The False Inspector Dew

This is my 1st Lovesey book--I got his name from the Mystery Lovers' Book of Quotations. It reminds me of Tony Curtis in The Great Imposter. He even had a stint on a ship in the movie--as a dentist! This book seems to me to start out quite slowly. At least half the book appeared to dawdle, though the author needed to set up some context for later developments. Once onboard it got a bit more interesting, but after "Dew" is on the case, it got quite interesting. I liked the way Lovesey played on the mind-reading history to explain "Dew's" approach & success in part. The plot suddenly falls together & the reader does have sufficient clues to guess most of the mystery--except for the very end--which was a bit surprising though not a great shock to me. If one ignores hearsay & assumptions, possibilities are less limited & the truth can often be seen. There are a few questions about the final ending, but it is fiction after all. It's a good read, cleverly written, and a bit humorous as well.

I agree with much that's been said here by other readers. I enjoyed this book right up until the moment I'd finished it. And then - SPOILER ALERT! ONLY READ ON IF OR AFTER YOU'VE FINISHED THE BOOK YOURSELF - I started questioning the plot's logic. Here goes. So Lydia, the wife who we are led to believe was murdered by her husband Walter, actually left the Mauretania - the ship where much of the novel's action takes place - on the pilot boat, In which case, Walter didn't murder anyone. So why did he pretend to his mistress Alma that he had, that the body was in the trunk, and that he put it through the porthole as planned? If Lydia were still on board, which he would have to assume was the case, she would have seen him at some later stage in the voyage, so he could hardly have afforded not to tell Alma that the planned murder had not yet taken place. Furthermore - I suppose you could say that Lydia had no option but to leave all her expensive dresses behind on the ship because she couldn't carry them on the pilot boat - but you'd think she would have packed them, or at least told the crew to look after them. What possible reason did she have, for that matter, for failing to tell the ship she was getting off? And why in tarnation did she leave her make-up in the cabin - which she clearly did, because Alma puts it on? Moreover, since Walter's plan was to gain admission to Lydia's cabin by knocking on the door, certain that she'd let him in to find out what he was doing there, how did he get in when she'd already left the ship?   And if the character Johnny was so infatuated with Lydia after seeing her on the stage, how could he possibly have thought that Alma was her, since there is no suggestion that the two were a close match in appearance?   I wonder if there is a fuller version of the cover quote from Ruth Rendell: "Since the author is prepared to ignore all logic, I defy anyone to foresee the outcome." PS I think it's fair to say that The False Inspector Dew is not a book that wears its research lightly. So it is deviously satisfying to discover Martinelli on board the Mauretania in 1921 singing Nessun Dorma, an aria from Turandot, five years before the opera's premiere.

Lovesey often gives the sense his tongue is firmly in his cheek. The False Inspector Dew reads as though it were written in the 40s: the characters are drawn as wry twists on old cliches, sailing along (literally) in their frothy, and quietly funny, quest for love and bungled adventure. The False Inspector is not what he seems (like many of the characters). Like Chance in Being There, Walter is imbued by everyone else with characteristics he just doesn't have. Lovesey pokes fun at romance (particularly with the wistful and foolish heroine), detection (the ship's officer whom the false inspector displaces is equally as bad a dectective as our hero) and finally with plot, which he twists to suit his neat but far fetched needs. The cast springs from the Victorian parlors: the shipboard Johnny, the nearly harumphing captain, the well heeled family trying to marry off their daughter, the light fingered and lovely shill, and the aw-darn, I-really-liked-him murderer. This is not a slap your knee comedy, but your leg is consistently pulled in a dry English humor sort of way. There seems to be a real, honest to God, genuine mistake in the book, where one character refers to a character by the true name which hasn't yet been revealed. I re-read that part, thinking that Lovesey was having another go at my leg, but no, I think it really slipped through. This is a book best read where you can sit smiling to yourself without anyone asking you what the joke is. I had the sense that Lovesey has read all the old detective novels, and seen all the black and white movies and is having his way with them and us.

Lovesey's works have a wonderful tone, and I can picture the authorial glint in his eye as he puts his cast through their paces in this novel. The characters inspire both sympathy and laughter, and following "Inspector Dew" as he stumbles his way through the investigation is hilarous and suspenseful. The characters are deftly outlined, the plotlines neatly woven together, and the ironic narration is a pleasure.

This book has more twist and turns than you can shake a handle at (What ever that saying means). I read it about ten years ago and still remember the story and ending. If you like a funny detective book but also a story with many red herrings and plot twists, you will love this book. It is a shame that it is out of print. It is a true classic.