annieb123's Review of He'd Rather Be Dead (An Inspector Littlejohn Mystery, #2)

by George Bellairs

I could go on like this for ever, but Nemesis, in the form of one Littlejohn, is almost on the doorstep. The mayor of Westcome, Sir Gideon Ware, has a speciality for painting a target on his own back. Most recently, he has gained numerous enemies for transforming the quaint harbour town into a sprawling, manmade boardwalk through a series of bribes, blackmail, and backhand deals.

So when Sir Gideon Ware dies at his annual luncheon, it's no surprise that foul play is suspected.

Inspector Littlejohn is brought in to investigate the murder, but with so many motives to sort through, the suspect list is endless. And with the Chief Constable covering up critical clues at every turn, Littlejohn is left on his own to get to the bottom of Ware's murder.

But when a second body is found, Littlejohn's investigation gets put on a fatal timer.

He'd Rather Be Dead was first published in 1945.

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

He'd Rather Be Dead is the 9th Inspector Littlejohn mystery by George Bellairs. Originally released in 1945, this reformat and rerelease by Agora is 245 pages and available in ebook format (earlier editions available in other formats). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is an engagingly written and well constructed golden age mystery. Full of well rendered characters, it proceeds from the murder of a universally loathed crass and mean spirited mayor at an official luncheon through the winnowing of a whole stable of potential murderers by Inspector Littlejohn. The dialogue, though admittedly a product of its time, is well written and urbane, lightly witty and humorous. Although I have enjoyed all the Littlejohn mysteries, this one does work quite well as a standalone, and it's not necessary to have read the other books.

It's really lovely to see these gems being dusted off and re-released to new generations of readers. Bellairs (Harold Blundell) was a gifted writer and a technical master of construction.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

He'd Rather Be Dead (An Inspector Littlejohn Mystery, #2)

by George Bellairs

Reviewed by annieb123 on Jun 22, 2020

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