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Never Pick up Hitch-hikers!
by
When Alf Jarrett spots the hitch-hiker waiting on the motorway slip-road, he thinks his prayers have been answered. William Banks is a personable young man of twenty, just leaving home for the first time—perfect for what Alf has in mind.
And when William is offered a free night’s lodging and the chance to repay Alf for the lift, he accepts eagerly. After all, it sounds sim ...more
And when William is offered a free night’s lodging and the chance to repay Alf for the lift, he accepts eagerly. After all, it sounds sim ...more
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Mass Market Paperback, 248 pages
Published
1992
by Headline
(first published 1976)
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Start your review of Never Pick up Hitch-hikers!
This is not one of Ellis Peters' George Felse or Brother Cadfael mysteries, but I really enjoyed it. Young Willie Banks is hitch-hiking to the town of Braybourne when he is picked up by a man who gives him a package to deliver and a key to a residence in that town. Willie delivers the package but does not stay, which turns out to be a good thing, as it contained a fire bomb. Thus is Willie thrown into the middle of an attempt to retrieve a quarter of a million pounds stolen from a Braybourne ban
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Sep 20, 2013
Lois Bujold
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people interested in early Peters and/or British cozies.
Recommended to Lois by:
internet mention
I ordered this from the library due to an internet review that mentioned it as funny. When it arrived, I was rather put off by the blurb on the cover that described it (inaccurately, happily) as "a chilling novel of suspense". It proved to be more nearly a cozy thriller, if that's not a contradiction in terms.
I was familiar with Peters from some of her later, more popular Brother Cadfael historical mysteries. This was an earlier then-contemporary -- mid-70s -- set in a provincial British market ...more
Not one of her best
By Charles van Buren on March 30, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
I am an Ellis Peters fan but this novel is just not up to her usual standard. There are overblown and excessive descriptions of just about every location and character in the book. Without the excesses in the descriptions, the book would, at best, be a novella. At one point, two characters, Stan and Beattie, begin walking towards an address. About seven pages of the approximately fifteen recounting the walk, describe ...more
By Charles van Buren on March 30, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
I am an Ellis Peters fan but this novel is just not up to her usual standard. There are overblown and excessive descriptions of just about every location and character in the book. Without the excesses in the descriptions, the book would, at best, be a novella. At one point, two characters, Stan and Beattie, begin walking towards an address. About seven pages of the approximately fifteen recounting the walk, describe ...more
I consider this as one of her best books. Engaging plot complete with a myriad of interesting characters and fun to read.
Superb. Most young sleuth pairs are more twee than I really care for, but these two protagonists (as it were) are sensible and sweet enough to fall for each other in a natural manner... all the while staying one step ahead of at least two crime gangs and the police (whom they involve just as a matter of course, but keeping their hands in). Very fun read.
One of her best. Peters is best known, I think, for her Cadfael series. This book is of a different breed.
Mysteries, but I have always favored her other books. This is one is very fine. The Characters are well revealed and of course there is that wonderful story. Peters writes with humor and leaves the reader with a sense of ease. If you like characters and a good tale which never needs gratuitous sex and violence.....this is a great example of good English story-,telling.
Mysteries, but I have always favored her other books. This is one is very fine. The Characters are well revealed and of course there is that wonderful story. Peters writes with humor and leaves the reader with a sense of ease. If you like characters and a good tale which never needs gratuitous sex and violence.....this is a great example of good English story-,telling.
Apr 06, 2020
Jane Irish Nelson
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary,
mystery
I have read this several times and never get tired of it, despite knowing almost exactly what is going to happen. What I think I like best is the subtle humor that underlies the story, almost as if the author had her tongue firmly in her cheek throughout. this very quick-paced romp is hard to put down, and full of memorable characters. Highly recommended.
A good book from 1976 about a bank heist, stashed loot and two innocents in the way of the recovery of the loot three years later. It has a light touch, a little romance and very little suspense - its just not that kind of story.
Ellis Peters spins a great yarn. I look forward to meeting willie Banks and Calliope Francis again!
3,5 honestly, 4 for fun chaos crimi & pleasent end
Highly amusing and fun little mystery/thriller in the classic style.
Alas that Ellis Peters will not be able to write more mysteries with William Banks as the main character!
Alas that Ellis Peters will not be able to write more mysteries with William Banks as the main character!
I read this again to counteract the rather disappointing The Giver Quartet, since Never Pick up Hitch-hikers! is one of my favourite novels, and realised I never wrote a review about it.
Never Pick up Hitch-hikers! is a "classic whodunnit", like the cover says. It follows 20-year old Willie Banks, who is trying to move out from under the protective wings of his mother - and accidentally ends up in the middle of a plot to fake a bank robber's death and recover the loot. Worst of all, it's Willie w ...more
Never Pick up Hitch-hikers! is a "classic whodunnit", like the cover says. It follows 20-year old Willie Banks, who is trying to move out from under the protective wings of his mother - and accidentally ends up in the middle of a plot to fake a bank robber's death and recover the loot. Worst of all, it's Willie w ...more
This is the 4th Ellis Peter’s novel I have read (or attempted). The first was a Cadfael novel, “Monks Hood” which I really enjoyed. So I picked up three crime novels by the same author expecting to like those too. But I was wrong.
I didn’t get past the first few pages of “Fallen into the Pit” before I was bored with it. Then I attempted “Holiday with Violence”, managing two or three chapters before I became so frustrated with the characters I didn’t want to read further. This book, “Never Pick Up ...more
I didn’t get past the first few pages of “Fallen into the Pit” before I was bored with it. Then I attempted “Holiday with Violence”, managing two or three chapters before I became so frustrated with the characters I didn’t want to read further. This book, “Never Pick Up ...more
This book appears in Ninety Classics of Crime Fiction 1900-1975, ed. Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor. It is the first book I've read by Ellis Peters (Edith Mary Pargeter) and I gather from other reviewers that it is atypical of her work. It is somewhat difficult to characterize, being partially cozy, comic, mystery, crime, or thriller novel. An innocent hitch-hiker, off to a 1970s British market town to make his way in the world, is innocently involved in an arson where he is meant to b
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This was on a list of "50 great mysteries", but as one who reads Peters' books for the character interaction and insight into their motivations, I found this one to be uncharacteristically built on plot and action alone. Still a decent bedtime book, but probably my least favorite book by Peters so far.
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Haven't read this in ages; it was one of the ones I was sending to the charity shop, so I thought I'd quickly read it again - she does write well; I always enjoy them. I was going to say "even though they seem a little old-fashioned" but on second thought perhaps that's why I enjoy them!
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A fast moving British mystery featuring a newly met young couple who become involved with the police and rival groups trying to recover the stashed money from a major bank robbery three years earlier. The newly met young couple make this a delightful read. Quite a cast of characters.
A delightful romp in Ellis Peter's inimitable style. More of an adventure than a whodunnit. No redemptive purpose, just plain fun.
...more
a classic mystery - quick read
Jul 16, 2009
Elizabeth
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
anyone with good taste
Shelves:
crime-fiction
Superbly crafted story. Can't count the number of times I've read this.
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| What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Adult Mystery novel. Hitchhiker places item in room of murdered man. | 2 | 281 | Nov 29, 2020 03:34PM |
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A pseudonym used by Edith Pargeter.
Edith Mary Pargeter, OBE, BEM was a prolific author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her translations of Czech classics; she is probably best known for her murder mysteries, both historical and modern. Born in the village of Horsehay (Shropshire, England), she had Welsh ancestry, and many of her sho ...more
Edith Mary Pargeter, OBE, BEM was a prolific author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her translations of Czech classics; she is probably best known for her murder mysteries, both historical and modern. Born in the village of Horsehay (Shropshire, England), she had Welsh ancestry, and many of her sho ...more
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