At first, the women hadn't believed Dodd was dead. They had put him in his pyjamas, fixed up his wound with plaster and lint, and put him to bed. Then, they'd realised he had died quietly whilst in their hands. When Harry Dodd calls Dorothy Nicholls for a ride home from the pub, she and her mother think he's just had too much to drink. Little do they know that he's dying of a stab wound to the back. By the time they get him home, he's dead.
Who would want to kill Harry Dodd? When Inspector Littlejohn is called in to investigate this murder, he uncovers the dark side of the power-hungry Dodd family. Perhaps Dodd's life was not as simple as it seemed...
Bogged down with jealousy, greed, and spurned lovers, Littlejohn has more suspects than he can handle. And as the body count rises, it seems there might be more than one murderer in his midst...
A Knife for Harry Dodd was first published in 1953.
A Knife for Harry Dodd is the fifth title in Agora's Inspector Littlejohn Mysteries.
About Inspector Littlejohn Inspector Thomas Littlejohn of Scotland Yard is a shrewd yet courteous sleuth who splits his time between quaint English villages, the scenic Isle of Man and French Provinces. With a sharp tongue and a dry sense of humour, Littlejohn approaches his work with poise and confidence, shifting through red-herrings and solving even the most perplexing of cases.
Reviews
'One of the subtlest and wittiest practitioners of the simon-pure British detective story' - The New York Times
'Mr Bellairs always gives good value' - The Sunday Times
'Pure British detective story' - The New York Times
'Head and shoulders above the average of our day.' - Madison Capital Times
A Knife for Harry Dodd is the 21st (!!!) Inspector Littlejohn mystery by George Bellairs. Originally published in 1953, this reformat and re-release from Agora, out 13th June 2019 is 312 pages and available in ebook and paperback formats.
George Bellairs was a prolific and very readable author. His books are enjoyable with solid characterizations, often droll dialogue and twisty plots. This one is maybe not my absolute favorite of the ones I've read by him, but it's an above average engaging murder mystery.
Harry Dodd is a friendly engaging man with set habits, egalitarian taste in friends, and a complex history. He is stabbed on the way home from the pub and the body count continues from there. Part of the appeal of the Littlejohn mysteries for me are the unerring 'English village' bucolic settings with tension and enmities rife just under the surface. Bellairs was an adept commentator on the human condition and I think the comparison with Simenon's French novels is an apt one.
Worth noting for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book (and others in the series) are included in the KU subscription.
Five stars, a diverting read, cleverly put together.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
