Born Guilty

Joe Sixsmith #2

by Reginald Hill

Joe Sixsmith, quite possibly Britain's only black, balding, middle-aged, laid-off lathe operator-turned-private eye, met with deserving success in his debut last year in Blood Sympathy. His latest adventures in crime-solving land him in more trouble than he's ever known.
Sneaking through a graveyard to escape his maneuvering aunt after choir practice, Joe stumbles across a boy's corpse in a cardboard box - and that's just for starters. Soon Joe's casebook is more crowded than Karaoke Nite at his favorite pub. Retired colonial Mrs. Dora Calverley demands to know how the boy got in the box; wild young Gallie Hacker wants Joe to identify the stranger poking into her grandda's past; and Butcher, his friend from the legal aid society, is strangely keen to dig the dirt on a school bureaucrat's out-of-school activities.
Ever valiant for truth, Joe makes his mild-mannered way through Luton's mean streets, fighting off angry cops, demented druggies, and the matchmaking machinations of his Auntie Mirabelle. But the truth he discovers does not set him free, for there's little joy in confirming that today's kids grow up so much faster than he did, and that even the luckiest of them find out all too soon they have been born guilty.
With this book Reginald Hill confirms that Joe Sixsmith is here to stay. There may be prettier PIs and even wittier PIs, but Joe's down-to-earth humanity makes him look like the People's Choice for years to come.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Fiction, British Literature, Humor

222 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1995

About the author

Reginald Charles Hill was a contemporary English crime writer, and the winner in 1995 of the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement.

After National Service (1955-57) and studying English at St Catherine's College, Oxford University (1957-60) he worked as a teacher for many years, rising to Senior Lecturer at Doncaster College of Education. In 1980 he retired from salaried work in order to devote himself full-time to writing.

Hill is best known for his more than 20 novels featuring the Yorkshire detectives Andrew Dalziel, Peter Pascoe and Edgar Wield. He has also written more than 30 other novels, including five featuring Joe Sixsmith, a black machine operator turned private detective in a fictional Luton. Novels originally published under the pseudonyms of Patrick Ruell, Dick Morland, and Charles Underhill have now appeared under his own name. Hill is also a writer of short stories, and ghost tales.

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Description: Joe Sixsmith, the black, balding, British, middle-aged private eye is back, landing in more trouble than he has ever known. He fights off angry cops, demented druggies and the matchmaking machinations of his Auntie Mirabelle--on his way to finding the scoop about the body he found in a cardboard box at the graveyard.



Back with the native Lutonians: dead baby in a box, lesbian/paedophile school marm, Ukranian Nazi war criminal in hiding, a Gary Glitter t-shirt (this was penned before we all got to know about that particular piece of shit) and shapely Beryl in her uniform. Pure story-telling.

I love this series, way better than the brashness of Dalziel and Pascoe, and it slightly reminds me of the Mornington Crescent series by Christopher (can't remember the surname, it will hit me in the wee small hours)



3.5* Blood Sympathy
3.5* Born Guilty

3* A Clubbable Woman (Dalziel & Pascoe, #1)
3* Ruling Passion (Dalziel & Pascoe, #3)
3* A Killing Kindness (Dalziel & Pascoe, #6)
3* Bones and Silence (Dalziel & Pascoe, #11)

3* The Woodcutter

[Kirsty Darbyshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into this. I couldn't really remember what the first in this series was like and wasn't quite sure what to make of this for a while. In the end I found it gripping and very entertaining.

The good thing about keeping track of the books you read is that you can look back and see what you thought about the first in the series.

it's a bit of a farce, a bit of a caper, a lot of a funny crime novel and mainly just very enjoyable to read.

This one never really struck me as farce or caper, it was more in the "quite amusing" vein, and I really shouldn't leave it 3.5 years before reading the next one!

[Eric Grounds · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what I will do when I have finished reading the entire portfolio of Reginald Hill's work. He wrote so beautifully and with such cunning plots.

[Paula R C R. C. Readman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. An amazing storyline with a twist. Joe Sixsmith is a wonderful character.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like all the others I've read by Reginald Hill, this one is tight, complicated, literate, sometimes funny, and a little off-beat. I have been thoroughly enjoying the Dalziel & Pascoe series, but this one, the second in a different series, didn't quite measure up to that level. Perhaps it was just a little too English for me, with slang, funny names, pop-culture references, and class differences that I sort of got, but without being quite sure of the tone. With Dalziel, I always know exactly how boorish and provoking he's being, and I'm sure I'm reacting with the precise degree of appalled amusement that Hill expects of me.

[Marilaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Sixsmith has not had the easiest life. His factory closed down, leaving him without employment so he decides to follow a dream and open a PI business. Although not financially successful, Joe's life is rewarding in other ways. He is a big-hearted man and I adore him!

[Marian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good.

I love this series. Joe Sixsmith is just a good guy and far more clever than he gives himself credit for. Mr. Hill has, as always, done a fine job, and I will never stop being sad I will have no more new books from him.

[Thejelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first experience of Hill’s Luton PI Joe Sixsmith and all a bit lightweight and underwhelming when compared to his stunning Dalziel & Pascoe novels.

[Anne Pipkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t like it enough to continue

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standard stuff

[Lana Kamennof-sine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating main character - private detective, choral singer, an individual who tries to help.
Multiple clients and story lines that interweave

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this romp through Luton with Joe Sixsmith, a not very accomplished PI

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying the two Joe Sixsmith books I've read. I love the author's humor. And the characters are fun: Auntie, Whitey (his cat), and his love interest, Miss Boddington.

[Dorothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I love the Dalziel and Pascoe series by this author, I had not previously enjoyed the Joe Sixsmith series...but thought it was worth trying again and I did like this episode. The main character lives in Luton, UK and lives a sort of hand to mouth existence as a private eye. A well written story.

[Caroline Kubale · Rating 4 out of 5]

MTK

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another very enjoyable book in this series - I will be sad to finish the series, especially as there will be no more stories of Joe Sixsmith.

[Lynne Elsisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chosen for light relief which it provided.

[Ross Whamond · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice retro thriller with well drawn characters and scenarios.

I really enjoyed this.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/B+