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The Headhunters: An Inspector Hen Mallin Investigation [Hardcover]

Peter Lovesey


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Book Description

April 2008
Praise for Peter Lovesey:

“Lovesey’s restrained wit and charming cast ensure him a place in the winner’s circle.”—Entertainment Weekly

“A master of black humor and macabre plot twists.”—The New York Times Book Review

“One of Britain’s foremost mystery novelists.”—Houston Chronicle

“Lovesey is a master.”—The Washington Post Book World

“One of the delights of contemporary crime fi ction.”—The Wall Street Journal

Gemma loathes her sleazy boss; Jo is her confidante. On a double date with Rick and Jake, they discuss forming a mutual murder society, in jest of course. The next day, Jo, walking on Selsey Beach, discovers the corpse of a drowned woman, a stranger. But one of the men in the lineup at the police station is Gemma’s date Jake, who Jo rather fancies.

Then Gemma and Jo discover the corpse of Fiona, Gemma’s annoying colleague from work. And Gemma’s boss is missing. When an older woman whom Rick was involved with is drowned in her pool, the police begin to close in.

Can this outbreak of deaths by drowning be coincidental? Or has the joke gone too far?

Peter Lovesey has been awarded the Silver, Gold, and Diamond Daggers by the British Crime Writers’ Association. This is his third mystery featuring Inspector Hen Mallin.

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Review

Lovesey's writing is lucid and succinct, and he is a consumate story-teller. (Colin Dexter )

No-one has done this kind of thing better since Dorothy L. Sayers ... A must for crime buffs. (MAIL on Sunday ) --This text refers to the Perfect Paperback edition.

Book Description

A dark, delicious crime story from award-winning Peter Lovesey. --This text refers to the Perfect Paperback edition.

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Customer Reviews

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 3.9 out of 5 stars  7 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars unique English police procedural 2 April 2008
By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Near Selsey, Jo Stevens saw what she thought was a beached dolphin amongst the trash that came ashore on the beach. However, she got closer and realized she found a half naked woman dead amidst the seaweed and garbage. Chichester CID Inspector Henrietta "Hen" Mallin and her team lead the official inquiry starting with who she is and whether her death was an accident or a homicide.

However, before the cops can dig into the case, Jo finds a second corpse eerily similar to the first one she reported. This time she fears telling the cops because the coincidence is too weird and she would become the prime suspect of two murders. She fails to inform the police. When the body is reported, Hen and her subordinates focus on Stevens and even more on her boyfriend who knew both victims.

THE HEADHUNTERS is a unique English police procedural as the storyline rotates points of view between the inspector and the corpse finder; especially fascinating is reading the logical rationalization of Jo when she fails to report the second dead body to the authorities. Fans will appreciate this diamond of a tale as Hen and her CID team works on solving the two homicides while also seeking her first investigation (see THE CIRCLE).

Harriet Klausner
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected, but fun 26 Mar 2008
By David W. Nicholas - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I've read many Peter Lovesey mysteries over the years. I think I read all of the Cribb/Thackery books, and I've read a number since then. For whatever reason, the author seems to go through phases: when he began writing, everything he did was Victorian. He moved up through the 20s, did a book or 2 in the 40s, then moved up to the modern era. This current book is apparently part of a more recent series involving a female police detective named Henrietta "Hen" Mallin.

The first odd thing that Lovesey has done here is write a book that's part of a series, and a detective story, but isn't totally from the detective's point of view. Instead, we start the story out meeting the woman who finds the body (and who turns out to be central to the plot). The story follows her for a while, then switches and follows the police as they try and discover who has killed the mysterious woman whose anonymous corpse has washed up on the beach.

When the plot finally reaches a conclusion, I have to say it wasn't as believable or fun as other of Lovesey's books have been. I didn't hate it...it just wasn't his best. The new character is a bit mundane, also, and Lovesey's as British as he ever was, using slang and jargon with no regard for the American ears his words might fall on. I would only recommend this book to those interested in the author.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Double Entendre 13 Jun 2008
By Ted Feit - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
The latest in the Inspector Hen Mallin series brings forth an unusual story, especially so since it shows how she can leap to wrong conclusions {along with the reader) based on clues both obvious and murky. But the show must go on, and she, along with her police team, plod along from clue to clue in this peculiar but intriguing novel.

It begins with a double date during which one of the women brings up the subject of her boss at a printing works. She says he tries to portray himself as the "good guy," leaving her to do the dirty work. She brings up the possibility of murdering him, and the other three join in jokingly with various methods for the "perfect murder." Then the other woman, taking a walk along the beach, discovers the first of three bodies. Later she's in on the find of two others. All three victims have been forcibly drowned.

The number of suspects abound, as Hen Mallin leads the investigation, inevitably along several false leads. One of the possible suspects is the boyfriend of the woman who found the initial body (before she tripped over the other two). From the initial case on it becomes clearer that there is a serial killer loose. The plot development is so quirky, the reader is kept off balance throughout, right up to the unanticipated denouement. The writing is spare and the story moves along swiftly. Recommended.
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