Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
London : HarperCollins, 2009. Broschiert,
313 S.
Description
A sweltering summer spells bad news for the private detective business. Thieves and philanderers take the month off and the only swingers in town are the ones to be found on the 19th hole of the Royal Hoo Golf Course. The civilized reputation of the 'Hoo' is in trouble, however. Shocking allegations of cheating have been directed at one of its leading members, Chris Porphyry. When Chris turns to Joe Sixsmith, PI, he's more than willing to help - well, he hasn't got any other clients - only Joe hadn't counted on being French-kissed then dangled out of a window on the same day. Before long, though, Joe's on the trail of a conspiracy that starts with missing balls, and ends with murder!
User reviews
LibraryThing member libby4
A very light book by Hill. I don't think he has ever set foot in Luton, and the ending is silly, but enjoyable for its hapless detective, and nice not to have another Dalziel and Pascoe episode. Those are getting really dark.
LibraryThing member smik
Joe Sixsmith, P.I., has been approached by a YFG (Young Fair God) Chris Porphyry, on the recommendation Detective Inspector Willie Woodbine. Chris has a serious problem at Luton's Royal Hoo Golf Club, where he holds, by inheritance, the controlling shares. He wants Joe to carry out an investigation
His investigation at the golf club takes Joe into a level of society that he doesn't often fraternise with. He knows next to nothing about golf and is in almost constant dread that he will have to show off his lack of prowess. The investigation proves to be far more complex than he has anticipated too. A simple matter of cheating is complicated by the black-balling of a local magnate who wants to expand his grocery chain in a real estate development bordering the golf club. Nor did Joe anticipate that the case might involve violence against his person, to the point of someone dangling him upside down from his own balcony.
This is the fifth in Reginald Hill's Joe Sixsmith series, the first to make an appearance for 9 years. I haven't read any other Joe Sixsmith titles, although I did recently read a short story that featured him in THERE ARE NO GHOSTS IN THE SOVIET UNION.
Joe Sixsmith has a reputation that says he is easy to under-estimate. That when the pressure's on, he will solve the case through startling intuition.
THE ROAR OF BUTTERFLIES made me feel that I really needed to have read earlier titles in the series to understand Joe's relationship with other characters, but perhaps that would not have helped.
And certainly this is a different style of book to Hill's Dalziel & Pascoe series. In the long run though it does turn out to be a murder mystery with the twists and turns of plot, and interesting characters, that we've come to expect from Hill. It is a lighter book, more a cozy, occasionally flavoured with quirky humour.
The title is a bit obscure, although the reader is given the meaning of the phrase quite early on. But at the end I wasn't sure that it was a good fit for this book.
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for him at the club, under the pretence of seeking membership.His investigation at the golf club takes Joe into a level of society that he doesn't often fraternise with. He knows next to nothing about golf and is in almost constant dread that he will have to show off his lack of prowess. The investigation proves to be far more complex than he has anticipated too. A simple matter of cheating is complicated by the black-balling of a local magnate who wants to expand his grocery chain in a real estate development bordering the golf club. Nor did Joe anticipate that the case might involve violence against his person, to the point of someone dangling him upside down from his own balcony.
This is the fifth in Reginald Hill's Joe Sixsmith series, the first to make an appearance for 9 years. I haven't read any other Joe Sixsmith titles, although I did recently read a short story that featured him in THERE ARE NO GHOSTS IN THE SOVIET UNION.
Joe Sixsmith has a reputation that says he is easy to under-estimate. That when the pressure's on, he will solve the case through startling intuition.
THE ROAR OF BUTTERFLIES made me feel that I really needed to have read earlier titles in the series to understand Joe's relationship with other characters, but perhaps that would not have helped.
And certainly this is a different style of book to Hill's Dalziel & Pascoe series. In the long run though it does turn out to be a murder mystery with the twists and turns of plot, and interesting characters, that we've come to expect from Hill. It is a lighter book, more a cozy, occasionally flavoured with quirky humour.
The title is a bit obscure, although the reader is given the meaning of the phrase quite early on. But at the end I wasn't sure that it was a good fit for this book.
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LibraryThing member dsc73277
For me, this was an enjoyable light read, which might seem a strange thing to say about a book in which the principal character twice finds himself being dangled by the legs from his seventh floor balcony! After reading so many books recently that have annoyed me with their casual preference for
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strong language, this one made a pleasant change. Show Less
LibraryThing member devenish
What we have here is a mixed blessing. On the plus side there is the lead character of Joe Sixsmith,who is a rather different sort of Private Eye than the norm and quite an appealing individual. He lives and works in the less than exotic location of Luton,UK.which again is a plus as you will see if
On the other side of the coin is the fact that the book centers on the game of Golf,a sport that,I suspect is less than interesting to most of us.
The title is a rather good one and comes courtesy of the late and great P.G.Wodehouse.
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you read this.On the other side of the coin is the fact that the book centers on the game of Golf,a sport that,I suspect is less than interesting to most of us.
The title is a rather good one and comes courtesy of the late and great P.G.Wodehouse.
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LibraryThing member thorold
Hill shamelessly having a bit of fun making a grab for some of the money that's been flowing into the pockets of writers at the lighter end of the detective market, like Jasper Fforde and Alexander McCall Smith. The choice of Luton must surely be a dig at Fforde's use of Reading.
He's been churning
The sort of book to read with pleasure on a sunny afternoon on the balcony, but probably not a re-reader.
He's been churning
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out high-quality detective stories for over forty years, so I imagine this is the sort of thing he can do in his sleep by now. Not much in the way of profound character analysis or detailed modelling of the social and political background, just a good honest blunderer, a few tycoons and some beautiful women. The golf club setting is explicitly tagged for us as an homage to P.G. Wodehouse, and there are quite a few Wodehouse references buried here and there in the text. The sort of book to read with pleasure on a sunny afternoon on the balcony, but probably not a re-reader.
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2008
Physical description
313 p.; 19.7 cm
ISBN
9780007252749