Hitmen I Have Known

March 4, 2019
Set in an unnamed English city, James’s stylish 35th mystery featuring Det. Chief Insp. Colin Harpur and his over-the-top and off-the-rails partner, Assist. Chief Constable Desmond Iles (after 2017’s Close), finds TV producers targeting Iles about an unsolved homicide case. As Iles laments, “They want to prove I murdered two villains who’d dodged a murder conviction a while ago... This is the sort of controversial situation that the TV people will love to exploit in a slightly tarted-up, semi-fictionalized documentary.” Unfortunately for Iles, others also think he may be involved in the deaths, including some “devoted stirrers from the Home Office” and a couple of dope-peddling entrepreneurs, Ralph Ember and Mansel Shale, whose businesses have “existed mainly because Iles let them exist for the sake of peace on the streets, and, if he was removed from his job, this ducky helpfulness would also be removed.” Ember and Shale decide to take things into their own bungling hands. James overdoes the comic shtick at times, but series fans will have fun. Agent: Euan Thorneycroft, A.M. Heath (U.K.).

April 1, 2019
Fans of James' quirky approach to the genre, along with his oddball characters and distinctive plots, will relish the latest Harpur and Iles episode. Assistant Chief Constable Des Iles and his partner, Colin Harpur, fear a double murder may be related to one of the duo's past cases in which one of Iles' team was killed. The suspected hit men were brought to trial but acquitted, only to later be murdered themselves, casting suspicion on Iles. Now a television special on the incident threatens to resurrect the questions about Iles' possible involvement. Not only is Iles feeling threatened, but so are the town's major drug dealers?Mansel Shale and Ralph Ember?who fear that if Iles, who has turned a blind eye to the dealers' operations so as to keep peace in the town, is jailed or removed from his job, their happy situation will end. What happens next is both horrifying and comical, but, in typical James style, the ending will be as much a surprise to readers as it is to the characters. A must-read for those who enjoy an element of dark humor in otherwise gritty crime fiction.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

Starred review from May 1, 2015
The prolific James is back with an art-theft caper starring the hapless Ralph Panicking Ralphy Ember. The owner of a club called The Monty, Ember wants to elevate the tone of the joint, which is currently frequented by crooks, drug runners, and other felons, by purchasing classy paintings to hang on the walls. He already owns a copy of a plate from Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, which is hanging over a thick metal panel designed to protect Ralph from his trigger-happy enemies. Sadly, one of these, Basil Gordon Loam, had a few too many drinks one night, launched a fusillade of bullets at the Blake, and was subsequently banned from The Monty. Now he's back to make peace with Ralph and even offers to help acquire the art Ralph needs to make the club posh. His contact? Jack Lamb, who's also a police informer, sometime friend of DCS Colin Harpur, and the owner of many works of artsome even legit. The gifted James skillfully weaves together disparate plot strands into a crime caper that is as hilarious as it is violent. This is a must for Donald E. Westlake fans. Four stars!(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)