Murder Pluperfect

Harry James and Sergeant Honeybody

by Kenneth Giles

Book by Giles, Kenneth

Genres: Mystery

Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two murders, one set in the past (1874) and one occurs in the present (ca. 1970). Something about the style of writing and the details of the 1874 murder often made me feel as though the present day were in much older times. Though a lot of the inspector's time is spent on the 1874 murder, and we learn also a great deal about his domestic circumstances (wife who seems ultimately supportive, three small children), it is the present-day murder that at last takes precedence. Sometimes the story seemed confusing, and there were a lot of characters to keep straight. Still, I enjoyed the book, but do not feel compelled to search out more books about Chief Inspector Harry James and his sergeant, Honeybody.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously, I've been heavily into English mysteries lately and this is another one. The class structure was a little too pronounced, but that may be reflective of when the book was written. However, the Chief Inspector and his Sergeant are a nice couple of people and the puzzle isn't too bad though I did suspect the killer fairly often on - though not for the reason that eventually the author used.