DOVER: The Collected Short Stories

by Joyce Porter ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1995

Eleven stories (1968-85) starring the loutish Wilfred Dover, the most hilariously clueless Chief Inspector ever to grace the rolls of Scotland Yard. Aided (and often rescued) by his handsome young assistant, Sergeant MacGregor, swinish, flatulent Dover confronts murder in high places and low with an equal lack of aplomb, stirring from his frequent naps only to cadge cigarettes, offer rude remarks, and accuse the wrong party. The formula, though unvarying, is remarkably generous, and the stories are chockablock with suspects, red herrings, and sadly misleading inferences. Readers who find Dover's unmodulated incompetence a trifle monotonous at novel length (Dover Beats the Band, 1991, etc.) may well find him easier to take in shorter doses, and at least one of the stories, ""Dover Pulls a Rabbit,"" is a minor classic. The perfect antidote, now as then, to Lord Peter Wimsey and his omnicompetent ilk.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1995

ISBN: 0393337758

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Foul Play/Countryman

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1995

Categories: FICTION