Death in Room Five.

After reading book 20 (A Knife For Harry Dodd) and book 13 (The Case Of The Demented Spiv) of George Bellairs' Inspector Littlejohn crime mystery series, I've now jumped to book 23! This is not deliberately intended to irritate people who resolutely read series in the correct order, it's just how the review copies are appearing on NetGalley! In this novel, Inspector Littlejohn has travelled to the beautiful French Riviera for a holiday, but soons finds himself abandoning his remarkably patient wife to her own devices as he throws himself into solving a complicated murder mystery.

George Bellairs travelled frequently in France himself and his love of the country and its culture is much in evidence throughout this story. He is also very much aware of the standard Little Englander mistrust of anything 'forrin' which is brilliantly well depicted in the behaviours of Alderman Dawson's holiday party. This group of a dozen people travelled from their Bolchester homes to their Cannes villa for a taste of French life, but they insist on only English food being served and only go en masse on strictly organised excursions. I'd like to say that this is a quaint portrait of 1950s attitudes, but sadly such isolationism is still all too common today. Of course, when one of the Bolchester party, Alderman Dawson, is stabbed and dies this just serves to reinforce the negativity - even when evidence suggests that the murderer might not actually be French after all.

The storyline is entertaining and, for me, sufficiently complicated that I was kept gripped for several hours. I didn't quite accept the denouement as plausible, but appreciated the hoops Bellairs had everyone jump through in order to get there. I loved the seedily glamorous Cannes locations too, especially the way they are contrasted with a brief glimpse of small town Bolchester. What absolutely made this book for me was Bellairs' characterisations. I am now getting used to Inspector Littlejohn being a bit of a nondescript plodder because it gives chances to everyone around him to ruthlessly scenesteal. In Death In Room Five Mrs Beaumont is a glorious creation - think of a fervently teetotal Hyacinth Bucket! I also liked weaselly Marriott and the permanently pissed coach driver. (There should be a drunk driving trigger warning for this novel.)

Death In Room Five is a satisfying murder mystery with a good sense of style and place. I did fear that transplanting Inspector Littlejohn to France would be Bellairs' way of compensating for a lack of story ideas after writing so many books (he actually wrote over 50 Littlejohn novels in the end!) so was pleased to find a strong narrative, lots of good local detail, and plenty of entertaining humour.