polizia per giungere ad un accordo di malavita sostenibile. I Boss, che scimmiottano gli imprenditori, e i cui concetti biascicati in purissimo managerese fanno sorgere vaste illazioni a sua volta sulla natura dell'imprenditoria non manifatturiera, cercano un cartello benedetto dalla Polizia. Realt� sotto la continua minaccia dell'eterogenesi dei fini, della frammentariet� del quadro di ognuno, delle leggi garantiste dimmerda � ispirate evidentemente da politici che hanno pi� a cuore la sorte dei delinquenti � per cortesia tra colleghi? � che non del cittadino e dei media che si credono i veri governanti del Paese. Ogni soluzione sar� grigia, incompleta, temporanea, imperfetta, faticosa e rimpianta, ma meglio di nulla. Temo che il non vasto successo dell'ottimo Bill James (cos� sop�to da aver scelto uno pseudonimo incolore: il vero nome � assai pi� giallistico e altisonante) sia proprio la ricostruzione di una realt� realistica e plausibile troppo simile alla pi� secca cronaca nera. In compenso vale un trattato di criminologia moderna, per non dire di sociologia spicciola applicata contemporanea. *** Ah, nonostante abbia a disposizione molti validi personaggi, con un carattere vero e solido e pi� di una dote, non li impiega tutti sempre � qui le deliziose terribili figlie di Harpur o Sarah, l'inquieta perspicace moglie di Iles compaiono per pochissime eccellenti scene, ma li fa agire per quello che sono, solo quando ha senso che agiscano e senza pretendere da loro cose che nulla hanno a che fare con le loro personalit� o capacit�: l'impossibile; se quello possono dare, quello daranno e s'accontenta. Scelta forse meno brillante, ma garanzia di durata quasi illimitata per la ridotta usura dei personaggi.

[Simona Moschini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bellissimo.

[Tom]

At the upper end of the Harpur & Iles series. Iles's not-so-subtle campaign against the hapless Chief Mark Lane is heavily featured, a characteristic of most of the best books in the series (recently reread).

[David Booher · Rating 5 out of 5]

outstanding

[Patricia Stirling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harpur and Isles mystery.