I read these books when they came out, and loved the quality of the writing and the innovative ideas. However rereading nearly 50 years later, I found them artificial and mannered. What seemed at the time to be incisive and imaginative now seems like an alternate reality fantasy book in which Victorian and colonial criminals are pursued by a plodding 1950s detective in 1920s England; although the books are nominally set in the late 1960s. The commentary on English society seems to be from the perspective of a 1950s Punch editor--one that is barely recognizable to someone of my age and like incomprehensible to anyone younger.

I think it's worth reading one James Pibble book because they are beautifully written and strangely compelling. But unless you've read everything else by Peter Dickinson, I'm not sure a second Pibble is necessary; and the three collected in this book will be an overdose for most readers.

4 stars

The Glass Sided Ants Nest

The tribal chieftain named Aaron Ku of a small, but surviving New Guinea tribe (they call themselves the “Ku” in their own language), is murdered. In his hand was a two-headed Edwardian penny. Was it a burglar who murdered him? Someone who knew him?

While Commander James Pibble takes on the interviewing of the tribal members and neighbors, the other officers assigned to the case interview neighbors a little further away. He gets quite a bit of information from an anthropologist who married into the tribe and doesn’t quite believe that she has no influence with the tribe. All in all, they seem to come up with absolutely nothing. Pibble contacts Crewe and asks him to look into the backgrounds of some of the potential suspects. They include not only the members of the tribe and an anthropologist, but a real estate agent and a prostitute.

I like the anthropological and philosophical perspectives in this case. Since two of my degrees are in cultural anthropology and philosophy, I immediately zeroed in on these points of view. I truly enjoyed reading this novel.

The Old English Peep Show

A man has hanged himself t an estate owned by the Clavering brothers. They are both retired from the military and are running an amusement park of sorts with lives animals and a sideshow.

Once Superintendent James Pibble arrives on the scene, he determines that it was not a suicide, but murder. The investigation commences.

This one is not as engaging as the first in the series. The story seemed as though it were forced and the many, many asides were distracting. Too much navel gazing?

The Sinful Stones

Sir Francis Francis is ninety-two and claiming that someone stole his valuable memoirs. Sir Francis was one of the individuals who worked on the atomic bomb for which he won the Nobel Prize. Interestingly enough, Sir Francis worked with Pibble’s father all those many years earlier. Superintendent James Pibble is asking himself if the memoirs really existed. Is the old man forgetful? Or paranoid? Pibble is beginning to wonder just why Sir Fancis contacted him to begin with.

Once he begins to work on the case located on a small and isolated island off the coast of Scotland he realizes that the strange religious sect that calls it home the island doesn’t want Sir Francis to leave. Are they holding him against his will? Why do they want him to stay so badly?

As Pibble delves further into the case, we find him going down memory lane. He recalls his time with his father when he was a child and older. It is a very interesting aspect of the case as we learn more about Pibble’s life. He goes this case alone, without his colleagues or any help from the other police officers.

This is a very good addition to the James Pibble series. I truly enjoyed it.

Peter Dickinson was a fine writer. Even though these stories were originally written in 1960’s, they seem timeless to me. These books are well written, although the plotting kind of loses track once in a while. Commander James Pibble is a keenly observant witness to human behavior. He picks up on minute clues in body language. I don’t know how I have missed reading him before and will continue to read him.

I want to thank Netgalley and Open Road Integrated Media for forwarding to me a copy of this great book to read.

It's wonderful to have three of Peter Dickinson's classic James Prebble books in one ebook bundle.