I absolutely loved this old fashioned, slightly ridiculous whodunnit featuring chief inspector Dover of the yard and his sidekick sergeant Macgregor. Dover is a fantastic character in that he is a hopeless detective, very lazy, partial to his sergeants cigarettes, the total opposite of politically correct and presumably can only solve crimes by sheer luck! With his sergeant providing the brains, these two make a wonderful partnership. The hilarious and inept Dover is immensely lovable so I was engrossed with the storyline from the first few pages. Sent to investigate the disappearance of a young woman from an exclusive estate in the town of Creedon, Dover and Macgregor find the locals a strange bunch but these quirky characters help make this gentle mystery a great read. The setting for this novel is spot on, and the idiosyncrasies of the inhabitants of Old Irlam Hall acutely observed. Well written, paced just right and often very funny (episode in ladies public convenience springs to mind) this is the first in a series that offers a perfect antidote to all those tense psychological thrillers. I can’t wait to read the next one!! Thanks as always to the author and publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantastic comedy with out of the world characters and a most interesting and clever mystery to solve. I enjoyed every word and was carried back to the delightful British comedies I so enjoyed in the 1960s. I set the book back on my shelf to read again for the fun of it.

Inspector Dover is sent from Scotland Yard to the provinces to solve the mystery of a missing servant. Pointlessly, he feels - he's sure sh'es disappeared with a boyfriend. But things are not all they appear, especially among the community of Irlam Old Hall

A delightful glimpse into 1960’s Britain. Humorously written with a cast of eccentric villagers. Chief Inspector Dover is out of London into the country to investigate the disappearance of a rather large missing young woman. Woefully he leaves London and begins (between naps) canvassing the village for witnesses and evidence. He meets a motley crew of locals who have plenty of peculiarities and opinions, but few helpful facts. His sidekick, Sergeant MacGregor is not especially happy to be lumbered with the cigarette cadging Dover for several reasons.
The pace is slow, but the characters are lively and it is a pleasure to investigate village life and crime as it was 50 years ago.
Thank you Farrago books and Netgalley for an advance copy, I look forward to reading more in the series.

First written in 1964, some might find Dover to be an annoying unsympathetic detective. Others may find him humorous and fun. As always your mileage may vary.

*3.5 stars rounded up. An oldie but a goodie: a British police procedural which first appeared in 1964, being offered once again by Farrago Press. It features the irascible Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover of Scotland Yard. In this first book in the series, Dover and Sergeant Charles MacGregor are assigned to investigate the disappearance of a young woman who is the companion of an elderly man in Creedon. Was she kidnapped or murdered? Without a corpus delicti, what do Dover and MacGregor have to go on but interview after interview, making Dover even grumpier.

I thought the characters in the story were hilarious; the mystery, intriguing. I did guess the 'who' but not 'how' or 'why'. I'm not even sure the police can agree on that last one. Ok, it's somewhat dated, but still a gem of a mystery. I would like to read more of this series, if only to see if poor Sergeant MacGregor ever gets out from under the thumb of Dover.

Many thanks to Pete at Farrago Books for offering me a copy of the book via NetGalley. I think I enjoyed this one even more than the Colin Watson's Flaxborough series you lead me to read, Pete! Very enjoyable!

An interesting book, full of all that is different in a detective mystery. No body, unpleasant main detective and characters, and a predictable to unusual ending. Kept me on the edge waiting to see what happened next, a very different book. I would certainly read more fro Joyce Porter.

I really enjoyed this - Dover seems initially unsympathetic, but I warmed to him and was hugely amused.

Ebook was well laid out, without formatting issues (bonus!)

I would like to thank Netgalley and Farrago for an advance copy of Dover One, the first novel to feature DCI Wilfred Dover of Scotland Yard, first published in 1964.

When teenager Juliet Rugg goes missing the newly appointed Chief Constable of Creedshire decides to play it safe and calls in Scotland Yard. DCI Dover and his long suffering sergeant, MacGregor, are sent to investigate.

Dover One has its moments but overall it’s showing its age. I could imagine that in the sixties many readers found it highly amusing but as most of the humour revolves around the victim, Juliet, who is a sixteen stone redhead with a penchant for tight clothing, high heels and frequent sex do I need to say any more?

The plot itself is clever with a convoluted solution and a lovely touch of irony at the end so that held my interest but all the prejudice and shaming that accompanied it was a bit of a slog.

DCI Dover is a most unlovely specimen, slovenly and lazy with occasional flashes of brilliance. There are so many books to read that I don’t think I will be spending more time with such an unlikeable character, especially when there is no comeuppance.

So we have a short, very fat ( is one allowed to say that in theses days of PC?) young lady, missing. Scotland Yards finest (very lazy) detective Wilfred Dover is called in together with his assistant Detective Sergeant Macgregor.
Various suspects are listed and motives discussed, humour is always there or hinted at.
To avoid any spoilers I will just say that the culprit is found and our heroes(?) praised by the local apparent incompetent police. The story is set in the middle of the 20th century and the period description is well maintained.
It passed a day or two in an amusing way, but I feel that subsequent books involved this detective need to be made more interesting and not just rely of his laziness and bullying conversation.

Thinking that since this book written back 50 years ago, that it would have a simple plot with familiar characters. Wow was I wrong to misjudge the author! After reading the first book in her Inspector Dove series, I want to read the rest of the series to partake in her humor and surprising endings.


I would like to thank Netgalley and Farrago books for an advance ecopy of this book.

I loved it!

DCI Wilfred Dover is not your usual Scotland Yard detective - he is not exactly likeable; he is described as tall, fat, unkempt, lewd, obnoxious; and never without his trademark bowler hat. His Sergeant, Charles MacGregor, is the total opposite - and like Nero Wolfe's Archie Goodwin, does all the leg work for Dover.

For reasons known only to the Scotland Yard hierarchy, Dover & MacGregor are sent to the investigate the seemingly innocuous disappearance of a local girl, Juliet Rigg, from Creedshire. Upon arriving in the village, Dover finds the eccentric inhabitants all had good reason to do away with the victim - for as Dover announces, murder it is.

I am really enjoying discovering some of these lost gems of British crime. This title originally was published back in the early 1960s - so to the modern senses, it may appear to be slightly un-PC - but get over it, afterall what is PC today may not be in 40 years time!

I am certainly interested in following up with the rest of the books in the 15 book series.

Humor is an individual thing, and as such, this book may have been intended for someone with a vastly different sense of humor than mine. Based on what I read about the book, I was expecting this to be a humorous, engaging mystery novel that offered a few laughs, or at least some snickers, and a mystery that stretched the limits of disbelief. With some anticipation I opened the book, and sat down to read. What I experienced was a book so filled with characters devoid of anything positive. As that unfolded, the book quickly became an unpleasant read for me. The best thing I can say about this book is that it is grammatically well-written and the plot has a definite beginning, middle, and end.
The chief inspector is a lazy, bumbling policeman who spends the majority of his energy trying to figure out ways to avoid working. The potential suspects in the case have little to no redeemable features, and give the reader nothing and no one to root for. It may be designed to be a tongue in cheek type book, but if that is the case it completely went over my head.
The victim is written as an extremely unpleasant character about whom no one has anything positive to say. There is ample information given related to the unpleasant characteristics of the other characters, from the description of a dissipated drug addict to a randy senior citizen who gleefully hints at his sexual exploits. The final solution is wrapped up in actions that are beyond those considered acceptable by society. To say more would be to give away a significant plot point and I refrain from doing so in deference to other readers who may want to experience this book for themselves.
There may be an audience that is appropriate for this novel. After all, I have no interest in seeing “The Walking Dead”, “Game of Thrones”, or “Orange is the New Black”, either, and yet they are wildly popular. I simply have no description that I can give that would help people who would be drawn to this book to want to pick it up and read. My thanks to Farrago Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader digital copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is good, not great. It was written in the 60s. The main character seems apathetic in general, which is unusual for an inspector. But he is a "character" and the author's style helps things along. This is my first Dover story. Reviews of the others in the series show promise, so I may have to check some out.

I really appreciate this version for review!!

This is a book which was originally published in the 60's. The times were different, but I am not sure they were that different.

Chief Inspector Dover and Sergeant MacGregor are sent to see if they can find a missing housemaid.

Dover is insulted by the assignment. But after a few pages, I realized that Dover is insulted about everything. For me, he was a very unlikable character. After meeting every other character in the book, I came to the conclusion he was a perfect fit to investigate this mystery. I liked Sergeant MacGregor. He was the only character who came close to being someone I admired.

Julia, the missing young woman was continually described as being fat and disgusting. Her personality was such that I was shocked she had not been murdered more than once.

The other secondary characters were caricatures of people. At least I hope one small area could not contain so many unsavory personalities.

The plot was very well developed. Each clue is doled out and they eventually add up to the perfect solution. Plotting was a redeeming factor for this reader.

Ms Porter wrote beautifully. She was a master at descriptions. I simply was not a fan of the way she saw the world. I

I received this e-book arc from the publisher through NetGalley. I am voluntarily writing this review. All opinions are completely my own.

I was very undecided about this book, the mystery was clever and the characters a bit different, but I hadn't realised when I started reading that it was originally published in the 60s which maybe explains why some of the humour didn't really work for me. However I was pleased to have discovered Farrago publishers and their strapline of "fiction to make you smile" so I thank them and netgalley for an advance copy of the book and looking forward to reading more of their titles.

I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. It probably isn't the usual type of book I would choose but I liked it, Inspector Dover is a great character and I would read more in the series.

A house maid, Juliet Rugg, working for Sir John Counter at Irlam Old Hall has gone missing. The local police of Creed invite Scotland Yard to the case. They send Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover and Sergeant Charles MacGregor to investigate her disappearance. Motive and opportunity seem to be difficult to discover among the possible suspects.
Dover is not a likeable character and is not meant to be, always speaking his mind not caring who he upsets. But somehow with a lot of help from MacGregor the case gets solved.
Overall an enjoyable mystery though would Dover's overthetop character get too tiresome
Originally written in 1964

I had not heard of Dover before. This is an easy read. I liked the characters and would probably read more in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

In this wildly politically-incorrect investigation into the disappearance of Juliet Rugg, Joyce Porter neatly contrasts her bumbling, but ultimately successful, Inspector with his reluctant sidekick, the stunningly handsome Sergeant MacGregor. Dover is the true antithesis of Inspector Purbright in Colin Wilson’s Flaxborough series. Purbright is the very pillar of decency in a corrupt world, whereas Dover is is the lazy and corrupt mirror of a rotten society.

Like Wilson, Porter depends a lot on farce, caricature and stereotype, but can also be slyly subversive. The reader is carried along by the extravagance of the awfulness of Dover, safe in the certainty that a real policeman would not act thus…or, perhaps, not so certain.

Having enjoyed the BBC dramatisations of some of the Dover and MacGregor stories, I was delighted to have my first read of them in their full glory.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrago for the digital review copy.