Amazon.com: Pel and the Picture of Innocence (9780312026288): Mark Hebden: Books

An extravagant, big time gangland criminal is ambushed and assassinated; the only witness a ten-year-old-boy. Chief Inspector Pel is called in to investigate the killing, which spirals into an international investigation when a respected spinster is bludgeoned to death and some curious links begin to clink into place.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; } An extravagant, big time gangland criminal is ambushed and assassinated; the only witness a ten-year-old-boy. Chief Inspector Pel is called in to investigate the killing, which spirals into an international investigation when a respected spinster is bludgeoned to death and some curious links begin to clink into place.

From Publishers Weekly

Fans of the Burgundian Chief Inspector Pel will savor his latest struggle with the underworld in the British author's 13th droll, mazy mystery. Settled with his new wife, happy with the company of a neighbor child, Yves, Pel sinks back into gloom when slippery Maurice Tagliatti and his gang return to town. Pel and his lieutenant, Darcy, are sure the crooks mean mischief but nothing happens until Maurice is murdered. Caught off guard, the inspectors grill the victim's cohorts futilely; all have solid alibis for the killing and for the hijacking of a fortune in gold, lost without a trace. Solving the puzzle is urgent, particularly since young Yves is in danger as witness to Maurice's fatal shooting. In the end, the boy plays another part in the affair. His questions about the French "boule" Italian "bocci"called "bowl" by les anglais at Scotland Yardprovide the vital clue. The answers tell Pel what he needs to know about his wily adversary.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

John Harris, who also wrote under the pen names of Mark Hebden and Max Hennessy was born in 1916. He authored the best-selling The Sea Shall Not Have Them. He was a sailor, an airman, a journalist, a travel courier, a cartoonist and a history teacher. During the Second World War he served with two air forces and two navies. After turning to full-time writing, Harris wrote adventure stories and created a sequence of crime novels around the quirky fictional character Chief Inspector Pel. A master of war and crime fiction, his enduring novels are versatile and entertaining. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.