Review: You'd Better Believe It by Bill James

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Keywords: Police procedural, crime fiction, detective fiction, British crime fiction

Bill James (pseudonym of Welsh author James Tucker) launched the Harpur and Iles series in 1985 and, 34 titles in, it's still going strong. Number 35 is scheduled for release in 2019.

This first book, You'd Better Believe It, is actually "A Detective Colin Harpur Novel". Iles is a character but it doesn't become the Harpur and Iles series until later. The novels are set in an unnamed coastal town south of London where Colin Harpur is Detective Chief Superintendent and Desmond Iles is Assistant Chief Constable.

When the story opens, Harpur has assembled a team to take-down a gang of villains plotting to rob a Lloyd's bank. When the attempted robbery does occur, the carefully planned police operation goes pear shaped, and officer is killed, and the gang leader, Holly, escapes. The death of one of their own puts pressure on Harpur to bring him in. The pressure increases as informants begin to drop as well.

Thirty-five years has done nothing to diminish the pleasure reading this book. Other than the absence of mobile phones and perhaps computers, I didn't have the sense that I was reading a dated story. Women don't have much of a role but I take that as an artifact of time. It is built on a good plot, character development, grim police humor, and a cynical, snarky attitude toward police bureaucracy which needs to be circumvented to get anything done.

In one scene, the brass and Harpur are attending the funeral of one of the snitches. Harpur points out that they didn't attend the funeral of another snitch. The chief replies:

This man is black. It's an opportunity as well as a responsibility. Get hold of our PR people and tell them to make sure the bloody media know we'll be along . We don't want to turn up to a do like that without some mileage.

Harpur delegates work to one of his officers:

That's how it was at the top. You kept a dog and did not bark yourself, not until the barking meant you'd landed some bugger. Yes, a true art, leadership.

This is an excellent introduction to a long running series and one I recommend if you like a good police procedural.