Hang the Little Man

Inspector West #31

by John Creasey

The murder of the young woman,latest victim of the organized crime wave,was particularly brutal. She was found on the floor of her shop with her head beaten in. But the puzzling thing was that the killer himself turned out to be - a corpse.

Then the beautiful young widow who might be able to cast light on the case disappeared. Roger West found himself thrust into the strangest case of his career - while terror reigned in the streets of London.

Genres: Mystery, Procedural

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

AKA Gordon Ashe, M E Cooke, Norman Deane, Robert Caine Frazer, Patrick Gill, Michael Halliday, Charles Hogarth, Brian Hope, Colin Hughes, Kyle Hunt, Margaret Lisle, Abel Mann, Peter Manton, J.J. Marric, Richard Martin, Rodney Mattheson, Anthony Morton, Jeremy York, Henry St. John Cooper and Margaret Cooke.

John Creasey (September 17, 1908 - June 9, 1973) was born in Southfields, Surrey, England and died in New Hall, Bodenham, Salisbury Wiltshire, England. He was the seventh of nine children in a working class home. He became an English author of crime thrillers, published in excess of 600 books under 20+ different pseudonyms. He invented many famous characters who would appear in a whole series of novels. Probably the most famous of these is Gideon of Scotland Yard, the basis for the television program Gideon's Way but others include Department Z, Dr. Palfrey, The Toff, Inspector Roger West, and The Baron (which was also made into a television series). In 1962, Creasey won an Edgar Award for Best Novel, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Gideon's Fire, written under the pen name J. J. Marric. And in 1969 he was given the MWA's highest honor, the Grand Master Award.

Reviews

[Bev]

London has fallen under a siege of small shop robberies. A bit nasty, distressing to the victims--but rarely violent. Then came the robbery at the Stones' shop. Mabel Stone, a young wife who has just recently discovered she is pregnant, is minding the store alone. She's gone into the back rooms of the shop when she hears someone rifling around the counter. She surprises a man going through the till and he attacks her with heavy tins of food. Unfortunately, she doesn't survive. Her husband vows to hunt down her killer and kill him--he doesn't believe the justice system will do it for him. But Mabel's murderer is killed himself before either Jim Stone or the police can find him.

Scotland Yard's Superintendent Roger West believes there is a pattern to these robberies--despite the fact that witnesses' statements indicate that they are carried out by vastly different men. His superiors don't think there could be such an organized group of small-time burglars. But when another robbery nearly turns to murder, West finally gets the the help he needs to organize against the burglary syndicate. But will they be able to discover the ringleaders before another murder takes place...and before the syndicate spots and eliminates the undercover policeman who is on their trail?

Creasey writes fast-moving, action-packed police procedurals and Roger West is one of my favorite policemen. The superintendent is confident, but not perfect and there is a very human side to him that can connect with the victims in these stories. He also understands the imperfections of those under him--giving just enough reprimand to make them recognize their mistakes, but doing so in such a way that they will improve rather than resent his calling them out. Creasey also provides a classic mystery style of clueing that makes it possible for the reader to solve the mystery before West does (not that I did in this case).

This particular story begins a little brutally with the killing of Mabel. It seems so senseless, I was pleased to find (by the end of the novel) that appearances could be deceiving. An interesting take on the crime syndicated theme.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.

[David Chess]

Not bad, not wonderful; well-written but otherwise run-of-the-mill Creasey crime stuff.

[Dave Rogers]

Some real good stuff here - the ending is a little rushed and Creasey steals the premise from another book he wrote years earlier. Still, the man wrote 600 novels so who can blame him.

[Richie Bannister-Lowe]

really enjoyed reading this book. viscous shop robberies across London, are they related. only inspector west can figure it out

[Malcolm Noble]

Here is a link to my review on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBsNOI...

[Delores Alger]

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