Customer Reviews

Girls: A Harpur & Iles Mystery (Harpur & Iles Mysteries)

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Girls is a Harpur & Iles mystery, Harpur and Iles being the two main police characters in Bill James' series of mystery novels. While I have read none of his other books, I had little difficulty following Girls as a standalone book and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as such. For such a dark premise and subject matter (and, yes, plenty of appropriately adult language to go with it), this is an incredibly quirky, witty, bizarre, bewildering, fascinating, and utterly delightful book.

The story is told from various characters' points of view, and centers upon the search for a kid who might be in a great deal of danger--one Scott Grant, the boyfriend of Hazel, Harpur's older daughter. Everyone seems to be after him for one reason or another---to protect him, to get revenge on him for something he might or might not have done, to eliminate him as a rival.

Despite the fact that it's the men's minds and eyes we see through, it's the girls who drive the action. Harpur's two high school-aged daughters lecture him on the sociological implications of his policework, while his university student girlfriend gives him advice on whether or not to break into Scott's home. A dead Albanian kingpin's girl kicks off several key events, as do other prostitutes at various times. Nearly every major figure has at least one daughter who seems to figure into things; even those that don't come on-screen have clearly shaped their fathers' ambitions and plans for the future.

The most beautiful and brilliant thing about the book, however, is all of the wonderful dialogue. People talk at, past, through, and around each other in the most amazing and baffling ways--whether due to brilliance, stupidity, malice, stubbornness, or snark.

And in the end, while the mystery is great, it takes a back seat to the amazing and daft characters that populate this book.

Note that while there's plenty of adult subject matter and language, this is not a particularly graphic book in terms of sex or violence.

This is the 20th something novel in Bill James' police procedural series featuring Detective Chief Superintendant Colin Harpur and his superior (and sometimes nemesis), Assistant Chief Constable, Desmond Iles. The appeal of this series, set in an unnamed small English city, is the relationship between Harpur and Iles. Harpur cultivates an understated persona, which masks his considerable intelligence, in sharp contrast to Iles, also of considerable intelligence, but constantly on the verge (and sometimes over the verge) of mania. This is essentially played as comedy in sharp contrast to the simultaneous story of law enforcement in a city inhabited by rival drug gangs.

I have read all the books in this series. "Girls," which is about the invasion of the unnamed city by Albanian drug and prostitution gangs, holds one's attention throughout and is enjoyable reading. However, it is not on a par with the early novels. This decline has been apparent in the last few entries and seems to be evidence that this series is beginning to run out of steam.