While the premise looked intriguing and I enjoy this era, I unfortunately got busy and wasn't able to finish it. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to give a better review, especially since I received this book for free. I will say that, based on other George Bellairs books I've read, his books are usually classic Golden Age detective fiction, not typically brilliant, but definitely interesting for fans of this genre.

George Bellairs has become one of my go to GAD authors. His stories are intelligently written, filled with humor and wonderfully descriptive. Death of a Tin God is no exception.

This is the first book I've read in the Inspector Littlejohn mystery series but it will certainly not be my last. I feel like I have found a brilliant new series to engage with and I really enjoyed the characters and plot of this novel.

This was an introduction to a new author for me. I very much enjoyed Liittlejohn and the French police with their very laid back method of catching a killer while enjoying fine dining and hobnobbing with the film industry. Very Golden Age of Mystery ambience. I am pleased to learn this is a very long series and I look forward to reading more with pleasure.

This one was a little different from other books in this series but still quite good. Littlejohn spends quite a bit of time traveling back and forth between England and France with some time in Isle of Man and Ireland for good measure. He even works with a French police officer.

Littlejohn enters the drama filled world of movies and actors while investigating the murder of the leading man. The unraveling of who he was and his relationships with those around him is very entertaining. Then there’s the added bonus of a very tense situation when the killer has Littlejohn in his grasp. I don’t do spoilers so you will have to read it yourself to find out how he survives that perilous situation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Agora Books for providing a copy of this book in return for a fair and honest review.

Another enjoyable outing for Inspector (now Superintendent) Littlejohn. However, as his time in this book is divided between the Isle of Man, London, Dublin and the South of France it does begin to feel a bit disjointed. Also, although his great friend the Reverand Caesar Kincade makes an appearance, it is very brief and disappointing, as his insights into human nature are always interesting. Faithful sidekick Sergeant Cromwell is missing for most of the book and instead Littlejohn works with his friend Inspector Dorange in Nice and Inspector Knell while in the Isle of Man, again making the book seem bitty rather than flowing.
Nevertheless, the story is, as always with Bellairs, well written and engaging. The characters are well-fleshed out and there are plenty of suspects and motives to keep you guessing. He manages to evoke the vacuousness of celebrity life and the sense of power and priviledge of the extremely wealthy. Well worth a read.

My Thanks to Netgalley and Ipsos Books for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. I requested the novel because George Bellairs is one of my favourite writers of post-war detective fiction. Agatha Christie gives you a great mystery to solve, but George Bellairs give you wonderful descriptive passages of places he obviously knows well and loves. He takes you there. You can feel the climate, smell the aromas, just put yourself in the scenery.

First published in 1961, here we have a piece of the world of glitzy, phoney Hollywood of the late 50s taking place in the author’s beloved South of France. As the name suggests, a movie star who believes his own hype is murdered. Despite living in a very different technological world today, these stories never seem to date. Bellairs books are a last hurrah of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction and what a hurrah. Each republication of a Bellairs novel is a must for me.

Inspector Littlejohn of Scotland Yard is an international crime-solver in this mystery tale, and one of the most appealing aspects of the book is the intriguing, vivid picture of travel at the time (published 1961) and of the places visited, including the Isle of Man. Among the victims and suspects are famous actors including the “tin god” of the title, as a movie is shooting on the island, and powerful financiers. None is a person the reader would necessarily want to spend time with in real life, but they are entertaining nonetheless and the plot unfolds at a brisk pace. There is a stylistic quirk which can be distracting—the book is narrated in third person, but occasionally the narration intrudes itself: “The next time (the future victim) arrived at the airport he was in his coffin.” While this technique appears often in Golden Age tales, it does so there in first person narration and seems out of place here.
The book is part of a series but easily stands alone.

I've only recently discovered George Bellairs, but I am so glad that I have. The author had a long-running series of books. Every one of the books has been a treat, and I highly recommend the entire series. Tin God is a great example of the author's adept use of location to improve the story.

I enjoyed this story. This is part of the Littlejohn series, and it does not disappoint the reader. Movie star Hal Vale has been murdered shortly after arriving by plane to the Isle of Man to shoot a new movie with his new amour and co-star, Monique Dol. There are, of course, several suspects, since Mr. Vale made some enemies, and it's up to Littlejohn to catch the murderer. The story takes us to London and Nice, and we get a glimpse inside some high-finance and movie mogul lives of the day. I have read several Bellairs books, and, while this is not my favorite, it is enjoyable. I recommend.

I think this is the tenth Bellairs novel I have read and although there can be a little variance in quality (of what author of over 50 books can that not be said?) I keep coming back for the same reasons:
1. The writing is light and entertaining and there is always a lot of humour amongst the crime and procedure.
2. No matter how fantastical the setup there is always a logical, discernible motive and solution with no reason to suspend disbelief to get to the conclusion (frequently not the case in crime novels of a similar vintage).
3. Best of all, are the ‘incidental’ characters who are always on hand to direct the action and the plot but more often than not, to provide red herrings! Each of these characters is vividly realised and often walk a fine line between reality and entertainment and also add a touch of humour to proceedings. Bellairs had a wonderful way of dropping these characters into the plot, adding so much more that the small amount of information they are there to provide.

However, it is this final point which in comparison to other Bellairs novels, is a little lacking in 'Death of a Tin God'. All of the main components are present but the humour is a little dialled back. That may suit some readers very well but for me one of the main reasons I read this author is for the ‘comic relief’ lacking in other writers from a similar era. That being said, the rest of the components are there and with a backdrop that takes in locations from Dublin, to the Isle of Man, to Provence. In this relatively short novel, there is little time to get bored!

Another excellent Inspector Littlejohn mystery.A real good old fashioned police proceedural from a time when a fingerprint was the height of forensic science and police cases were solved or not,by questioning checking and more and more questions.

This time Littlejohn is dragged into a world of which he has no experience and no liking of people with an over inflated sense of their own importance.Film stars producers Financiers basically rich self important men...Littlejohn has the misfortune to be on the same plane to the Isle of Man and is completely underwhelmed by the fuss afforded o this celebrity going to star in a film being made in the Isle of Man.Not long after their arrival Littlejohn is called to the poshest hotel in Douglas Where the aforementioned celebrity has been found electrocuted in his bath.There follows a dash to the south of France after a suspect and the action flits between the Isle of Man.the South of France and Dublin .We meet several of Littlejohn's old allies As the case builds but without a credible suspect or rather too many suspects and the police must question everyone's alibi ..and find the cracks in their stories.This is done the old fashioned way question check question and its fascinating how Littlejohn builds his case .This is a good old fashioned British police proceedural .no wild hunches just proper policework
Excellent and highly recommended

Another excellent entry in the Superintendent Littlejohn series. In this one, Littlejohn is planning to spend a few days with his friend, Archdeacon Kinrade on the Isle of Man. One of the passengers on his plane is a famous actor, Hal Vale who is involved in a picture being filmed there. Littlejohn is barely settled into his visit, when Mr. Vale is electrocuted while in the bathtub. Is it accident or murder? Littlejohn ends up becoming involved. This involvement includes a trip to France, where he joins forces with his old friend, inspector Dorange. Between the french connection, Mr. Vale’s personal relationships, and the other actors and people involved in the movie, we are presented with a lot of suspects. The ending comes with some danger to Dorange and Littlejohn, and it seemed a bit overly dramatic, but at the same time satisfying. Recommended for anyone who enjoys a well plotted mystery with interesting characters.

Another excellent novel by George Bellairs with his character Superintendent Littlejohn. In this novel Littlejohn decides to take a break on the Isle of Man with his dear friend the Reverend Caesar Kinrade. He had only been on the island a matter of hours when his holiday was disrupted by the death of Hal Vale a successful leading actor on the island with a film crew. Hal Vale had been electrocuted in his bath, was it an accident or murder, things are further complicated when they discover that the films leading lady Monique Dol has also disappeared.

There was a very contemporary feel to it, despite the mention of smoking on flights and a few other scattered images. I have read quite a few of the author's works and mostly out of order. I confirmed a small suspicion about familiarity with the sequence of events by looking it up on Goodreads. I have previously read the book that comes just before this, and a small thread of that is carried on here. Except for that factor, this is one that any person new to the series can pick up and dive right in.
The mystery itself took a few more turns than expected, but the cast of characters (not to be confused with the cast of the movie being shot on location) makes the read an interesting one.
Littlejohn is supposed to be on vacation. He shares his arrival flight with a famous movie star in the middle of his third divorce and plans for his next wedding. The demise of this individual happens quite quickly, and the rest of the book is about building the background and what makes their world tick. Money is focused upon and is at the core of every turn the investigation takes. In this book, all the policemen bring something to the table. LittleJohn only has his 'out-of-town' position to thank for that extra information he gathers.
It is a painstakingly thorough investigation among unsavoury people of a different kind. I found it a slower read than usual but did not begrudge the picture it conjured in that time.
The ending was, in one part, expected and in the other, unexpected. This made for a good combination.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

This was a classic English mystery featuring Superintendent Thomas Littlejohn from Scotland Yard. The book had many interesting characters and a good plot. The suspect list was long, and the clues pointed to different people being the murderer. I highly recommend this book to other mystery readers.

Up to the usual standard of Inspector Littlejohn's mysteries - lovely period detail of the Isle of Man and the Riviera in the early 1960s, with film stars and gangsters, and a posh hotel. A good, well written read.

Love the 'Inspector Littlejohn' series. Gradually ploughing my way through them all. Littlejohn again, gets to jaunt off to the south of France at the drop of a hat. Although he is a serving policeman, like Poirot, he seems to come and go at will. Thanks to Netgalley.

One of the later Inspector Littlejohn books with glamourous locations and film stars. Hal Vale is the tin god of the title. He is an actor with several ex wives and about to make his current co-star, Monique Dol, wife number 4. However he dies in mysterious circumstances before the marriage can take place.
We first meet Hal Vale as he and Littlejohn are flying from Dublin to the Isle of Man. Littlejohn has been in Dublin to identify a body reportedly that of a missing English woman. That particular mystery is cleared up later but I thought it was a silly, unnecessary side story that really added nothing to the book. Vale is going to a film set and Littlejohn for a holiday to stay with his friend Archdeacon Kinrade.
Vale dies in his bath, his fiance flees to Nice to her ex husband, Paul Mauron, who she calls Uncle and Littlejohn and Kinrade follow her after the local policeman Inspector Knell asks for help. In Nice Littlejohn enlists the help of Inspector Dorange. and they finally track down Monique along the Riviera to ask her questions and send her back to the film set.
Monique is also on hubby No 3, same as Vale. Mauron, a businessman with connections is her second husband but always bails her out and helps finance her movies along with Armstrong who dies in Moniques flat. This sends Littlejohn back to the Isle of Man to continue investigations and discover a lot of coming and going from the back door of the hotel. News of the missing English woman comes through and Littlejohn is soon back to Dublin and then gets a bright idea to discover why Vale had been there and so find a motive for his murder.
I found the pace of the book frenetic, so much flying from one location to another. The glamorous world of filmstars and international financiers a far cry from earlier Littlejohn books I have read. I thoroughly enjoyed the red herring of thinking one person was guilty and then discovering I was wrong and should have guessed the killer from the start. I did not like the last few chapters when Knell and Littlejohn were being held at gunpoint. It seemed farcical, a lot of padding and unrealistic that the killer seemed to think they could get away with everything.
Not the best book from George Bellairs but still enjoyable enough and I would definitely read more from the author.

The Inspector Littlejohn stories never disappoint. Great plotting, interesting characters that develop as the series progresses, and excellent descriptions of the settings...what's not to like? In this one, Littlejohn is out of his normal element, caught up in the death of a Hollywood film star. It make for an interesting change in plot and I enjoyed how the author features Littlejohn's previous sidekicks, French Inspector Dorange and Reverend Kinrade. A great read!