Peter Turnbull is the author of seventeen novels in the Hennessey and Yellich police procedural series set in York, England. DELIVER US FROM EVIL is the most recent.
Turnbull has an unusual method of making his characters accessible no matter which book in the series is read first. In each book he gives a little biography of each man. Detective Chief Inspector George Hennessey is a widower. His wife died suddenly when their son, Charles, was an infant. Hennessey raised Charles in the house and in the garden that his wife had planned; now Charles is a solicitor, husband, and father. Hennessey lives with his dog, reads military history, and takes a walk each night to the local pub where he has one pint of bitter. He gets around the city of York by walking the ancient walls and each evening, when he gets home from work, he goes to the garden and tells his wife about his day.
Detective Sergeant Somerled ( pronounced Sorley) Yellich is happily married to Sara. They are the parents of Jeremy, born with Down’s Syndrome. He is happy in his work and he is happy in his home.
If police procedurals can be placed in the cozy category, then the Hennessey and Yellich series qualifies. Victims die off the page; usually a body is found within the first few pages to get the story moving. DELIVER US FROM EVIL begins with the discovery of the body of a woman sitting on the banks of a river, dead of hypothermia. But when pathologist Louise D’Acre performs the postmortem, she discovers that the woman had been murdered, likely having been held against her will for a few days. She was an intelligent women. She had managed to get a piece of a utility bill and hid it in her shoe. Discovering the place she was held captive leads, gradually, to discovering her identity, sort of. She had been reported missing by her husband who confesses that they have been married for eighteen months and she refused to answer any questions about her past. She rarely left the house and when she did she wore a blond wig and dark glasses. Although she had been living in England for some time, she was Canadian, giving Yellich the opportunity for a trip. The police have to discover who needs to be delivered from evil.
The entire series is worth reading. They are perfect books with which to relax. Hennessey and Yellich are low-key, no one in any interrogation they conduct would be in danger of police brutality.
If anyone wants to read the series in order, it is best to check Stop You’re Killing Me. Many, if not all, the books list the series in alphabetical order.
This sounds like an interesting book and series, will check the library for this author.
The Hennessey and Yellich by Peter Turnbull is excellent — throbbing with descriptions of York
and also happily with two policemen who are only wishing to find the real culprits. I just recently discovered the series, read one of the newest ones, loved it so much that I’ve now requested the whole series from my library. So, here I am — happily ensconced with Hennessey and Yellich and all the other vibrant characters and scenes described by Turnbull.
There are so many series that don’t get the attention they deserve. Anyone who tries Peter Turnbull will be back for more. Hennessy and Yellich are two men one would like to have for neighbors.
I’ve enjoyed much of the series that I’ve read so far. I do wonder why when Mr. Turnbull is capable of putting together a good story that he resorts to the cut and paste routine with the past details of Yellich’s and Hennessey’s lives. I’ve read many series that manage to convey the background info on characters without blatantly copying whole paragraphs word for word from book to book. He also desperately needs a good editor. In one book Hennessey’s dog changes name between one paragraph and the next. In another, Hennessey starts out on a trip on his own, suddenly Yellich is asking a question, then Yellich is gone again. Editor seriously needed.
Those are good questions for the author and the editor. In Mr. Turnbull’s case, with so many books in the series, he may have decided this is the best way to acquaint the readers with the characters no matter where they begin the series. As to the editing, I guess the publisher is responsible for allowing a book to be printed with so many mistakes.
Read Deliver Us From Evil, can’t figure out who killed the Ossetti character!
Sorry. I can’t provide answers or there would be no reason for anyone to read the book.
Deliver Us From Evil was quite funny. As a Canadian I found the use of the so-called Canadian English grossly inaccurate, but as I say, quite funny. Have to admit I completely lost the story line in places because I was busy reading out the silly phrases to my friends. No research obviously.
Tell you what, as a retired Police Officer, Turnbull has little knowledge of police procedures. I tried “Fear of Drowning” and gave up before page 50; it was ludicrous. Transfer to CID is not a promotion. The local undertaker is called upon to remove bodies; never heard of a mortuary van. Viewing of the bodies was a tad theatrical, velvet curtains? He took two Constables off the beat to visit the deceased’s house? A Detective Inspector or a Detective Sergeant would have been in charge and would have formed a squad which would have been briefed, etc., etc.
The people I know who have been police officers, of all different ranks, say that routine police work consist of long stretches of boredom broken by moments that have the potential to be terrifying. The calls that police really hate to get? Domestic violence. More police are injured on a domestic when the two parties forget they are fighting and turn on the police as their mutual enemy.
If an author wrote about a real shift, no one would get past the first ten
pages.
Your response does not address my point Beth; I should dispute the “long stretches of boredom”; depends on how much you “put yourself about”. The call that emanates as the result of domestic violence is generally sent as a “disturbance” and is not hated; a disturbance call can be anything from a murder to a domestic and can be challenging, never hated. Any officer who hates responding to such a call is in the wrong job. .
The storyline of F of D may be fine but the Booklist comment, “When it comes to writing police procedurals, Turnbull has few peers” is simply not true. The police procedural as described is a nonsense and detracts greatly from the story. Real shifts can be exciting you know, complete with procedural accuracy.
We are commenting from very different perspectives. I should have mentioned I am from the United States. Policing is very different in Britain.
Ah Beth, as Mr. Richardson from Galway would say, “Sceal eile”.
Stu, beyond “Erin Go Bragh” my Gaelic is non-existent.
Recently read ‘Deathtrap’ – worst crime book I’ve ever read. Full of mistakes and they weren’t typos. Threw book in bin.