The New Guy in TownSeptember 8, 2008 Ian Gordon Malcomson(Smithers, Canada) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Typical of a Reginald Hill novel, this one starts off in a very quite and unassuming manner. A local nob drops in at Luton's one and only detective ageny to hire Joey Sexsmith, a black immigrant private eye, to clear his name on allegations of cheating at the local golf course. As Joey sees it, it shouldn't take long to wrap this one up. A simple explanation and case closed. That is until he learns that there is more to the case than meets the eye. All of sudden, Joey learns that he has landed in the middle of one of the town's biggest land scams involving the executive of the local course, an outsider millionaire, and Porphyry, its intended dupe. When everything is eventually concluded, cheating at golf will look trivial in relation to what really is going on. Hill tells a story of how a doggedly-peristant and disarming PI gets results to get to the bottom of a very nasty affair that involves murder, fraud, and kidnapping. There is a strong undercurrent of humor in the way Joey continually sacrifices his body to the monstrous tactics of bloody-minded goons in the interests of establishing the truth. He even uses his lack of golfing prowess to gain access to the links so that he can conduct a sharp-eyed investigation of the crime scene. Stand aside, Dalziel and Pascoe, because it looks like Joey Sexsmith is ready to take on the local Mafia single-handedly. Great light read.
Perfect summer read (and great for winter too!)July 6, 2008 UK, French, Canadian tri-national Most readers know Reginald Hill for his Dalziel and Pascoe books, and very good they are too. The Joe Sexsmith series showcases the lighter side of this wonderful crime writer. In this book Sexsmith, a somewhat tubby middle-aged black PI, is asked to help a popular local golf-club member fight the allegation that he cheated during an important match. Sounds like a minor problem to Joe, but while investigating the incident he turns up something much nastier. I'm not a golfer myself and though the game of golf is front and centre in the plot I had no trouble following along as any arcane terms were subtly explained. Joe's lissome nurse girlfriend, his cat Whitey, and a forceful jealous boxer are just a few of the beautifully described and very funny characters in this book while the plot is so gripping that I literally could not put it down. This is a wonderful read for a summer's afternoon - but beware. Supper could be late!
