Book excerpt: Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is the most idle and avaricious hero in all of crime fiction. Why should he even be bothered to solve the case? The naked, burned and mutilated body of a middle-aged man has been found at the Muncaster Municipal Dump. When the autopsy reveals a peculiar clue, DCI Dover and his ever-unwilling assistant MacGregor set off on a trail that leads them to a squalid seaside resort. A mysterious organization, they learn, had convened there recently. Their inquiries bring them smack into the midst of an undercover investigation by Special Branch of a dangerous right-wing secret society. Never before has Dover been in such an equivocal spot. Though a vicious murder cries out to be solved, one doesn’t readily tamper with Dover’s legendary inertia. Editorial reviews: “Something quite out of the ordinary.” Daily Telegraph “Joyce Porter is a joy... Dover is unquestionably the most entertaining detective in fiction.” Guardian “Plotted with the technique of a virtuoso.” New York Times “Wonderfully funny.” Spectator “Dover is wildly, joyously unbelievable; and may he remain so for our comic delight.” Sun “You will be fascinated by his sheer dazzling incompetence. Porter has a keen eye, a wicked sense of comedy, and a delightfully low mind.” Harper’s