Dover Book

Dover pulls rabbits out of his disgusting bowler.

I'm surprised I'm not more enthusiastic about this book. I cut my teeth on the Sherlock Holmes stories and I morn the demise of the mystery short story. And God knows I'm a great fan of Porter's hilarious books featuring fat, lazy, foul-tempered Inspector Wilf Dover. Dover is the kind of character that you can laugh at and feel superior to while being terribly grateful that you don't have to work with him. And it's fun to try to speculate as to which one of your friends and co-workers bears the most resemblance to him. Dover is a great character. If Shakespeare's Falstaff was in a permanently bad mood, he would be Inspector Dover.

And most of these stories are very good. There is the recurring theme of solving murders by using clues gleaned in the bathroom, which is where Dover (for reasons best left unsaid) spends an inordinate amount of time. There is Dover's conviction (frequently proved correct) that husbands murder wives and vice versa. There is his wistful, but determined hope that some one will recognize his brilliance and offer him a cushy, well-paid position in a successful corporation. How long a successful corporation would continue to BE successful with Dover on the staff is another question.

Two of the stories are the same plot, slightly re-worked. They all appeared in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine over a period of years and it's unlikely that readers would have notice the similarity. That's a problem in posthumous story collections. Also, several of the stories show Mrs. Dover in her accustomed state - a rather timid woman who's bowed down by years of subservience to a demanding, ungrateful husband. But "Dover Does Some Spadework" presents her as a determined domestic despot who has Old Wilf exactly where she wants him. Furthermore, it's one of my favorites.

Overall, it's worth your time. You get the essence of the Dover books (a sublimely incompetent copper who somehow manages to solve murders) in short form. If you're a Dover fan, pick up a copy.