Reading: DOVER TWO - Joyce Porter

I had never heard of this writer or series before coming across this title. Debuting in 1964 with Dover One, Porter's hugely popular (at the time) series spanned something like fourteen novels and more than a few short stories - and having read the second in the series, I can understand why. Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover, of Scotland Yard, is a fat, slovenly, overbearing, lazy, narcissistic, foul-mouthed and bad-tempered boor of a man who is unhappy (though not nearly as unhappy as his young assistant, the capable Sergeant MacGregor) to find himself assigned to a murder case in the tiny village of Curdley, mostly the Yard's move to get the annoying detective out of London. In Curdley, a young woman was shot twice in the head outside the local vicarage eight months prior; she'd been lying in a coma since, until the local newspaper printed an article saying the girl seemed about to awaken, therefore possibly naming her killer ... prompting someone to enter the hospital and summarily smother the girl to death with a pillow. Dover's been assigned to the case and from his arrival hates Curdley, managing to irritate just about everyone there - though none remain more irritated than him - and as the detective fumbles his way through the investigation, taking credit for every break in the case and blaming MacGregor for every fumble, Dover finds a new suspect around every corner, determined to close this one (he hasn't closed all that many) as soon as possible so he can get out of Curdley, whether there is evidence to back up his case or not. You'd think Dover would be so annoying it would make this highly-entertaining, wonderfully-written novel hard to read, but Joyce Porter dollops in the humor and actually keeps the irascible Dover just shy of being too much to take. The mystery is well-written and well-solved, characters lively and fresh as the first day of spring, Dover himself just absolutely fascinating on the page, even when you want to strangle him. Original and terrific, Dover Two makes me sorry to have not started at book one (which I now have), anxious to dive into more cases featuring this eccentric, self-serving denizen of Scotland Yard.  5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.