What do you think?
Rate this book
Harpur & Iles #23
Girls
"[Bill James'] strangely compelling series offers its own ample rewards."― Mystery Scene For years Panicking Ralph Ember and Mansel Shale have run profitable drugs empires in peaceful cooperation with each other, and ACC Iles will blind-eye their trade as long as it keeps violence off the streets. But this happy arrangement is threatened by foreign dealers moving in and offering not just drugs, but punters―exploited girls from Eastern Europe. And bloody gang warfare threatens as a scrabble for territory ensues.
- GenresMystery
226 pages, Hardcover
First published November 9, 2006
4 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Bill James
61 books26 followersBill James (born 1929) is a pseudonym of James Tucker, a Welsh novelist. He also writes under his own name and the pseudonyms David Craig and Judith Jones. He was a reporter with the Daily Mirror and various other newspapers after serving with the RAF He is married, with four children, and lives in South Wales.
The bulk of his output under the Bill James pseudonym is the Harpur and Iles series. Colin Harpur is a Detective Chief Inspector and Desmond Iles is the Assistant Chief Constable in an unnamed coastal city in southwestern England. Harpur and Iles are complemented by an evolving cast of other recurring characters on both sides of the law. The books are characterized by a grim humour and a bleak view of the relationship between the public, the police force and the criminal element. The first few are designated "A Detective Colin Harpur Novel" but as the series progressed they began to be published with the designation "A Harpur & Iles Mystery".
His best known work, written under the "David Craig" pseudonym and originally titled Whose Little Girl are You, is The Squeeze, which was turned into a film starring Stacy Keach, Edward Fox and David Hemmings. The fourth Harpur & Iles novel, Protection, was televised by the BBC in 1996 as Harpur & Iles, starring Aneirin Hughes as Harpur and Hywel Bennett as Iles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_James_(novelist)
The bulk of his output under the Bill James pseudonym is the Harpur and Iles series. Colin Harpur is a Detective Chief Inspector and Desmond Iles is the Assistant Chief Constable in an unnamed coastal city in southwestern England. Harpur and Iles are complemented by an evolving cast of other recurring characters on both sides of the law. The books are characterized by a grim humour and a bleak view of the relationship between the public, the police force and the criminal element. The first few are designated "A Detective Colin Harpur Novel" but as the series progressed they began to be published with the designation "A Harpur & Iles Mystery".
His best known work, written under the "David Craig" pseudonym and originally titled Whose Little Girl are You, is The Squeeze, which was turned into a film starring Stacy Keach, Edward Fox and David Hemmings. The fourth Harpur & Iles novel, Protection, was televised by the BBC in 1996 as Harpur & Iles, starring Aneirin Hughes as Harpur and Hywel Bennett as Iles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_James_(novelist)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 11, 2011
Manse Shale and Ralph Ember have an unspoken gentleman's agreement with ACC Desmond Iles. As long as Manse and Ralph keep violence off the streets, Iles doesn't get difficult about their drug dealing. But ambitious new dealers have moved in, selling drugs and girls in nicer neighborhoods, threatening the truce.
Although the book begins and ends with dead bodies (Manse's bodyguard found with the barrels of two Astra .38 pistols in his mouth, Ralph finding the much shot body of Adrian Cologne, one of the interloping pimps, dumped in his parking lot)it is much more a social comedy than a crime novel.
Manse lives in an ex-rectory with a collection of pre-Raphaelite paintings, mostly genuine, mostly unthieved. Ralph lives in a manor house named Low Pastures and writes letters to the editor about environmental issues.
Their convoluted attempts to deal with the threats to their business while maintaining their idealized self images are hilarious. As are the attempts of DCS Colin Harpur's two disturbingly precocious teen-aged daughters to explain their father's job and the the new turf wars to him in terms of the territorial imperative.
Although the book begins and ends with dead bodies (Manse's bodyguard found with the barrels of two Astra .38 pistols in his mouth, Ralph finding the much shot body of Adrian Cologne, one of the interloping pimps, dumped in his parking lot)it is much more a social comedy than a crime novel.
Manse lives in an ex-rectory with a collection of pre-Raphaelite paintings, mostly genuine, mostly unthieved. Ralph lives in a manor house named Low Pastures and writes letters to the editor about environmental issues.
Their convoluted attempts to deal with the threats to their business while maintaining their idealized self images are hilarious. As are the attempts of DCS Colin Harpur's two disturbingly precocious teen-aged daughters to explain their father's job and the the new turf wars to him in terms of the territorial imperative.
November 17, 2023
This is the twenty fifth novel which I have read in this long running series. The author died earlier this year (2023) so I have been trying to read all the books I have missed.
The series deals with police and criminals and I suppose became a little formulaic over the years but I do like the black humour. This was first published in 2006. Assistant Chief Constable Iles is a monstrous creation but Detective Chief Superintendent Harpur is quite likeable for all his faults. The beginning and end of this book consist of the reworking of two short stories from the collection "The sixth man and other stories". The main story deals with Harpur's worry that the boyfriend of his fifteen year old daughter may be involved with a criminal gang. Needless to say several people get killed in the course of this story.
The series deals with police and criminals and I suppose became a little formulaic over the years but I do like the black humour. This was first published in 2006. Assistant Chief Constable Iles is a monstrous creation but Detective Chief Superintendent Harpur is quite likeable for all his faults. The beginning and end of this book consist of the reworking of two short stories from the collection "The sixth man and other stories". The main story deals with Harpur's worry that the boyfriend of his fifteen year old daughter may be involved with a criminal gang. Needless to say several people get killed in the course of this story.
May 16, 2020
What a stupid book! I could not get into it at all. I hated that the characters were not fully developed, I hated the internally long and boring monologue, I hated that the story didn’t tie up any loose ends at all!! What happened to Scott? Who actually killed Adrian? Did Denise move in? Did the Monty become successful? Was Scott involved with the shooting? And what actually happened to the girl that was found by Tirana’s body???? Very annoyed but the lack of description and he said, she said.
I’m typically someone who can’t DNF a book but I would have to say this is one of those times we’re I really wanted to put this book down. Very angry!!
I’m typically someone who can’t DNF a book but I would have to say this is one of those times we’re I really wanted to put this book down. Very angry!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2009
An interesting style of capturing conversation is not quite enough to substitute for action. I gave up at page 71 after only one thing had happened in the whole story. The characters are interesting enough, and it's cute how he's got the policeman and his two daughters lined up analogously with the crook and his two daughters. But in a story about cops and crooks, the interplay and irony of words is not enough. We need incident.
January 24, 2010
Quintessential Harpur & Iles. I gave it 5 stars because it revolves around Harpur, his daughters, Panicking Ralph, Manse and Iles. These are the primary characters of this series and this book focuses on them. The action is a little slow, but the dialogue, as always, is superb. I love how questions are seldom directly put, and never directly answered - hilarious! Harpur's daughters are very enjoyable characters.
Read
February 22, 2009I love the Harpur & Iles series, but the more recent ones have fallen off somewhat, and Girls isn't outstanding. Talky and slow-moving, although a significant late appearance by the malevolent Iles partially redeems things.
February 23, 2008
Another fine entry in the series. Cool parallels between cops watching criminals and vice versa, and both groups being equally preoccupied with taking care of their children.
Read
July 28, 2008It's the first book I've read in a long time without knowing anything about either the book or the author. It's decent so far, in a pulpy Layer Cake sort of way.
May 25, 2008
The whole world revolves around women, doesn't it? Or, in this case, girls. "God, though, the influence of girls!"
August 6, 2016
Really tried, but couldn't finish
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews