by Mark Hebden
‘We seem to have turned up something big, Patron,’ Darcy said.
‘Bigger than we thought,’ Pel agreed. ‘But it seems that in the end everybody’s got their come-uppance. Dominique got hers. Jo-Jo got his. The Guichets got theirs.’
‘And Sirdey finally got his.’
Pel nodded. ‘Poetic justice, wouldn’t you say?’ He was looking placidly self-satisfied. ‘Payment deferred. Their punishment was slow coming but it came.’
He paused to stare about him. ‘This lot—’ he was feeling wise and philosophical ‘—predators, all four. But they all dodged the punishment for their crimes for years until suddenly – because they all came together – it caught up with them.’ He held up his fist with the thumb extended. ‘One: Jo-Jo la Canne. Known – though never proved – to have killed Tony the Tout and Marie Topin.’ He lifted his first finger. ‘Xavier Sirdey, alias Charles-Louis Stocklin, Oscar Ferry and a few other things. During the war a traitor working for the enemy. Known to have killed Josée Celine and probably Léonie Gensoul, Marianne Lefèvre, Michelline Auriac and probably a few French patriots besides.’
Another finger rose. ‘Three: Jacqueline Cochet, also known as Bernadine Guichet – and her husband. Believed to have killed her mother and Raoul Zeller for their property – to say nothing of Xavier Sirdey.’ A third finger lifted. ‘Four: Along comes Dominique Pigny. Another predator. Drifter and drop-out, possessing a record for theft and fraud and planning more of it here. But—’ Pel paused ‘—she was the catalyst that destroyed them all. Because of her, they’ve all cancelled each other out. She was instrumental in bringing to an end all their evils and they hers.’
He paused then lifted the last finger, the little finger. ‘Even – since she brought me here and I brought Philippe Duche – him, too. Five of them. What a pity it can’t happen more often. It would save us all a lot of trouble. There seems to be a touch of God’s mercy about it.’
He drew a deep breath then climbed into the car and sat down tiredly, a bone at a time. But there was a look of satisfaction on his face.
‘And now,’ he said, ‘I think you can look after things, Daniel, and if she doesn’t mind taking a chance on catching something that’s likely to be as deadly as the Black Death, I’ll have Claudie drive me home. I’m going to bed. Perhaps you’ll inform Madame Faivre-Perret that I’ve managed it at last.’
Note on 'Chief Inspector Pel' Series
According to the New York Times, Chief Inspector Evariste Clovis Désiré Pel, of the Brigade Criminelle of the Police Judiciaire, in Burgundy, France is 'in his professional work, a complete paragon. He is sharp, incisive, honest, and a leader of men and everything else a successful cop should be.' Outside of work, however, 'he is a milquetoast, scared of his gorgon of a housekeeper, frightened of women, doubtful of his own capabilities.'
In fact, his morose attitude has been said to add 'a piquancy' to the reporting of his adventures. His general complaints about all those around him are mollified a little when, in the course of the series, he marries - but readers are left to judge that and the events surrounding it for themselves.
One of the delights of the books is their setting - Burgundy - and Pel is 'Gallic' to the core. Moreover, his complex character makes a refreshing change from many of the detectives to be found in modern crime. Solutions to his cases are found without endless and tedious forensic and his relationships are very much based in real life.
Order of 'Pel' Series Titles
These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as stand-alone novels
1. Death Set To Music Also as: Pel & The Parked Car 1979
2. Pel & The Faceless Corpse 1979
3. Pel Under Pressure 1980
4. Pel Is Puzzled 1981
5. Pel & The Bombers 1982
6. Pel & The Staghound 1940
7. Pel & The Pirates 1984
8. Pel & The Predators 1984
9. Pel & The Prowler 1985
10. Pel & The Paris Mob 1986
11. Pel Among The Pueblos 1987
12. Pel & The Faceless Corpse 1987
13. Pel & The Touch Of Pitch 1987
14. Pel & The Picture Of Innocence 1988
15. Pel & The Party Spirit 1989
16. Pel & The Missing Persons 1990
17. Pel & The Promised Land 1991
18. Pel & The Sepulchre Job 1992
Further titles are available post 1993 See Juliet Hebden (author)
Synopses of 'Pel' Series Titles
Published by House of Stratus
These can be read as a series, or as stand-alone novels
Pel & The Faceless Corpse
An unidentified, faceless corpse is discovered near a memorial dedicated to villagers killed by the Nazis. Pel is on the case searching for a way to name the faceless corpse. The trail leads him from Burgundy to the frontiers of France, aided by a canny Sergeant Darcy and the shy, resourceful Sergeant Nosjean. Follow the irascible, quirky Chief Inspector on a road to solving the mystery of the faceless corpse.
Death Set To Music (Pel & The Parked Car)
The severely battered body of a murder victim turns up in provincial France and the sharp-tongued Chief Inspector Pel must use all his Gallic guile to understand the pile of clues building up around him, until a further murder and one small boy make the elusive truth all too apparent.
Pel Under Pressure
The irascible Chief Inspector Pel is hot on the trail of a crime syndicate in this fast-paced, gritty crime novel, following leads on the mysterious death of a student and the discovery of a corpse in the boot of a car. Pel uncovers a drug-smuggling ring within the walls of Burgundy's university, and more murders guide the Chief Inspector to Innsbruck where the mistress of a professor awaits him.
Pel Is Puzzled
New varieties of crime are popping up everywhere in Inspector Pel's beloved Burgundy. Raids on a historical chateau and the surrounding churches have led to the plunder of priceless treasures. But when theft becomes murder, Pel is called to uncover the true nature of who's behind the crime wave. The case leads him from Paris to Scotland Yard and a climax involving the famous Tour de France cycle race.
Pel & The Bombers
When five murders disturb his sleepy Burgundian city on Bastille night, Chief Inspector Pel has his work cut out for him. A terrorist group is at work and the President is due shortly on a State visit. Pel's problems with his tyrannical landlady must be put aside while he catches the criminals.
Pel & The Staghound
Violence, the mugging of gay men, and the disappearance of a wealthy local business man, Rensselaer, troubles Chief Inspector Pel who is baited by his superiors in Paris clamouring for more teamwork, technology, and sociologists. What remains is a harrowing question - has Rensselaer been kidnapped or murdered? Rensselaer's family don't seem to mind. Only Archer, his favourite staghound, is anxious for his missing master.
Pel & The Pirates
As Chief Inspector Pel honeymoons with his long-time love Mme Genevieve Faivre-Perret in St Ives, a local taxi driver is murdered on their first night. More puzzling is his attempts to reach Pel before the brutal killing and his message is one of murder, arson, and smuggling. But, can Pel break the silence surrounding the Islanders, and catch the killer?
Pel & The Predators
There has been a sudden spate of murders around Burgundy where Pel has just been promoted to Chief Inspector. The irascible policeman receives a letter bomb, and these combined events threaten to overturn Pel's plans to marry Mme Faivre-Perret. Can Pel keep his life, his love and his career by solving the murder mysteries? Can Pel stave off the predators?
Pel & The Prowler
The irascible Chief Inspector Pel basks in the warm glow of his marriage until a series of young women are found strangled, with macabre messages left next to them. Pel breaks his idyllic life in honeymoon heaven and begins an investigation among a student community. What ensues is a deadly game of cat and mouse.
Pel &
The Paris Mob
In his beloved Burgundy, Chief Inspector Pel finds himself incensed by interference from Paris, but it isn't the flocking descent of rival policemen that makes Pel's blood boil - crimes are being committed by violent gangs from Paris and Marseilles. Pel unravels the riddle of the robbery on the road to Dijon airport as well as the mysterious shootings in an iron foundry. If that weren't enough, the Chief Inspector must deal with the misadventures of the delightfully handsome Serjeant Misset and his red-haired lover.
Pel Among The Pueblos
A brief spell among the Pueblos, and a shoot-out under a moonless sky brings Pel his reward when the redoubtable Chief Inspector chases leads on a double shooting of two ageing crooks all the way to Mexico. This is Hebden's eleventh novel in a series that delights and entertains a growing number of Pel fans.
Pel & The Faceless Corpse
An unidentified, faceless corpse is discovered near a memorial dedicated to villagers killed by the Nazis. Pel is on the case searching for a way to name the faceless corpse. The trail leads him from Burgundy to the frontiers of France, aided by a canny Sergeant Darcy and the shy, resourceful Sergeant Nosjean. Follow the irascible, quirky Chief Inspector on a road to solving the mystery of the faceless corpse.
Pel & The Touch Of Pitch
When Chief Inspector Pel accepts a drinks invitation at the house of a big shot, Deputy Claude Barclay, he doesn't realise how compromised he will become by his acceptance. Shortly afterwards, Barclay is kidnapped; the partially decomposed body of a retired soldier is discovered in a wood and as series of art forgeries need investigating. Pel must tie all three together and solve a scandal, which has become the talk of France.
Pel & The Picture Of Innocence
An extravagant, big time gangland criminal is ambushed and assassinated; the only witness a ten-year-old-boy. Chief Inspector Pel is called in to investigate the killing, which spirals into an international investigation when a respected spinster is bludgeoned to death and some curious links begin to clink into place.
Pel & The Party Spirit
Brigade Criminelle is mobilised when a fatal stabbing, an anticipated delivery of lethal drugs from Marseilles, and the discovery of a thirty-year-old corpse in an ancient turreted tower in the town of Puyceldome coincide with a frantic search for two murderous hitchhikers, all on Chief Inspector Pel's patch. And as folk-dancers, stilt-walkers, fire-eaters, and jugglers lurch through a night of carnival, Pel stalks his prey.
Pel & The Missing persons
A masked gang rob a supermarket at Talant, a home-made bomb is found at the local airport, and the body of an old man is found on the motorway near Mailly-les-Temps, and what is the connection between a fearful lawyer and the fatal stabbing of a Scottish tourist. On top of all this, Daniel Darcy, trusted deputy to Chief Inspector Pel has been suspended on suspicion of taking bribes.
Pel & the Promised Land
The twelfth title in the Inspector Pel Mystery series, this is a story of Pel's beloved Burgundy as the Promised Land. Fires are breaking out all over the province, from small houses to woodland and when a local farmer's flock of sheep is poisoned, a tray of valuable rings stolen from a local jewellers, and the body of a woman is found, Inspector Pel has his work cut out for him in this exhilarating murder mystery.
Pel & The Sepulchre Job
A dead man is found floating in a canal, his wallet revealing a strange symbolic drawing, and a hostage drama unfolds at the Banque Credit Rural, where not only millions in francs and jewellery are at stake but also lives. On the other side of town, a stunning art student switches masterpieces for copies. Somehow, the crimes fit like pieces of a jigsaw so Chief Inspector Pel is faced with a challenge of a lifetime and responds with true Gallic guile.
For subsequent Pel titles see Juliet Hebden (author)
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