Pel and the Faceless Corpse

Inspector Pel #2

by Mark Hebden

The severely battered body of a murder victim turns up in provincial France and the sharp-tongued Chief Inspector Pel must use all his Gallic guile to understand the pile of clues building up around him, until a further murder and one small boy make the elusive truth all too apparent.

Genres: Mystery, Crime

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Mark 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.

Reviews

[Eugene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspector Evariste Clovis Desiré Pel is back on the case in Dijon France. Here a murder that involves long ago enmities from the Second World War (this was written in the early 70's), and nobody is talking. The usual in this series, which is to say, good.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. A quite nice, easy read but nothing special.

[Roger Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first discovered Mark Hebden's Pel series in 1990 and have read sixteen of his twenty-five novels since then. Pel is a police inspector in Burgundy in France. His quirky nature makes him an interesting character as does his ability to solve crimes.
One of the reasons I read mysteries is because they teach me a lot about place. One might argue that a crime is a crime regardless of where it takes place, but the best mystery writers, at least for me, are those who describe the setting with authority. When I read a novel, I want to go there. I want to understand the people, hear the music, and taste the food. Hebden's books do that for me. In addition, they are not overly long, which I like at times.

[Dickensfan · Rating 5 out of 5]

All around

everything is good...setting, characterization, writing. The autocorrect won't let me type the I

nspector'sname! a good elis a brilliant detective and a hypochondriac. A good boss over a small team, he is quite clearly the brilliant one. The crimes range from chicken stealing to murder

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tried this because I pausing in my consumption of Maigret novels until I can back to some of the early ones. Not Maigret at all, but very amusing — maybe a little bit too amusing for a murder mystery, but I don't mind macabre. I like Pel and his friends and neighbors. Good choice for someone with a slightly weird sense of humor.

[Denyse Heffner · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an American, I sure would have liked a map. also since French names are diffiv

Icult, a cast of characters would have been nice. I see f r on the list of books the author doesnt need my opinion, but maybe you c could pass it on to someone living.

[Peter Cornell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Story

A pretty good mystery. Great character development and several interesting plot twists. I enjoyed it. First Pro mystery that I've read.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

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