Naked at the Window: A Harpur & Iles Mystery [Hardcover]

Bill James (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 16, 2002 | Series: Harpur & Iles Mysteries

The latest dark suspense from "the Elmore Leonard of Britain's underworld" —Kirkus Reviews.

Big drug dealer Ralph Ember stumbles on a ghastly surprise when he and sidekick Beau Derek arrive at the house of yachtsman Barney Coss, his bulk supplier: Barney and his two women have been savagely murdered—and the murderers, three drug rivals from London, are still in the house. Beau dies quickly at their hands; they let Ralph go—for the moment—but he's a marked man because of what he's seen. When Melanie, Beau's alluring, ruthless girlfriend, learns what has happened, she is bent on revenge and wants Ralph as her partner—all the way. Bill James's latest Harpur & Iles police procedural ratchets up the tension as the cops (the brilliant Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur and his ungovernable, half-cracked superior, Assistant Chief Constable Desmond Iles) fight the drug barons for control of the city. As a body washes up, and one of the London creeps meets a violent end, the wily Ralph finds himself starting a new, very risky career—and Harpur sorts out what's going on just in time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The 19th entry in James's Harpur and Iles series (Pay Days, etc.) is padded, predictable and even occasionally plodding. What saves it is the author's ability to surprise and delight us with his language-a kind of powerful, deadpan poetry that pricks up our ears. "He looked like a single sick flower in a fine vase. You could see why he would be avid for the plus of occupational glory," is how James describes a London drug lord making a move into the unnamed British Midlands city where Harpur and Iles do their policing. The gorgeous irony of local mobsters living in suburban homes with pretentious names like Low Pastures and Tiderace is another saving grace, as are the author's less frequent but always amusing bursts of humor. "As he sometimes liked to do, Iles was lying on Harpur's desk, his head in the mock wood out-tray" makes up for pages of increasingly heavy-handed dialogue from Harpur's teenaged daughters, or descriptions of the drug dealer known as Panicking Ralph Ember fighting off one of his namesake attacks. Ember, with his dream of turning his sleazy nightclub, the Monty, into an upscale establishment, is a recognizably human if not particularly deep character, and his battle to keep the London heavy mob from destroying that dream is what passes for a plot here. But most of us stopped reading these mysteries for story several books ago; now, we're in it for the verbal brilliance.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A drug dealer and his partner stumble across the newly murdered body of their supplier-and the rivals who killed him, still very much alive. Only the dealer escapes this encounter unscathed, and when he teams up with his dead partner's vengeful girlfriend, Harpur and Iles (Panicking Ralph) must deal with the aftermath. A fine addition to the series.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (December 16, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393051986
• ISBN-13: 978-0393051988
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,753,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A kid's review, July 8, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Naked at the Window: A Harpur & Iles Mystery (Hardcover)

This was a really entertaining book, so much that I started on adult books getting off those silly children's books. I recommend this to teenagers. Bill Jame's writing style is very much enjoyable, but sometimes it gets a bit hard to understand (since I'm a kid). Be warned, there is talk of sex, but all the more fun for teenagers.