Killing The Lawyers

Killing The Lawyers by Reginald Hill
Fiction/Detective-Mystery/Adult/288 Pages

Joe Sixsmith is black, balding, bumbling and a bit slow off the mark. He's also a PI, much to his Aunt Mirabelle's despair.

Joe has a beef with his insurance company, so he turns to Luton's most prestigious law firm for help, where he is verbally assaulted by one of the male partners, and physically assaulted by the female partner. Leaving the building, loudly quoting Shakespeare, it's hardly surprising Joe becomes the chief suspect when someone starts knocking off the lawyers one by one.

In the meantime, Joe has been hired to try and discover who might be putting the frighteners on Zak Oto, top athlete and one of Luton's finest children, in order to stop her from winning the New Year's Day race to celebrate the opening of a brand new sporting complex. To Joe, everybody looks suspicious, and the only reason he knows he's getting warm is because somone is trying to kill him.

Review

Devotees of Reginald Hill and his Dalziel And Pascoe series will love this book. The undercurrent of humour that runs through Dalziel And Pascoe has been allowed to overflow and flood the Joe Sixsmith series, making them highly entertaining. On several occasions, I found myself laughing out loud, much to the amusement of fellow train travellers.

Joe Sixsmith is a wonderfully uncomplicated character, which makes for a refreshing change in this world of intense, psycho-analysed, deeply disturbed anti-heroes. No in-depth soul searching for Joe; he is what he is, and accepts that without question. This might explain why his constant companion, confidànte and critic is Whitey, a large male cat. Put this together with a collection of the most eclectic and eccentric characters ever gathered together in one tale, and you end up with a great yarn. You will fall in love with Joe Sixsmith; he's what we've been looking for in a leading man for a long time. And, as you follow his stumbles and totterings, it's no wonder the bottom of Whitey's litter tray ends up displayed as a major work of art.

This is an easy book to read, but as followers of Reginald Hill will tell you, keep a dictionary handy, and be prapared to have your classical education tested.

My Rating: