Club: A Detective Colin Harpur Novel (Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harper Novels) [Hardcover]

Bill James (Author)

Book Description

Series: Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harper Novels | Publication Date: May 1995

Another crime novel featuring Harper and Iles from Welsh author Bill James.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The death of a criminal ripples through lives on both sides of the law in this nervy, understated masterpiece of a procedural that only nominally stars British copper Colin Harpur. Suspects in the fatal bludgeoning of lowlife Ian Aston include his criminal pals?and Harpur's superior officer Desmond Iles, whose wife, Sarah, was having an unwise affair with Aston. Iles, always a borderline paranoid, has sunk even deeper in his neurosis here. As Harpur appears to take Aston's place in Sarah's affections, local club owner Ralph Ember takes over the dead man's spot in the criminal hierarchy, becoming a reluctant participant in a bank scheme that seems cursed from the start. Can Ember, known as Panicking Ralph and as talky as the scheme's mastermind, hold up his end of the caper? Has the fearsomely riveting Iles finally gone over the edge? Were James not so resolutely in control of his material and the verbal rhythms and patter of his cast, the narrative would lapse into dark comic territory. But it never once does. Maybe Harpur will get something to do in the next book.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Along with carefully detailed, tension-filled plots, black humor, and complex characters, James' police procedurals offer up provocative commentaries on good and evil, warning readers that crimes of violence aren't far different from crimes of the soul, heart, and mind. In his latest story, James reintroduces Detective Colin Harpur, Assistant Chief Constable Desmond Iles, and Iles' promiscuous wife, Sarah. Sarah's not-so-secret lover, Ian Aston, is dead, seemingly the victim of his nefarious underworld bosses. Harpur and Iles must find Aston's killers, but the search is complicated by Iles' explosive temper and his hatred for Aston. Complicating the plot still further is the involvement of Panicking Ralph Ember, a former crook turned semirespectable businessman, who's been hand-picked to take Aston's place in a $1 million bank heist. Between trying to track down Aston's killer, keeping tabs on Panicking Ralph's activities, controlling the cuckolded and explosive Iles, and submerging his own emerging lust for Sarah, Harpur, like the reader, is kept off-guard right up to the explosive, disturbing climax. Suspenseful, menacing, and a superb read. Emily Melton

Product Details

• Hardcover: 223 pages
• Publisher: Foul Play Pr (May 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881503312
• ISBN-13: 978-0881503319
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,881,561 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a police procedural but an entertaining crime procedural, March 30, 2000

By 

Debbie Tam "gabrielsmom" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Club: A Detective Colin Harpur Novel (Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harper Novels) (Hardcover)

After just recently completing Astride a Grave, I have completed Club which is the book which precedes it in the series. Again, I am baffled as to why James' books are classified as police procedurals. This novel, like Astride a Grave, does not chronicle police procedures. In fact, it is a wonderfully entertaining novel which chronicles the procedures of criminals. And it does it so well. James has created a very compelling criminal character in Ralph Ember and the reader is taken along for the ride of this bank heist caper. While this book does not focus on the crime, it does focus on the planning and the inception of the crime which makes for very interesting reading.

4.0 out of 5 stars Mamet Meets the English Crime Procedural, October 13, 2008

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Club: A Detective Colin Harpur Novel (Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harper Novels) (Hardcover)

For the last few years I've been slowly making my way through the Harpur & Iles series, rationing the slim books out. This is the seventh, and I think I've finally got it all figured out. These are procedurals, to be sure -- a great deal of attention is given to the minutiae and logistics of the crimes described, and of the police investigations. At the same time, James spends just as much time on the psychology behind the actions everyone takes. However, there is a third dimension as well, and that is style. The protagonists in the series are, in many ways indistinguishable (aside their attire, which is often described in great detail) -- everyone is faithless to their spouses, and everyone knows it, and moreover, they all speak in the same wonderfully dark and scathing clipped banter. Reading a Harpur & Iles book is much like watching a play (or film) written by David Mamet -- you know that no one in earth really speaks like this, but it's still thrilling to behold.

In this installment, the book opens with the death of a small time hoodlum who had been cuckolding Iles. Everyone, especially Harpur and police chief, are gravely worried that Iles did it, but no one wants to point the finger. Meanwhile, a recurring underworld figure, Ralph Ember (aka Panicking Ralph) has been enticed from semi-retirement at his private club to participate in a bank heist (at least the third heist in the series so far). Indeed, while the investigation in the opening death continues as a major subplot, Harpur and Iles largely cede center stage to Ralph and his adventures.

Ralph is a compelling enough character, likable up to a point, and one wants to root for him against the slick villains who trap him into the job. He's also full of surprises, and as always, it's good stuff, well told. And like most other books in the series, there isn't very much resolution, only the ending of a chapter, with lots of loose ends to be pursued in further books. The series really must be read in sequence to get much out of it, however those with a taste for razor-sharp dialogue can pick up pretty much any one in the series and get a good taste of what's on offer.