Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is the most idle and avaricious hero in all of crime fiction. Why should he even be bothered to solve the case?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 ...

Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is the most idle and avaricious hero in all of crime fiction. Why should he even be bothered to solve the case?One February evening in northern England, a young woman is shot in the head and left in a coma. Eight months later she dies, thus becoming a welcome excuse to dispatch the odious Inspector Dover as far as possible from London.It soon appears that Isobel Slatcher could have been smothered in her hospital bed w...

Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is the most idle and avaricious hero in all of crime fiction. Why should he even be bothered to solve the case?It seemed that everyone in the bleak little village of Thornwich had been honoured with the most obscene poison pen letters imaginable. And they showed no signs of letting up. So off goes Chief Inspector Dover of Scotland Yard, his unfortunate young colleague MacGregor in tow, to track down the source.Not-so-...

Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is the most idle and avaricious hero in all of crime fiction. Why should he even be bothered to solve the case?When word gets out that Pomeroy Chemicals is seeking to fill the lucrative position of Chief Security Officer, Dover is keenly interested. All he needs, he feels, is one smashing success and the prestigious title is his.When a young pregnant girl known to no one in the town of Frenchy Botham turns up murdered...

Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is the most idle and avaricious hero in all of crime fiction. Why should he even be bothered to solve the case?When Mrs Dover witnesses a young policeman's suicide and has the bad taste to report it, Dover's vacation ends abruptly at the seaside wasteland of Wallerton.As he sluggishly investigates the matter, an earlier case of murder and mutilation turns up as well. Suspecting that the town's Ladies' Club may be oddl...

Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is the most idle and avaricious hero in all of crime fiction. Why should he even be bothered to solve the case?This time, Scotland Yard sends Detective Chief Inspector Dover and his woeful assistant MacGregor off on the Stately Home circuit to look into murder.Since Lord Crouch, master of Beltour, can hardly make ends meet despite the hordes of tourists visiting the manor, his hospitality is meagre – though his vegeta...

Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is the most idle and avaricious hero in all of crime fiction.Honestly, why should he even be bothered to solve the case?Collected here are eleven unforgettable short stories in the Dover series, from the 1969 story ‘Dover Pulls a Rabbit’, to ‘A Souvenir for Dover’.Editorial reviews:“Something quite out of the ordinary.” Daily Telegraph“Joyce Porter is a joy… Dover is...

Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is the most idle and avaricious hero in all of crime fiction. Why should he even be bothered to solve the case?Sully Martin had probably been a picturesque English village before the earthquake nearly destroyed it. And construction tycoon Walter Chantry might have been taken for another of the many casualties if it hadn't come out that he had been strangled.This time Dover is in for much more than his usual share of t...

Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is the most idle and avaricious hero in all of crime fiction. Why should he even be bothered to solve the case?Dover and the Claret Tappers is a surprising departure for the series featuring Scotland Yard's least competent detective, and the first to depart is none other than Dover himself.When the doubtful detective suddenly vanishes from Scotland Yard, along comes an ultimatum from a gang of kidnappers, the Claret T...

Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is the most idle and avaricious hero in all of crime fiction. Why should he even be bothered to solve the case?The town of Pott Winckle owes its prosperity to the firm of Wibbley Ware. Naturally, when the owner’s daughter is murdered, the call goes out for Scotland Yard’s finest. Once again, Dover is off, the reluctant Sergeant MacGregor in tow.All Dover has to do to clinch this one is settle back in Wibbley’s Rolls R...

Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is the most idle and avaricious hero in all of crime fiction. Why should he even be bothered to solve the case?The naked, burned and mutilated body of a middle-aged man has been found at the Muncaster Municipal Dump. When the autopsy reveals a peculiar clue, DCI Dover and his ever-unwilling assistant MacGregor set off on a trail that leads them to a squalid seaside resort. A mysterious organization, they learn, had convened t...

It seemed that everyone in the bleak little village of Thornwich had been honoured with the most obscene poison pen letters imaginable. And they showed no signs of letting up. So off goes Chief Inspector Dover of Scotland Yard, his unfortunate young colleague MacGregor in tow, to track down the source. Not-so-comfortably ensconced in the miserable lodgings of the Jolly Sailor, Dover’s easy confidence is quickly shaken when he suddenly has to deal with two suicides – one attempted, the othe...