Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective

 Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective (1976) by Leslie Thomas

Dangerous Davies is the last detective. The last detective Inspector Yardbird would send to investigate an important case. The last detective you'd want handling anything the least bit delicate or high-profile. But...the first detective you'd give mind-numbing door-to-door questioning to. Everyone wonders how Davies wound up a detective. Even Davies isn't sure how that happened and how he manages to keep on being a detective. And Davies is the first detective you'd send into dangerous situations...because, well, you wouldn't want to lose anyone valuable would you? So...when an antique bed frame goes missing, send Davies (nobody cares about the bed frame, do they? Except the landlady who won't shut up about it). When a large West African man goes a little crazy and threatens to kill anybody who tries to calm him down, send Davies (while the man beats him over the head with a mirror, the other officers will have a chance to subdue him). 

But then...Special Branch comes along and wants the local force to help them find a big-name criminal who's managed to slip through official fingers repeatedly. Ramscar, had left Britain to ply his felonious trade elsewhere, but it's rumored he's returned home--to Yardbird's manor--for something really big. Inspector Yardbird is ready to handle it himself or put his best junior man on it, but the bigwigs don't want that. They want a very clumsy investigation--something that will flush Ramscar out. Luckily, Yardbird has just the man--Davies. 

In the course of his inquires, Davies manages to rile Ramscar enough that he gets beaten up for his troubles...not once, but twice. But...he also discovers a cold case file from 25 years ago that mentions Ramscar. It was a case of a missing seventeen-year-old girl by the name of Celia Norris. At first, she was thought to be a runaway, but further evidence suggested foul play and Ramscar was one of the suspects. But Celia was never found--dead or alive--and the investigation was dropped. Once Davies sees a picture of Celia in the old case file, he can't help himself from getting interested. Soon, he's on the hunt for clues from 25 years ago. Will Davies solve his first murder ever? And will he find Ramscar for the Special Branch boys while he's at it? Heck, Davies may even get himself a special award before it's all over. If he survives all the beatings...and if the killer who has gone undiscovered all these years doesn't get too worried about the clumsy detective's investigation.

Dangerous Davies seems to me to be a cross between a British Columbo and maybe Steve Conacher (the first private eye that pops into my head when I think of those routinely beaten up, see link for examples). He wears the rumpled coat, drives a beat-up older car, and often has a dog with him--like Columbo. Though I don't think his dog nearly as loveable as Columbo's basset hound. And, as far as I can tell, he behaves much more like a private investigator than a policeman. He goes off on his own to investigate the cold case and has an unlikely side-kick in Mod Lewis. And--as mentioned--he routinely gets beaten up during the course of his investigation. There is, I think, meant to be humor running through this. I can see it here and there, but I don't think I fully appreciate the type of humor on display.

I'm also not terribly fond of the representation of the police force. Are they all a little crooked? It seems so. Except for Davies. Davies seems on the up and up, but he's difficult to take seriously. Yes, he does get his man in the end and, yes, it did take some brains and dedication to get to the bottom of things, but I don't find his character nearly as sympathetic as I do Columbo. It's a decent mystery, but I don't see myself picking up another in the series. ★★ and 1/2

First line: This is the story of a man who became deeply concerned with unsolved murder of a young girl, committed twenty-five years before.

Last line: "Do you think I might have a few words with you in private?"
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Deaths = 4 (one strangled; two natural; one beaten)