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Inspector Dover #4
Dover and the Unkindest Cut of All
A Wilfred Dover mystery, from the creator of Eddie Brown
When Mrs. Dover witnesses a young policeman’s suicide and has the bad taste to report it, Dover’s vacation ends abruptly at the seaside wasteland of Wallerton. As he sluggishly investigates the matter, an earlier case of murder and mutilation turns up as well. Suspecting that the town’s Ladies’ Club may be oddly involved, Dover devises and elaborate and utterly wicked trap. His bait: his overworked, unsuspecting assistant MacGregor.
‘The sidesplitting but cleverly plotted mysteries embroiling Dover and MacGregor start with Dover One, Dover Two, and Dover Three. Don’t miss any of them.’ Mystery Scene
‘The best thing about the cases of Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover, the oaf of Scotland Yard, is that they feature a broadly burlesqued detective but are themselves perfect models of the pure detective story. Joyce Porter has a wonderful sense of the nature and construction of a true whodunit plot, comparable to that of Agatha Christie . . . and she is at her best in Dover and the Unkindest Cut of All . . . This is the grotesque New Humor of the 1960’s poured into the strictest classic mold of the 1930’s, with the happiest of results.’ Anthony Boucher in the New York Times Book Review
When Mrs. Dover witnesses a young policeman’s suicide and has the bad taste to report it, Dover’s vacation ends abruptly at the seaside wasteland of Wallerton. As he sluggishly investigates the matter, an earlier case of murder and mutilation turns up as well. Suspecting that the town’s Ladies’ Club may be oddly involved, Dover devises and elaborate and utterly wicked trap. His bait: his overworked, unsuspecting assistant MacGregor.
‘The sidesplitting but cleverly plotted mysteries embroiling Dover and MacGregor start with Dover One, Dover Two, and Dover Three. Don’t miss any of them.’ Mystery Scene
‘The best thing about the cases of Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover, the oaf of Scotland Yard, is that they feature a broadly burlesqued detective but are themselves perfect models of the pure detective story. Joyce Porter has a wonderful sense of the nature and construction of a true whodunit plot, comparable to that of Agatha Christie . . . and she is at her best in Dover and the Unkindest Cut of All . . . This is the grotesque New Humor of the 1960’s poured into the strictest classic mold of the 1930’s, with the happiest of results.’ Anthony Boucher in the New York Times Book Review
200 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1967
15 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Porter
67 books13 followersJoyce Porter was born in Marple, Cheshire, and educated at King's College, London. In 1949 she joined the Women's Royal Air Force, and, on the strength of an intensive course in Russian, qualified for confidential work in intelligence. When she left the service in 1963 she had completed three detective novels.
Porter is best known for her series of novels featuring Detective Inspector Wilfred Dover. Dover One appeared in 1964, followed by nine more in a highly successful series. Porter also created the reluctant spy Eddie Brown, and the "Hon-Con", the aristocratic gentlewoman-detective Constance Ethel Morrison Burke.
Porter is best known for her series of novels featuring Detective Inspector Wilfred Dover. Dover One appeared in 1964, followed by nine more in a highly successful series. Porter also created the reluctant spy Eddie Brown, and the "Hon-Con", the aristocratic gentlewoman-detective Constance Ethel Morrison Burke.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 16, 2012
This book is hysterically funny, and I can't understand why so few people have read it. It's a hilarious spoof of British mysteries, and I recommend it to everyone who likes PBS' Mystery! series. Inspector Dover and his sidekick are like a deranged Inspector Morse and co. Great book!
July 1, 2017
Tähänastisista Dover-mysteereistä selkeästi groteskeinta menoa. Lähtötilanne on samanlainen kuin aiemmissakin kirjoissa (syrjäinen ja nurkkakuntainen englantilainen pikkukaupunki täynnä omituisia asukkaita, aluksi melko yhdentekevältä tuntuva tapaus jonka tutkiminen ei tunnu etenevän oikein mihinkään), mutta tällä kertaa asiat eskaloituvat varsin eeppisiin mittasuhteisiin monessakin mielessä, ja touhu on muutenkin vielä entistäkin hillittömämpää pitkin matkaa. Hauskana lisänä esitellään myös komisario Doverin vaimo, joka on edellisissä kirjoissa mainittu vain ohimennen.
November 6, 2020
Last one of these I’ll read.
I really enjoyed the first two. The third one had a very problematic ending. So did this one. It is usual for a murder mystery to catch the villains and to be a very moral story. These two had an ending that was not. Just my preference but this will be the first two books I have removed from my iPad after reading. I’d never read again or try another by this author.
I really enjoyed the first two. The third one had a very problematic ending. So did this one. It is usual for a murder mystery to catch the villains and to be a very moral story. These two had an ending that was not. Just my preference but this will be the first two books I have removed from my iPad after reading. I’d never read again or try another by this author.
February 20, 2020
Another Dover. This one has him trying to avoid to work as his wife sees an apparent suicide as they are driving to vacation. He gets stuck in the sad little town and soon his unhappy sergeant is summoned to join him. Dover is at one point set up as a decoy in a potentially dangerous sting situation. He also investigates a militant older woman's group that seems to run the town. Typical Dover fare- which is good!
February 25, 2024
Comic crime heaven.
March 29, 2025
Not the best one in the series, very weak storyline - though amusing at times
August 13, 2022
This is a book to read with your legs crossed. If you're female, you'll be trying to keep from wetting yourself and if you're male.... Well, you'll find out.
Poor Inspector Dover! With all of his other problems (obesity, intestinal disorders, and a complete lack of appreciation from his colleagues and the general public) it seems harsh that he must be thrust to the front lines of the Battle of the Sexes. After all, this is a man who is long past being interested in a shapely leg or pert breast.
He's married, of course. A man has to have SOMEONE to cook and clean and put up with his foul disposition and Mrs. Dover fills the role adequately and (usually) without undue fuss. Unfortunately, her elderly relatives keep dying and leaving her small inheritances and her latest windfall has (to her husband's horror) been spent on buying an automobile and acquiring a license to drive it. Inspector Dover is a nervous passenger even when piloted by a well-trained (male) police driver, and the agony of riding with his wife almost pushes him over the edge.
However, it's not Dover who goes over the edge, but an unknown man who jumps off a cliff. Worse, Mrs. Dover witnesses the act and insists on reporting it. Her husband is (with even more than his usual reluctance) drawn into the investigation, aided by the equally-reluctant Sergeant MacGregor. To add insult to injury, the dead man is a young, handsome, single police officer with a bright future ahead of him. And his adoring aunt is married to the County Chief Constable, who not only demands that Inspector Dover investigate the mystery, but that he SOLVE it.
The gloomy, highly respectable coastal town of Wallerton turns out to have a seedy underbelly where the Inspector has a not-too-happy reunion with some London Underworld transplants. At that, Dover much prefers the old lags to the ever-present Ladies League - a local association dedicated to wiping out everything that makes a man's life worth living, including SEX.
This is one of Porter's best and that's saying a great deal. The characters are wildly improbably and yet completely believable and poor Dover is put through the mill very thoroughly before the end. His epic battle with the two members of the Ladies League First Aid Committee is one of the funniest things I've ever read and his midnight ride on the back of the elderly pensioner's tricycle is right up there with Paul Revere. The Grand Climax (complete with England's Most Worthless K-9) is an out-standing example of modern police work - Dover style.
This series is one you shouldn't miss. Foul Play Press reprinted them in the 1980's, so there are plenty of good used copies on sale for a few dollars. Even better, they are now available in Kindle editions. These books are classics and I hope they find a new generation of fans.
Poor Inspector Dover! With all of his other problems (obesity, intestinal disorders, and a complete lack of appreciation from his colleagues and the general public) it seems harsh that he must be thrust to the front lines of the Battle of the Sexes. After all, this is a man who is long past being interested in a shapely leg or pert breast.
He's married, of course. A man has to have SOMEONE to cook and clean and put up with his foul disposition and Mrs. Dover fills the role adequately and (usually) without undue fuss. Unfortunately, her elderly relatives keep dying and leaving her small inheritances and her latest windfall has (to her husband's horror) been spent on buying an automobile and acquiring a license to drive it. Inspector Dover is a nervous passenger even when piloted by a well-trained (male) police driver, and the agony of riding with his wife almost pushes him over the edge.
However, it's not Dover who goes over the edge, but an unknown man who jumps off a cliff. Worse, Mrs. Dover witnesses the act and insists on reporting it. Her husband is (with even more than his usual reluctance) drawn into the investigation, aided by the equally-reluctant Sergeant MacGregor. To add insult to injury, the dead man is a young, handsome, single police officer with a bright future ahead of him. And his adoring aunt is married to the County Chief Constable, who not only demands that Inspector Dover investigate the mystery, but that he SOLVE it.
The gloomy, highly respectable coastal town of Wallerton turns out to have a seedy underbelly where the Inspector has a not-too-happy reunion with some London Underworld transplants. At that, Dover much prefers the old lags to the ever-present Ladies League - a local association dedicated to wiping out everything that makes a man's life worth living, including SEX.
This is one of Porter's best and that's saying a great deal. The characters are wildly improbably and yet completely believable and poor Dover is put through the mill very thoroughly before the end. His epic battle with the two members of the Ladies League First Aid Committee is one of the funniest things I've ever read and his midnight ride on the back of the elderly pensioner's tricycle is right up there with Paul Revere. The Grand Climax (complete with England's Most Worthless K-9) is an out-standing example of modern police work - Dover style.
This series is one you shouldn't miss. Foul Play Press reprinted them in the 1980's, so there are plenty of good used copies on sale for a few dollars. Even better, they are now available in Kindle editions. These books are classics and I hope they find a new generation of fans.
February 5, 2021
The best Dover books (1,2 & 'the unkindest cut') are tightly designed & can be read as 'whodunnits' but they are always much more. Porter writes with a beautiful ease & wit & has created a truly memorable anti-hero in the obese, indolent, unhygienic, Inspector Wilfred Dover. Dover is set against his long-suffering Sergeant Charles MacGregor who is clean, keen, efficient & ambitious. As the plot develops Porter allows the reader to see that Dover is not such a dolt, nor MacGregor such a star, as we first assume.
In this case the 'crime' is most unusual. It was published in 1967 & I speculate that Porter had heard of the 'Society for Cutting Up Men' but transplants it from California to Essex. This is a very funny book with an ending which, I can assure you, will come as a shock! It was possibly a bit too shocking for the literary world in 1967.
These are books of the highest quality & I sometimes wonder why Joyce Porter isn't better known. I always thought this one would have made a perfect 'Carry On' type film.
In this case the 'crime' is most unusual. It was published in 1967 & I speculate that Porter had heard of the 'Society for Cutting Up Men' but transplants it from California to Essex. This is a very funny book with an ending which, I can assure you, will come as a shock! It was possibly a bit too shocking for the literary world in 1967.
These are books of the highest quality & I sometimes wonder why Joyce Porter isn't better known. I always thought this one would have made a perfect 'Carry On' type film.
December 1, 2021
Really enjoyed this one. Dover was unexpectedly keen to solve this one, and he did ... or did he? ... or maybe he did ... it's a fun resolution, either way. Nice to see his wife somewhat involved, and as usual all the characters are well-drawn and easily differentiated. (So many authors seem to write as if you're watching the TV and can simply see the difference). The mystery, if Dover got it right, is downright disturbing, but just enough so—it's a delicate balance that Porter managed well, because too disturbing is not my cup of tea at all.
(5* = amazing, terrific book, one of my all-time favourites, 4* = very good book, 3* = good book, but nothing to particularly rave about, 2* = disappointing book, and 1* = awful, just awful. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
(5* = amazing, terrific book, one of my all-time favourites, 4* = very good book, 3* = good book, but nothing to particularly rave about, 2* = disappointing book, and 1* = awful, just awful. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
January 21, 2020
No cut at all
Another bizarre adventure with the bumbling Chief Inspector and his long suffering sergeant. Crime must run rampant in England if this is an example of their police force. But no, it’s pure fiction.
Another bizarre adventure with the bumbling Chief Inspector and his long suffering sergeant. Crime must run rampant in England if this is an example of their police force. But no, it’s pure fiction.
March 6, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 27, 2011
From BBC Radio 4:
Chief Inspector Dover's seaside break becomes a busman's holiday with the death of a local policeman.
Chief Inspector Dover's seaside break becomes a busman's holiday with the death of a local policeman.
August 1, 2016
This was very funny - again a less typical mystery which Dover perhaps surprisingly solves.
January 3, 2020
Dreadful !!
Not one of Joyce Porter’s best , but still pretty dreadful, which if you didn’t already know, is the point !
Not one of Joyce Porter’s best , but still pretty dreadful, which if you didn’t already know, is the point !
August 22, 2021
I love Chief Inspector Dover. This one wasn't in the open library so I had to buy it on my kindle.Money well spent.
Even though he's basically lazy he solved this one all on his own.
Even though he's basically lazy he solved this one all on his own.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews