Dover One

Dover Mysteries, Book 1

By: Joyce Porter

Narrated by: Sam Devereaux

For its own very good reasons, Scotland Yard sends Dover off to remote Creedshire to investigate the disappearance of a young housemaid, Juliet Rugg. Though there's every cause to assume that she has been murdered - she gave her favours freely and may even have stooped to a bit of blackmail - no body is to be found.

Weighing in at 16 stone, she couldn't be hard to overlook. But where is she? And why should Dover, of all people, be called upon to find her? Or, for that matter, even bother to solve the damned case?

©1964 Joyce Porter (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

“Miss Porter shows splendid fertility in comic invention. The comic-horrific ending must be the best crime fiction joke of the year.” (Julian Symons, Sunday Times)

The mystery is ... how does he keep his job?

A detective anti-hero. Obnoxious, boorish, self-important, lazy, intimidating, anti-social and someone who repels everyone he meets. I hope poor McGregor manages to get his transfer ... soon!

The Wittiest Crime Novels

Please record more in this series. They’re wonderful! As is recording actor Sam Devereaux. Thanks,
Molly Haskell

I Agree With Puplhunt, Boots, and Molly

How indeed does Inspector Dover keep his job? And yes absolutely: this mystery is well written, well paced and wonderfully performed. How anyone can hope that Dover's junior gets reassigned is beyond me. After all, that would put an end to all the fun.

Excellent Book

Loved this book on many levels - entertaining, well written and Sam Devereaux rises to the top of my list of the best narrators around. Inspector Dover is interesting, I can see him clearly with his eccentricities and fussy behavior. The pace of the book suits me beautifully - the murder happens early and the story moves along. Devereaux reads like a theater actor, playing all the parts. In this story the murdered woman wears green nail polish, so do I. Strongly recommend this book~

It's a decent story line but

I find the reference to *Blacks* and a coal black baby and West Indians highly offensive

Disliked all the characters!

It's hard to enjoy a book when you dislike all the characters! The detective - Dover - is so disagreeable! Lying, lazy, and rude. I couldn't stand him. And the sidekick - McGregor - is weak and has no personality or brains. I won't listen to any more of this series!

Don't bother

Not a single likeable character throughout. Dover is dreadful, his sidekick is inane, and all the side characters are just the worst caricatures. Even the victim was unlikeable; the only pity I felt for her was as a result of all the fat-shaming and vitriol that was directed at her. Every reference to her was about how fat, ugly and promiscuous she was--three facts repeated with such contempt that it was clear that no one was sad she died and felt she deserved it as a result. Additionally, the female police constables were so stupid and whiny that it almost lent credence to Dover's obvious misogyny.

If someone told me that this had been written by a man in the 1900s, I would have believed them. No, that's a lie. Having read a lot of golden age mysteries where where opinions on race, sex, gender, and age are outdated, I can say that even those authors handled the subjects more tactfully than Joyce Porter has.

Read this only if you don't mind hackneyed stereotypes, otherwise you may find yourself both bored and annoyed.

The narrator was good.

Whew prejudice and misogyny is only forgovable when it’s also well written. This book is predictable and tedious without a single intelligent or likeable character. Don’t bother. The narrator was good.