Sun, Sea and Murder

February 9, 2009
Mallorcan Insp. Enrique Alvarez has his priorities, and pursuing criminals is far down a list headed by good food, good liquor (preferably cognac) and plenty of rest and relaxation, as shown in his latest outing in Jeffries's long-running series (Murder Needs Imagination
, etc.). British authorities ask the Cuerpo (the civil police) to determine if wealthy Englishman Cyril Tyler, a suspected hit-and-run driver in the deaths of two people, is on the island. Alvarez finds Tyler and the car, but then the investigation takes a more serious turn. Lengthy phone sallies between Salas, the inspector's difficult boss, and Alvarez will delight Jeffries fans, Salas criticizing every aspect of Alvarez's reports. Alvarez, of course, placidly carries out Salas's orders in his own peculiar way. The foibles of the island's foreign residents and tourists add to the fun. In the end, Alvarez demonstrates the superiority of his easygoing lifestyle as he manages to find not only truth but justice.

February 15, 2009
Despite naps, aperitifs and sarcasm coming at him from all quarters, Inspector Alvarez brings criminality to its knees, along with the Mallorcan justice system.

After a pair of young lovers are run down on a curve leading to the baronial Kent estate of Cyril Tyler, Mr. Tyler and his dented Bentley hightail it through the Chunnel and over to Mallorca. Inspector Enrique Alvarez is called on to identify the man, inspect his car and report his findings to his browbeating supervisor, Superior Chief Salas, who will alert the Brits. But Tyler complicates matters by getting shot twice in the gut in his Mallorcan villa, and that case falls in Alvarez's lap too. The loathed Tyler offended many husbands by bedding their wives, treated his help with disdain and lived as if only his needs mattered. The suspects include two English couples who stormed in and out of Tyler's house that fateful day and a certain deliciously sexy married Frenchwoman who came and went as she pleased. Amid siestas, home-cooked meals and sips from the bottle in his desk drawer, Salas's harassed underling manages to connect the dots, discount an alibi, disprove a confession and resolve matters in keeping with his personal moral code.

One of the better Alvarez cases, proving that even after 30-plus escapades (An Instinctive Solution, 2008, etc.), Jeffries and his laid-back sleuth can make you long for a Mallorcan holiday.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 15, 2009
The bumbling, cognac-loving inspector Enrique Alvarez is back in another Mallorcan police caper. This one begins with a request from the English police to question Cyril Tyler, a part-time Mallorcan resident, to determine if he is the driver who ran down two young people on an English country lane. Within minutes of meeting Tyler, Alvarez senses hes dealing with a guilty man. But barely has the investigation begun when Tyler is shot dead in suspicious circumstances. Alvarezs boss is demanding the case be solved yesterday, which naturally puts the inspector in a foul mood, since it means he may have to cut short his morning coffee-and-cognac breaks, not to mention the long lunches and afternoon siestas. Determined to crack the case in his own way and in his own good time, Alvarez goes about it in his typically shambolic, languid way. While at heart this is a serious murder mystery with a sad ending, its difficult to feel downhearted when the charming, funny, engaging Enrique Alvarez is the central character. Another delightful entry is an always-entertaining series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)