Customer Reviews

The Roar of the Butterflies

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Most readers know Reginald Hill for his Dalziel and Pascoe books, and very good they are too. The Joe Sexsmith series showcases the lighter side of this wonderful crime writer. In this book Sexsmith, a somewhat tubby middle-aged black PI, is asked to help a popular local golf-club member fight the allegation that he cheated during an important match. Sounds like a minor problem to Joe, but while investigating the incident he turns up something much nastier. I'm not a golfer myself and though the game of golf is front and centre in the plot I had no trouble following along as any arcane terms were subtly explained. Joe's lissome nurse girlfriend, his cat Whitey, and a forceful, jealous boxer are just a few of the beautifully described and very funny characters in this book, while the plot is so gripping that I literally could not put it down. This is a wonderful read for a summer's afternoon - but beware. Supper could be late!

Well, actually Joe doesn't golf. He's just a guy trying to scratch out a living as a private investigator during a hot summer in the Midlands, without alienating his fiance. Suddenly his services are in demand from the well-born (Christian Porphyry, scion of the local gentry who's accused of cheating at golf) and the shadowy (the local crime czar known as "King Rat"), and Joe is sweating from more than the ambient air temperature.

But in typical Joe fashion, he doesn't overthink things. Joe just follows his nose and does the next logical thing in front of him - in this case visiting Porphyry's exclusive golf club under a dubious cover created by the client and dealing with what happens next. Joe's up against some very resourceful characters from high society to low. But he's not without resources, and he pulls off a few surprises of his own.

One of these days I will re-read this book to look for examples of Reginald Hill's clever wordplay, which I'm sure are there and which I know I missed while following the flow of the narrative. It was a good read and a great escape.

The title of this book comes from a description of a golfer's woes by P. G. Wodehouse. This is one of the few books I know that seems lightweight when compared to any of Wodehouse's airy confections.

Most reader's probably know Reginald Hill from his excellent series about Superintendent (Fat Andy) Dalziel and his subordinate, the potentially high-flying Pascoe, who is steadily moving up in rank. If you are such a reader, forget all you know. Joe Sixsmith is neither a Dalziel nor a Pascoe. In fact, it's a bit hard for me to accept the notion that one man, Hill, actually wrote two such different series.

Sixsmith is not exactly a protagonist. He is a lucky drifter through the eddies and tides of the genre PI novel. He starts off in good approved form, sitting in his office without a client in sight and not doing much about that deplorable state. Into his office comes an unlikely client, who hires him and winds up the clockwork plot. A couple of hundred pages later, the ticking ends and we find Sixsmith triumphant, sort of, in his not too bright, not too active, lucky way.

It's fluff, but not bad fluff, although there is a melodramatic sequence near the end that applies a harder edge to the story than is absolutely necessary. Wodehouse could and did write crime stories that not only smiled but positively beamed from end to end. "The Roar of the Butterflies" would have been a better book if it, too, had smiled a little more.

This book offers a perfectly acceptable reading experience--provided that there is absolutely nothing else at hand. Three stars.

LEC/AM/8-08

We have Hill's lighter detective romping through this tale at the local golf club.

Private Eye Joe Sexsmith is hired to discover who has accused a mainstay at the club of cheating.

This simple task leads to the discovery of many dark machinations and a murder.

This is a great fun read, very light, very funny and will not tax the reader.

As usual with anything written by Reginald Hill , the dialogue is brilliant.

This falls into my "read on a plane, beach around the pool."

I ordered three books by Reginald Hill based on some comparative comments by other reviewers reviewing other authors. I had so much difficulty "getting into" the other books by Hill that I never got past the first few pages. In self-assessment, it's truly a matter of personal taste and preference.

Essentially, these are "private eye" stories set in England. I'd describe them as "very light mysteries". The basis of this book involves our hero Joe Sixsmith involved in validating the problematic circumstances of the very successful guy and well-respected who hired him (and for that very purpose). There are numerous antics in this regard, some amusing.

I'd put this one in a category of something that might be titled "The Cat Who Stole Christmas" or something of that nature. This is not a category of book I'd buy again but I also respect that there are numbers of readers who like "cute stories" and very light hearted ones - detective stories of this nature not withstanding. If this is "your thing", you could well enjoy this book.

I loved all Reginald Hill's serious detective novels but this one is so different, too funny for words almost! All the books in the short Joe Sixpence series are fun but this is the best!

Entertaining English mystery with an unlikely detective. Enjoyed the lingo, the settings, the character development.

Reading The Roar of the Butterflies was most enjoyable. It was a satisfying read.

Most readers know the extraordinary mystery writer, Reginald Hill, through his crackerjack Pascoe and Dalziel detective series. There are few crime stories out there with the same level of complexity and wit as the P&D books.

With "The Roar of the Butterflies," author Hill is plowing a different field. This much lighter and more broadly comedic book is part of the Joe Sixsmith series which has not been as widely sold in the U.S. as Hill's other books. Genuflecting frequently in the direction of P.G. Wodehouse, Hill's protagonist Sixsmith is a laid off factory worker who has set himself up as a private detective in the country town of Luton. Approached by the fair-haired scion of local aristocracy, Christian Porphyry, to sort out a cheating scandal at the local country club, the dumpy, middle-aged and slightly dim Sixsmith soon finds himself lavished with attention by A-list citizenry and attendant beautiful women that all seem connected to the relatively unimportant cheating incident at the golf club.

Regular fans of Reginald Hill may find "The Roar..." a little slow and simple at the outset, but give the book a chance as the story becomes more complex and substantive as it progresses. Hill may be doing homage to Wodehouse, but he is still the creator of Pascoe and Dalziel when all is said and done. And ultimately the story is another satisfying tale of justice served and heroism rewarded. Definitely a good read.