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Harpur & Iles #19
Naked at the Window
The latest dark suspense from "the Elmore Leonard of Britain's underworld" ― Kirkus Reviews . Big drug dealer Ralph Ember stumbles on a ghastly surprise when he and sidekick Beau Derek arrive at the house of yachtsman Barney Coss, his bulk supplier: Barney and his two women have been savagely murdered―and the murderers, three drug rivals from London, are still in the house. Beau dies quickly at their hands; they let Ralph go―for the moment―but he's a marked man because of what he's seen. When Melanie, Beau's alluring, ruthless girlfriend, learns what has happened, she is bent on revenge and wants Ralph as her partner―all the way. Bill James's latest Harpur & Iles police procedural ratchets up the tension as the cops (the brilliant Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur and his ungovernable, half-cracked superior, Assistant Chief Constable Desmond Iles) fight the drug barons for control of the city. As a body washes up, and one of the London creeps meets a violent end, the wily Ralph finds himself starting a new, very risky career―and Harpur sorts out what's going on just in time.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2002
23 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)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 19, 2010
Panicking Ralph is not King Lear, but you'd be hard pushed to deny that Bill James might think he is. Still, it's the characters that drive this series, and although I felt that Panicking Ralph, Harpur and Iles all had a few good lines and actions, there was too much introspective meanderings around the life of Ralph. An interesting new character was developed through the partner of the deceased Beau Derek, Melanie, and perhaps she'll be fleshed out in future. But James generally doesn't do women, unless they have heavily masculine overtones. Not one of his best novels, but still as reliably entertaining as any other author I regularly return to.
February 16, 2014
Ralph B. Ember, at least in his own eyes, is a paragon of a man who shines above all others with his integrity and grace, his many natural gifts. He has profited from business to the degree that he owns a lovely home known as "Low Pastures" and runs a club called The Monty that he plans to upgrade to appeal to the highest level of society. His attitude doesn't hold up under close scrutiny, though, as Ralph B. Ember is a drug dealer who is about to lose his family because of his career choice.
Ralph is forced into some decisive action when he and his minion, Beau Derek, go to visit the king drug supplier, Barney Coss. Ralph and Beau walk into a veritable bloodbath with Barney and two female friends lying there dead. Unfortunately, the killers have not left the premises, and Beau meets the same fate. They have better things in mind for Ralph B. Ember, though, and propose that he replace Barney in the chain of command. That sounds like an attractive offer, except that it would involve exposing The Monty to a rather low class of people. That is unacceptable to Ralph, future King of the UK Social Scene and Most Exalted Ego of England.
Something needs to be done, and he is assisted by a most unexpected resource. He's often admired Beau's wife, Melanie, and she proves to be a very formidable woman. She comes up with a plan of action to avenge her husband's death, which Ralph goes along with. One key thing to remember about Ralph is that he is subject to panic attacks when faced with danger of any sort. As a matter of fact, people allude to him as "Panicking Ralphy", a name that he detests. When Panicking Ralphy takes over, he experiences physical paralysis, loss of speech, noisy and labored breathing splintered vision, sweats and the feeling that a scar on his face is oozing gunk. As you might imagine, Ralph B. Ember hates Panicking Ralphy.
At the same time, the police are marginally involved with all of this, led by Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur. At first, Harpur is rather protective of Ralphy, since Ralph's wife has come to them because she is planning to leave him. The police seem to have an affection for Ralph, since he is a good kind of drug dealer who doesn't have gangs ravaging in the streets or drug murders going on night and day. He is a peaceful bad guy. Actually, the police are unable to prove that there have been any murders at all until Beau's body pops up. It was rather puzzling that Harpur would never reveal any of the facts of his investigation to his superior, Assistant Chief Constable Desmond Iles.
Where the book really succeeds is in its study of the characters of the villains. Ralph B. Ember is the focal character, and James depicts all of his thoughts and actions fully. In reality, I felt that he spent too much time on Ralphy—I began to feel annoyed hearing his elevated opinion of himself and his grandiose plans for the future over and over again. Although he did not have much page time, Beau Derek was also an interesting character as seen through both Ralph and Melanie's eyes. He had a kind of quiet nobility that Ralph lacked. Melanie was a wonderful creation. She had a brilliant, deductive mind; and the reader was left with the feeling that she had yet one more scheme up her sleeve every time she appeared. Oddly, the ongoing series characters with the possible exception of Harpur were only vaguely sketched. Perhaps readers of the series would already have an established relationship with the series leads and understand their dynamics. Since I did not, I was rather baffled by the weird actions of ACC Desmond Iles (who was not featured heavily in the book at all) and the rudeness of Harpur's daughters.
The writing style is very unique, with long and flowing sentences that connect many thoughts into one. Some of the dialog is brilliantly rendered, in particular an exchange between Harpur and his young lover, Denise and another between Harpur and Iles.
The one item that moved my opinion of this book into the "minus" column was the ending. It felt as though James just stopped writing. I thought that perhaps a few chapters had fallen out of the book, but that was not the case. Just as Harpur is casting his net of suspicion, the book concludes without a fish being caught or his hypotheses being proved. Nothing was really resolved, and I left the book feeling cheated.
Ralph is forced into some decisive action when he and his minion, Beau Derek, go to visit the king drug supplier, Barney Coss. Ralph and Beau walk into a veritable bloodbath with Barney and two female friends lying there dead. Unfortunately, the killers have not left the premises, and Beau meets the same fate. They have better things in mind for Ralph B. Ember, though, and propose that he replace Barney in the chain of command. That sounds like an attractive offer, except that it would involve exposing The Monty to a rather low class of people. That is unacceptable to Ralph, future King of the UK Social Scene and Most Exalted Ego of England.
Something needs to be done, and he is assisted by a most unexpected resource. He's often admired Beau's wife, Melanie, and she proves to be a very formidable woman. She comes up with a plan of action to avenge her husband's death, which Ralph goes along with. One key thing to remember about Ralph is that he is subject to panic attacks when faced with danger of any sort. As a matter of fact, people allude to him as "Panicking Ralphy", a name that he detests. When Panicking Ralphy takes over, he experiences physical paralysis, loss of speech, noisy and labored breathing splintered vision, sweats and the feeling that a scar on his face is oozing gunk. As you might imagine, Ralph B. Ember hates Panicking Ralphy.
At the same time, the police are marginally involved with all of this, led by Detective Chief Superintendent Colin Harpur. At first, Harpur is rather protective of Ralphy, since Ralph's wife has come to them because she is planning to leave him. The police seem to have an affection for Ralph, since he is a good kind of drug dealer who doesn't have gangs ravaging in the streets or drug murders going on night and day. He is a peaceful bad guy. Actually, the police are unable to prove that there have been any murders at all until Beau's body pops up. It was rather puzzling that Harpur would never reveal any of the facts of his investigation to his superior, Assistant Chief Constable Desmond Iles.
Where the book really succeeds is in its study of the characters of the villains. Ralph B. Ember is the focal character, and James depicts all of his thoughts and actions fully. In reality, I felt that he spent too much time on Ralphy—I began to feel annoyed hearing his elevated opinion of himself and his grandiose plans for the future over and over again. Although he did not have much page time, Beau Derek was also an interesting character as seen through both Ralph and Melanie's eyes. He had a kind of quiet nobility that Ralph lacked. Melanie was a wonderful creation. She had a brilliant, deductive mind; and the reader was left with the feeling that she had yet one more scheme up her sleeve every time she appeared. Oddly, the ongoing series characters with the possible exception of Harpur were only vaguely sketched. Perhaps readers of the series would already have an established relationship with the series leads and understand their dynamics. Since I did not, I was rather baffled by the weird actions of ACC Desmond Iles (who was not featured heavily in the book at all) and the rudeness of Harpur's daughters.
The writing style is very unique, with long and flowing sentences that connect many thoughts into one. Some of the dialog is brilliantly rendered, in particular an exchange between Harpur and his young lover, Denise and another between Harpur and Iles.
The one item that moved my opinion of this book into the "minus" column was the ending. It felt as though James just stopped writing. I thought that perhaps a few chapters had fallen out of the book, but that was not the case. Just as Harpur is casting his net of suspicion, the book concludes without a fish being caught or his hypotheses being proved. Nothing was really resolved, and I left the book feeling cheated.
August 16, 2013
I read this series for the fantastic characters, the dark humor, the author's masterful use of the language (especially his unique way with dialogue) and not for the plots which never really change from book to book.
September 14, 2009
Harpur and Iles are a heckuva duo and I love Harpur's daughter's smart mouths. I sure wish this series would continue
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews