Most crime fiction writers working today are all too imitable. Then there’s Bill James. His Harpur and Iles novels are all style. The characters—thugs on both sides of the law—have a way of talking that’s a hilarious combination of smarm and menace. DCI Colin Harpur and Assistant Chief Desmond Iles have the dirty job of trying to police an English city infested by drugs and organized crime. Harpur looks like a yobbo, but is infernally crafty. Iles is urbane, ambitious, and violent—and has a thing for young girls. The crooks, meanwhile, subscribe to business management theory and harbor illusions of joining the upper middle class.
Each of the short books in the series follows Harpur’s and Iles’s efforts to foil a criminal plot while keeping a wary eye on each other. Double crosses and adultery are common. The characters don’t develop much through the series, so it’s not necessary to read the books in order. I recommend starting with Take, Top Banana, or Panicking Ralph.
I thought you made some astute observations about Bill James. I fear that your accurate comment about the characters not developing much might scare people off. Harpur, Iles, Jack Lamb and Harpur’s daughters are wonderful characters; let the situations around them change!
I comment on James here http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/search/label/Bill%20James, if you’d care to take a look.
===================
Detectives Beyond Borders
“Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home”
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/