What do you think?
Rate this book
Inspector Pel #13
Pel and the Picture of Innocence
An Inspector Pel Mystery -Mark Hebden's thirteenth crime novel starring the redoubtable, quirky Chief Inspector Evariste Clovis Desire Pel. 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.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
About the author
Mark Hebden
50 books6 followersMark Hebden is the pseudonymn of John Harris, who is well-known for a series of best-selling adventure stories. He wrote 35 books under his own name, 27 under the name of Mark Hebden and a further 10, mostly of a military nature, under the pseudonymn of Max Hennessy.
He was born in Yorkshire in 1916 to Mr and Mrs E J Harris who had The Stag Inn at Herringthorpe. He attended Rotherham Grammar School and after leaving there became a reporter on the Rotherham Advertiser before moving on to the Sheffield Telegraph. He also did some freelance work with a colleage in Cornwall and at various times worked as a cartoonist, travel courier and history teacher.
In World War II he served as a corporal in the RAF and was seconded to the South African Air Force. Indeed, it was said that he served two navies and two air forces during the course of the war!
He returned to the Sheffield Telegraph after the war where he as a political and comedy cartoonist and he remained with the paper until the mid-1950s.
On 31 January 1947 he married Betty Wragg at St Michael & All Angels Church, Northfield, Rotherham. The couple had a son, Max, in 1950 and a daughter, Juliet, in 1950.
He had his first novel, 'The Lonely Voyage' published in 1951 but it was in 1954 that he really came to the fore when his 1953 novel 'The Sea Shall Not Have Them' was made into a successful film. Thereafter he turned full-time to writing novels.
He wrote his first novel under the pseudonymn Mark Hebden, 'What Changed Charlie Farthing', in 1965 and his first novel featuring his French detective Chief Inspector Pel, 'Pel and the Faceless Corpse', was published in 1979. His daughter Juliet was to continue the Pel series after his death under the pen-name Juliet Hebden.
The family moved to West Wittering, near Chichester in Sussex in 1955 and he continued to write his novels from there.
He died on 7 March 1991 with his last book, 'Pel and the Sepulchre Job' being published posthumously in 1992.
The protrait accompanying this article is a cartoon self-portrait.
He was born in Yorkshire in 1916 to Mr and Mrs E J Harris who had The Stag Inn at Herringthorpe. He attended Rotherham Grammar School and after leaving there became a reporter on the Rotherham Advertiser before moving on to the Sheffield Telegraph. He also did some freelance work with a colleage in Cornwall and at various times worked as a cartoonist, travel courier and history teacher.
In World War II he served as a corporal in the RAF and was seconded to the South African Air Force. Indeed, it was said that he served two navies and two air forces during the course of the war!
He returned to the Sheffield Telegraph after the war where he as a political and comedy cartoonist and he remained with the paper until the mid-1950s.
On 31 January 1947 he married Betty Wragg at St Michael & All Angels Church, Northfield, Rotherham. The couple had a son, Max, in 1950 and a daughter, Juliet, in 1950.
He had his first novel, 'The Lonely Voyage' published in 1951 but it was in 1954 that he really came to the fore when his 1953 novel 'The Sea Shall Not Have Them' was made into a successful film. Thereafter he turned full-time to writing novels.
He wrote his first novel under the pseudonymn Mark Hebden, 'What Changed Charlie Farthing', in 1965 and his first novel featuring his French detective Chief Inspector Pel, 'Pel and the Faceless Corpse', was published in 1979. His daughter Juliet was to continue the Pel series after his death under the pen-name Juliet Hebden.
The family moved to West Wittering, near Chichester in Sussex in 1955 and he continued to write his novels from there.
He died on 7 March 1991 with his last book, 'Pel and the Sepulchre Job' being published posthumously in 1992.
The protrait accompanying this article is a cartoon self-portrait.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 4, 2021
Nicely plotted and moving along at a good clip, Pel solves it all once again in a very satisfying way !
October 14, 2024
🍷🍷🍷
Another terrific Inspector Pel caper. And I say “caper” advisedly because, although Pel and his police confreres are on the side of the law, the madcap action and oddball cast of regulars, so delightfully drawn, and of course Pel himself, all give the proceedings such an irreverent aura that one can imagine them as players in a Theatre of the Absurd. Really, the most recent similar writer was Andrea Camilleri with Inspector Montalbano and his cohort running roughshod over police procedure in Sicily. Truly, both series please me immensely.
Here, Pel and his minions investigate an apparent gangland slaying, but the case spreads quickly and fast action is required not to let the neer-do-wells escape. As well, Pel finds that 10 year old next door neighbor Yves Pasquier may have seen a bit of the assassination and as such is himself in danger, requiring police protection - zut alors!
These mysteries may not be to everyone’s taste, but for me they are like a lovely young Beaujolais wine; I think this too would please Inspector Pel.
Another terrific Inspector Pel caper. And I say “caper” advisedly because, although Pel and his police confreres are on the side of the law, the madcap action and oddball cast of regulars, so delightfully drawn, and of course Pel himself, all give the proceedings such an irreverent aura that one can imagine them as players in a Theatre of the Absurd. Really, the most recent similar writer was Andrea Camilleri with Inspector Montalbano and his cohort running roughshod over police procedure in Sicily. Truly, both series please me immensely.
Here, Pel and his minions investigate an apparent gangland slaying, but the case spreads quickly and fast action is required not to let the neer-do-wells escape. As well, Pel finds that 10 year old next door neighbor Yves Pasquier may have seen a bit of the assassination and as such is himself in danger, requiring police protection - zut alors!
These mysteries may not be to everyone’s taste, but for me they are like a lovely young Beaujolais wine; I think this too would please Inspector Pel.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews