I love Inspector Litlejohn mysteries. This one is well written and engaging from the beginning. The solving involves lots of very interesting dialogue and descriptive scenes. Thoroughly wonderful.

Death Spins the Wheel, is an Inspector Littlejohn murder mystery, which takes us on a fast paced journey from a Gambling Casino on the Isle of Man back to the French Resistance during WWII. Scotland Yard Inspector Littlejohn, now Superintendent, happens to be on holidays helping a friend when he becomes embroiled in solving the murder of an elderly lady at a local casino. Death Spins the Wheel is one of many books written by Harold Blundell under the pseudonym George Bellairs.

Madame Garnier spends the evening gambling and winning. Shortly after finishing for the evening she takes a walk along the beach and is found dead within less than thirty minutes, shot through the head. Although everyone initially feels her gambling is to blame, Inspector Littlejohn quickly ascertains that the woman’s past may be even more significant.

I like this book because it is fast paced and takes many twists and turns before it finally becomes clear what has occurred. The characters in the story are unique and interesting enough to hold the readers interest. Although written in the 60’s and it is a bit dated in style, there is plenty of intrigue and humour throughout the book. I recommend this book because I found it entertaining and surprising and I give it a 4 on 5.

I want to thank NetGalley and Agora Books for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel, and how quickly I read it. The first few chapters are a little slow but then I really got into it. Nicely written, enjoyable characters and some lovely twists towards the end. A nice story. I will check more titles out by this author.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent Inspector Littlejohn mystery set on the Isle of Man with a foray into Evian in the French Alps. Littlejohn is on the Isle of Man in the U.K. on a busman's holiday. Along with his friends, the Archdeacon and local policeman Knell, they search for the murderer of an elderly French woman who had great success gambling in the new casino before being gunned down. Characters are well drawn, quirky, and sometimes downright funny. George Bellairs definitively deserves a place among the great British mystery writers.

Another great story from George. This one is equally as good as the other ones I have read. Highly recommended for anyone who likes Golden Age Crime. Can't wait for the next one.

What is it about?

George Bellairs has written a thrilling murder mystery , that was first published in 1965 and is set in the Isle of Man. . A new casino opened and Madame Garnier visits to gamble using her secret system and always wins good amounts but not enough to ‘break the bank’. When Madame Garner is murdered the initial thought is it was her winnings, the murderer was after. But, the investigation, by Inspector Littlejohn uncovers past members of the French resistance, Vichy spies and betrayals.

What did I like?

George Bellairs, the author, has created an intriguing Inspector Littlejohn, and great characters in Knell and the Archdeacon to name just a few. The writing is This is a vintage novel and is in the same vein as authors such as Josephine Tey and is easily as good. I’m so glad I’ve discovered Mr Bellairs and will be searching for more of his novels,.


Would I recommend?

Definitely, The writing is so good I was totally enthralled and didn’t want it to end.




I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

The Crime Classics Review Club introduced me to George Bellairs and I like his books well enough to have ordered a couple from the library. Death Spins the Wheel is set on the Isle of Man, where yet again Inspector Littlejohn is conveniently taking a break. An elderly Frenchwoman, Madame Garnier, visits the Isle of Man to gamble at the new casino. Then she’s found on the beach, shot dead. At first it seems the murder must be something to do with her successful gambling method but the trail leads Knell and Littlejohn to France, to investigate events in Vichy France in 1944. This is hardly successful police procedure as various people eventually tell them what they want to know but the mystery of the disappearing Frenchman and the affairs of the Garnier family keep up the tension. I’m always interested in novels which lead back to the war and I enjoyed this one.

Although this is my first time reading an Inspector (now Superintendent) Littlejohn story, it is far from the beginning of the series. To this end, it took me a while to place the relationship between Littlejohn, the Archdeacon and Inspector Knell. However, it wasn’t long before I felt at home with the characters, and could concentrate on the plot line. I’ve never been to the Isle of Man but I do know Grenoble, so found the setting of the book and the theme being set around the background of the resistance very intriguing. Although I did guess the aggressor, the story around it and the facts kept me interested to the end. This is an ideal book to read if you have a few hours to spare and don’t want to be overtaxed.
I will definitely be exploring other titles in the same series. T

Madame Garnier, long a widow, goes to the Isle of Mann to play roulette at the Casino. She seems to have a knack and each night after winning about 200 pounds she goes for a walk and to bed. One night on the beach, she is shot by a small gun close to her. Fortunately, Chief Inspector Littlejohn has just arrived to visit the Archdeacon and help him build a Solarium. Thus, when the local Inspector Knell arrives at the Archdeacon's house, the Archdeacon and Littlejohn were ready to help. Although someone had broken into Madame Garnier's hotel room, they hadn't found her money which was cleverly hidden in a false bottom of her suitcase. The Archdeacon and Littlejohn go to Evian to try to find out some of the history of the family. They also find out that Madame had called her brother in law Ambroise, and asked him to come to Mann, but no one knew why.

It seems that an Englishman, Colonel Springer, who lives on Mann had been assigned to the same resistance cell as Madame Garnier, her husband, and Ambroise, but it isn't clear at first why this is important. The plot is well planned with lots of twists and turns and keeps the reader turning pages as new information or activities keep happening.

This review can be found on amazon.com kindle page for the book under the name fanmystery and also on goodreads.

Absolutely brilliant, I read this book twice to ensure I didn't miss anything out the first time. The case initially starts on the Isle of Man with the shooting of an elderly lady and Superintendent Littlejohn is called to assist the island police. Littlejohn and the Archdeacon travel to France to carry on the investigation which goes back to World War Two and the murder of a French resistance fighter. The case eventually concludes back on the Isle of Man. George Bellairs is a master at plots and intrigue and keeps me on the edge of my seat right to the very end.

This book features two of Bellairs' favourite locations _ the Isle of Man and France. The plot moves along briskly and I found the World War II and Resistance elements very authentic and a change from the usually eccentric characters found in his English settings _ an indication of his writing versitility. Please reissue more of Littlejohn!

George Bellairs was at the end of last year the surprise find for me through Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited. It can be hard enough finding something worth reading on that platform but the Bellairs covers really attracted me and that first story really hit the spot. I have now returned to this author on two further occasions, this time thanks to the Crime Classics Advance Readers Club.

This is the third novel by this author I have read and I am really beginning to enjoy his books. In the main they appear to be considered fairly light crime novels with a distinctly humorous edge but I am finding that as the series progresses the settings and basis of the stories are becoming more important and the cosy jokey nature is being left behind. But then with the first novels being published in the early 1940s and ‘Death Spins the Wheel’ written in the mid-sixties, much had changed in Britain and Europe and this is certainly reflected in the author’s writing.

This novel, the 42nd in the Littlejohn series, is set (and written) around 20 years after the end of the second world, a war which casts a distinct shadow over the proceedings following the murder on which the story is based. Through this novel I certainly saw a progression in the quality of the author’s writing; these are no longer simply light, humorous novels in the crime genre but have become as much a study of class and national identities and how this sat in Europe’s recovery in the years following the war. The humour is still there but there is a lot more to get your teeth into with this novel, both in terms of the solving of the murder and in the complex background in which the story is set.

I’m very pleased I stumbled upon this author and even more pleased that many of the novels are being republished to hopefully bring them to the attention of a new generation of crime and mystery fiction fans. Bring on the remaining 48 novels in the series!

This is a pleasant little mystery in the classic English tradition. Although it was published in 1965, it belongs in style with books from a quarter-century earlier. Most of the interest focuses on the mildly comic domestic affairs and friendships of the investigators, and the mystery itself always takes a backseat to scenery, food, drink and manners; moreover information is frequently repeated multiple times. Nevertheless, the crime and investigation are crafted well, according to the traditional rules. There are plenty of clues, mostly placed obviously, but the story is convoluted enough that the reader has to think carefully to put things together.

One sidelight, amusing to me, is this book came out just a few years after two MIT scientists--Claude Shannon, the father of information theory, and Ed Thorp, the mathematics professor who perfected blackjack card counting--built the world's first wearable computer to beat roulette in Las Vegas. In this book a brilliant computer scientist and a brilliant physics professor team up to beat roulette, and appear to use the same misdirection devices employed by Shannon and Thorp. However this story branches out is a total different--and absurd--direction.

I recommend this as a pleasant read, full of eccentric characters and local color, with enough of a mystery to give some plot structure. It has a timeless quality that comes from putting 1920s characters and social attitudes in remote backwaters four decades later.

As an avid reader of British Golden Age crime fiction, I'm really enjoying the Detective Littlejohn stories set on the Isle of Man. This plot encompasses events during the French Resistance in the Second World War, and how they played out 20 years later. What makes them unusual is the background detail and rounded characterisation, which makes it a really interesting and well paced read, bound up with complicated family relationships and the Isle of Man casino in the 1960s. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who appreciates well written detective fiction.

An excellent entry in the Inspector Littlejohn series! George Bellairs offers a mystery filled with gentle wit and evocative depictions of life in the 1960s. France and the Isle of Man are featured in this story, and connections are made to the French Resistance of WWII, bringing the past into sharp focus.

George Bellairs' Inspector Littlejohn is fantastic and this was another enjoyable read. Interesting characters and well thought out plots set on the intruiging Isle of Man...who could ask for more? This time the adventures take Littlejohn to France and back into wartime history. Very satisfying. Highly recommend.

Delightful read even if a mystery weren't involved. The atmosphere is true to the 1960s, including our fascination with precognition and the lingering influence of WWII. Unraveling the layers leading to the truth is on Littlejohn's radar, just not front and center. Enjoying the company of his friends and lingering over dinners as they travel the countryside is much more essential. This is a very British tale with a mystery as a bonus.

This was a review copy courtesy of Crime Classics, Agora books and Netgalley. I like George Bellairs, and in this one his strengths are to the fore. He very successfully locates the motivation and background in Vichy France, unravelling the story through what was, at the time, very recent history. Bellairs rises above a black and white view of WWII and presents a nuanced view of human behaviour and historical context.

It is a change to encounter friendship and collaboration between detectives across the English Channel as well as between clergy of varying traditions. I like Bellairs’ ease in writing of friendship and respect. It is thoughtful, competent and relatively sophisticated Golden Age Crime Fiction.

Superintendant Littlejohn is visiting his old friend the Archdeacon of Man when an elderly Frenchwoman, who had been gambling at the casino, is found murdered on the beach. The local Inspector, who knows Littlejohn well, hares round to offer him a busman's holiday, and all three get involved with the investigation. The motive for the crime eludes them: the lady had only been on the island a short time; she had been winning at the casino, but not outrageously; she had not been robbed. Then they hear of a mysterious Frenchman who appeared then rapidly vanished again. Could he be the murderer?

The action moves to Evian in France, where another friend — Inspector Dorange, of the Nice Sûreté — joins them. As they learn more about the background of the victim, potential motives and supects begin to appear.

I have read quite a few of Bellairs' books now and always find them enjoyable. He lived in and loved the locations he wrote about and had a fine touch for description, so that you feel that you have been taken inside the community, not just skimmed the surface, like a tourist. If you like "classic crime" novels, you will enjoy this.

Disclaimer. I received a free copy of this via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A little old lady who claims to be a professional gambler? Yeah, right! However, it’s true and she is so successful at roulette that casinos discreetly monitor her playing. And it’s Archdeacon Kinrade who works out how she does it – that is even more amazing.

The book is an archetypical Bellairs. Superintendent Littlejohn of Scotland Yard and his wife are on holiday, helping his good friend, the Archdeacon of Man, build a greenhouse. Sadly, the aforementioned little old lady/gambler is murdered and, as regular readers would anticipate, Inspector Knell hot-foots it to the Archdeacon’s house at Grenaby, seeking help.

The action takes place in the Isle of Man and the South of France where it’s Inspector Dorange’s turn to take some leave but use it on the case. Dorange even returns to the IOM with Littlejohn and Kinrade for his first visit. Didn’t they have cost control in those days?!

I read this at one sitting because I found it compelling. Some of the aspects of the plot are far-fetched, like how the old lady’s gambling is so successful; the French monk who had visited the IOM to watch the TT (when the riders went at speeds of 40mph!); and Dorange deciding to visit the IOM. However, a judicious suspension of belief made the book thoroughly enjoyable.

I spotted only three typos in the 200 pages, none of which marred my enjoyment.

I have posted this review on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Spins-Inspector-Littlejohn-Mysteries-ebook/product-reviews/B07FN7HQZL/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_btm?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews