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Chief Inspector Littlejohn #37
Death Before Breakfast
First published in 1962, Death Before Breakfast is a Chief Inspector Littlejohn mystery full of intrigue, mysterious motives, and ingenious speculation.On her way to church early one morning, Mrs. Jump sees a dead body in the gutter in July Street. Frightened, she hurries on, but her conscience convinces her to return, only to find the body gone. Doubting herself, she nevertheless tells her boss, Inspector Littlejohn of Scotland Yard, who decides to investigate further. He soon discovers that July Street is full of unusual people. Everyone has a motive. Everyone is a suspect. From London to Paris and back, Littlejohn unravels the tangled web of connections between this curious cast of characters to expose the murderer.
214 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1962
51 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
George Bellairs
73 books101 followersAKA Hilary Landon
George Bellairs is the nom de plume of Harold Blundell, a crime writer and bank manager born in Heywood, near Rochdale, Lancashire, who settled in the Isle of Man on retirement. He wrote more than 50 books, most featuring the series' detective Inspector Littlejohn. He also wrote four novels under the alternative pseudonym Hilary Landon.
George Bellairs is the nom de plume of Harold Blundell, a crime writer and bank manager born in Heywood, near Rochdale, Lancashire, who settled in the Isle of Man on retirement. He wrote more than 50 books, most featuring the series' detective Inspector Littlejohn. He also wrote four novels under the alternative pseudonym Hilary Landon.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 31, 2021
Inspector Thomas Littlejohn’s cleaning lady tells him of a disappearing corpse she encountered on her way to early Mass. While others disbelieve the account, the reader — knowing this is a detective novel — know that the corpse will, indeed, turn up. What’s entertaining is how the persistent Littlejohn and his lugubrious friend and sergeant, Robert Cromwell, discover how a French gentleman jewel thief ended up dead in a ditch in a rundown section of London.
This 37th novel in the Inspector Littlejohn series was released in 1962, but, except for the mention of a tape recorder, this novel could have been set any time after the end of World War II. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Another wonderful novel by George Bellairs.
This 37th novel in the Inspector Littlejohn series was released in 1962, but, except for the mention of a tape recorder, this novel could have been set any time after the end of World War II. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Another wonderful novel by George Bellairs.
July 20, 2025
4.5 stars
February 3, 2021
Bellairs scrive bene, con uno stile asciutto, poche descrizioni, tanti dialoghi, personaggi tratteggiati con pochi ma calzanti aggettivi e il tutto condito con una gentile ironia. Il libro è del 1962, tecnicamente fuori dalla golden age, e anche l’ambientazione è più moderna, è una Londra di furgoncini del latte elettrici, pompe di benzina con garage e brutte villette a schiera. E c’è un cadavere che compare e scompare, un ladro internazionale, una donna sensuale e Scotland Yard che indaga. Va tutto bene ma non è semplicemente il mio genere: se leggo un giallo di questo tipo io voglio il villaggio fuori dal tempo con il suo green, il maniero con la sua aristocratica famiglia e i cadaveri in biblioteca o in sala da pranzo. Altrimenti... leggo Edgar Wallace!
October 5, 2025
Dead men don't walk, but sometimes they're carried.
This is an unusual case for Scotland Yard's Superintendent Littlejohn because it doesn't take place in a village or small town in southern England or on the Isle of Man or in the south of France (both places where Littlejohn takes frequent busman's holidays.) Instead it's in an obscure London suburb and he wasn't called in by the local police but by his wife's cleaning lady.
Mrs Jump isn't the proverbial "treasure" but she's reasonably competent and reliable. She's not a fast thinker, so when she's hurrying to early Mass and sees what looks like a dead body on the sidewalk, she goes on to church and mulls it over. When she swings back by after Mass, the body is gone. She's worried and confides in kind Letty Littlejohn, who promises her husband's help.
Willesden is a place of shabby old houses, with a few respectable ones. A slumlord has bought up many of the properties and renters needn't look to him for repairs. Littlejohn suspects the deader was a drunk who wobbled off, but gets suspicious when he questions the nearby residents. All are law-abiding citizens and anxious to help the police, but their stories don't match up. Someone's lying and Littlejohn wonders who and why.
Then the stiff shows up in the river and he wasn't swimming. Furthermore, he's a well-known, successful French jewel thief. What was he doing in Willesden, where no one has any jewels worth stealing?
This is a complicated case that leads Littlejohn and Sergeant Cromwell on some wild chases. There are the usual mismatched marriage partners and some who are mismatched, but without benefit of a marriage license. There are small businesses that are exactly what they seem to be and some that are clearly fronts for illegal activities.
There are people you'd expect to find in a shabby suburb and others who seem out of place. Some of the neighbors are friends, but some only associate because they know too much about each other to break away. Arabs say, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." That's Willesden in a nutshell.
I love this series because Littlejohn and Cromwell are such appealing characters. The bit where Cromwell (the experienced father of three) gives advice to a worried man whose children are suffering from whooping cough is heart-warming, then hilarious. Mr Peeples is hiding a big secret and it's not coughing kids.
Warning" the "illustrations" are pin-up pics from a racy-for-the-time mag called "Film Fun." They look to have been published at least three decades before this book appeared in 1962 and aren't remotely connected to the story. Puzzling, but they didn't keep me from enjoying this well-written mystery.
The English bank manager who wrote as "George Bellairs" started at the very end of the Golden Age of Mysteries, but he wrote traditional English mysteries and very good ones. His knowledge of human nature was broad and (for the most part) tolerant and his sense of humor comes through in every book. I'm coming to the end of this series and dread finishing it.
This is an unusual case for Scotland Yard's Superintendent Littlejohn because it doesn't take place in a village or small town in southern England or on the Isle of Man or in the south of France (both places where Littlejohn takes frequent busman's holidays.) Instead it's in an obscure London suburb and he wasn't called in by the local police but by his wife's cleaning lady.
Mrs Jump isn't the proverbial "treasure" but she's reasonably competent and reliable. She's not a fast thinker, so when she's hurrying to early Mass and sees what looks like a dead body on the sidewalk, she goes on to church and mulls it over. When she swings back by after Mass, the body is gone. She's worried and confides in kind Letty Littlejohn, who promises her husband's help.
Willesden is a place of shabby old houses, with a few respectable ones. A slumlord has bought up many of the properties and renters needn't look to him for repairs. Littlejohn suspects the deader was a drunk who wobbled off, but gets suspicious when he questions the nearby residents. All are law-abiding citizens and anxious to help the police, but their stories don't match up. Someone's lying and Littlejohn wonders who and why.
Then the stiff shows up in the river and he wasn't swimming. Furthermore, he's a well-known, successful French jewel thief. What was he doing in Willesden, where no one has any jewels worth stealing?
This is a complicated case that leads Littlejohn and Sergeant Cromwell on some wild chases. There are the usual mismatched marriage partners and some who are mismatched, but without benefit of a marriage license. There are small businesses that are exactly what they seem to be and some that are clearly fronts for illegal activities.
There are people you'd expect to find in a shabby suburb and others who seem out of place. Some of the neighbors are friends, but some only associate because they know too much about each other to break away. Arabs say, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." That's Willesden in a nutshell.
I love this series because Littlejohn and Cromwell are such appealing characters. The bit where Cromwell (the experienced father of three) gives advice to a worried man whose children are suffering from whooping cough is heart-warming, then hilarious. Mr Peeples is hiding a big secret and it's not coughing kids.
Warning" the "illustrations" are pin-up pics from a racy-for-the-time mag called "Film Fun." They look to have been published at least three decades before this book appeared in 1962 and aren't remotely connected to the story. Puzzling, but they didn't keep me from enjoying this well-written mystery.
The English bank manager who wrote as "George Bellairs" started at the very end of the Golden Age of Mysteries, but he wrote traditional English mysteries and very good ones. His knowledge of human nature was broad and (for the most part) tolerant and his sense of humor comes through in every book. I'm coming to the end of this series and dread finishing it.
April 3, 2022
Could it be that my taste in detective fiction has changed? This is the second Bellairs I have read recently and not enjoyed much, although at one time he was a great favourite. Again, I found it had not dated well, and the publishers should have removed or altered one extremely offensive phrase.
The plot was simply not very interesting nor complex. The characters were flat and a bit hackneyed. Littlejohn and Cromwell both acted quite unprofessionally and I detected a lot of class snobbery.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect for me was the depiction of a slum landlord very similar to Peter Rachmann, who exploited West Indian immigrants. This was published first in 1962 and predates the exposure of Rachmann.
Otherwise, disappointing, since the solution was so obvious. Another Bellairs where a great opening idea does not lead to much by way of entertainment or puzzlement.
The plot was simply not very interesting nor complex. The characters were flat and a bit hackneyed. Littlejohn and Cromwell both acted quite unprofessionally and I detected a lot of class snobbery.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect for me was the depiction of a slum landlord very similar to Peter Rachmann, who exploited West Indian immigrants. This was published first in 1962 and predates the exposure of Rachmann.
Otherwise, disappointing, since the solution was so obvious. Another Bellairs where a great opening idea does not lead to much by way of entertainment or puzzlement.
July 15, 2020
Another well-written Inspector Littlejohn police procedural, from later in the series, the early 1960s. This time Littlejohn's cleaning lady finds a body on her way to church in the morning, but when she returns from church the body is gone. Overcoming the local police's disbelief, Littlejohn pursues the leads in his usual plodding manner, digging into the lives and goings-on in this little poor corner of London. When a body of a notorious French jewel thief is found, confirming the story, Littlejohn goes after the leads, all the way to France and back, solving the mystery in his usual fashion.
Fun to read, I enjoy Littlejohn's patient unraveling of the clues, another great character study.
Fun to read, I enjoy Littlejohn's patient unraveling of the clues, another great character study.
July 23, 2024
One of the few (only?) Littlejohns to take place on London: a seedy little neighborhood where an infamous international jewel thief turns up dead in the street - but then disappears. As always, Bellairs is best on the seedy world of people scuffling to get by. The plot, including a failed doctor, a femme fatale, is kind of a mess. Also: the amount of back chat the suspects give the police is amazing!
August 14, 2023
A nice time filler. I like a classic mystery that doesn't have excessive language and gore (although sometimes I do delve into books that are just that....gory and full of language...just a bit goes a very long way).. I will say that I liked the style and that Inspector Littlejohn was a well developed character. I will definitely be looking for more books by George Bellairs.
April 21, 2020
Il romanzo è coinvolgente!
Chi ama questa collana (I Bassotti), faticherà a trovare libri e storie deludenti.
Questo libro ne è la prova!
Tutti gli abitanti di July Street sono coinvolti nel delitto del re dell’argento.
Mrs. Jump è colei che dà il via all’intera vicenda.
Chi ama questa collana (I Bassotti), faticherà a trovare libri e storie deludenti.
Questo libro ne è la prova!
Tutti gli abitanti di July Street sono coinvolti nel delitto del re dell’argento.
Mrs. Jump è colei che dà il via all’intera vicenda.
November 22, 2023
Mrs. Jump who cleans for Littlejohn sees a dead body but when she goes back, it has disappeared. Inspector Littlejohn believes her and the police search. When a body turns up in the river, they discover it's a French thief. Then they have to unravel who killed him.
Great classic mystery.
Great classic mystery.
September 10, 2018
Charming!
March 23, 2020
Delightful mystery written in the 1960s and set In England. One of the Chief Inspector Littlejohn series of books.
November 22, 2022
Very good.
November 24, 2023
A nice Littlejohn mystery, nothing fancy. Good pacing and a smile every now and then for Bellairs' sometimes understated writing.
May 6, 2024
Not my favourite of the series. More of a conventional police procedural.
September 19, 2025
I enjoy all the Littlejohn stories. Bellairs writes very amusing descriptions of his characters as well as giving them funny names!
February 6, 2013
When Mrs. Littlejohn's cleaner discovers a dead body on her way to church, she won't confide in anyone but Superintendent Littlejohn. Nobody else admits to knowing about the body, which disappeared before the cleaner got back to it, but Littlejohn is sure that someone in the dreary neighborhood knows something. A French train ticket gives him a new lead and takes him back, to his delight, to France.
February 20, 2025
1950’s British police procedural Complex.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews