Cynthia Harrod-Eagles books have been sitting on my shelves for years. Finally, I decided this was the time to read one of them. I started with Game Over (2008). Detective Inspector Bill Slider investigates a murder of ex-BBC correspondent Ed Stonax. But, an enemy from Slider’s past, Trevor Bates (aka, The Needle), threatens to kill Slider and his fiancé, Joanna. GRADE: B
After finishing Game Over, I decided to binge on a few more of Harrod-Eagles’s Bill Slider mysteries. Fell Purpose (2009) begins with the body of once beautiful and brilliant Zellah Wilding. Zellah was strangled with a pair of tights. Bill Slider and his team investigate the teenager who was rebelling against her Christian family with a secret boyfriend. Slider interrogates Zellah’s friends but the identity of the mystery man remains problematic. Bit by bit, Slider and his team reveal Zellah’s secrets until they uncover the killer. GRADE: B
Body Line (2010) also starts out with a body: David Rogers was a doctor–handsome, charming, and wealthy. Who would want to shoot him in the head? Slider and his team talk to Roger’s many girlfriends and are baffled by the contradictory stories they’re told. The mystery of David Rogers leads the team into a world where nothing is what it seems. GRADE: B+
I was completely baffled by Kill My Darling (2011) when a paleontologist is found murdered in the woods. Slider and his team investigate the men in Melanie Hunter’s life and one by one eliminate them from suspicion. Why was Melanie murdered? What dark secret did she harbor that got her killed? Cynthia Harrod-Eagles faked me out (and Slider for much of Kill My Darling) and the conclusion is one big surprise! GRADE: A
I’ve been a fan of police procedurals since I read Ed McBain’s Cop Hater in the early 1960s. I went on to read all 55 books in the series. If you like police procedurals, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles writes an outstanding series! I’ll be reading more Bill Slider mysteries in the months ahead! If you’re interested in how Cynthia Harrod-Eagles came up with Bill Slider, she tells all here: https://www.cynthiaharrodeagles.com/bill-slider-mysteries/how-it-all-began/
THE BILL SLIDER SERIES:
Orchestrated Death (1991)
Death Watch (1992)
Necrochip / Death to Go (1993)
Dead End / Grave Music (1994)
Blood Lines (1996)
Killing Time (1996)
Shallow Grave (1998)
Blood Sinister (1999)
Gone Tomorrow (2001)
Dear Departed (2005)
Game Over (2008)
Fell Purpose (2009)
Body Line (2011)
Kill My Darling (2011)
Blood Never Dies (2012)
Hard Going (2014)
Star Fall (2015)
One Under (2015)
Old Bones (2016)
Shadow Play (2017)
Headlong (2019)
Cruel as the Grave (2021)
Dying Fall (2022)
Before I Sleep (2023)
Easeful Death (2025)
I read most of the McBains. I liked the way different cops emerged to dominated the case.
Patti, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles uses Bill Slider the way McBain used Steve Carella to guide the cases. But the ensemble team of detectives works in a similar manner. I really enjoyed the four books in the Bill Slider series I’ve read. More to come!
I love the Bill Slider books! In addition to being good mysteries, they’re full of puns and word play and humor. And I also like the way the characters evolve through the series (these are books that certainly benefit from being read in order). I always thought they’d make great tv adaptations, but unless I’ve missed them, I don’t think any network or production company has done so.
Deb, I share your love of the Bill Slider series. Yes, the characters evolve. I love the malaprop boss and his mangled expressions! Very funny! I agree with you: the Bill Slider series would make great TV!
No, I don’t think they have, Deb. I could see a younger Nigel Hawthorne as Atherton.
We’ve been fans of this series for years. By coincidence, these four are the last four I’ve read, as it is a series that always seems to get pushed aside by other, newer books. I have the next three books on the shelf, waiting to be read.
Jeff, same here: I have a dozen more Bill Slider books on my shelves. I’ll get to them later this Summer. Like you, I have plenty to read!
Have not read them, althoough I’m pretty sure that I have a couple buried on Mount TBR. You, Jeff, and Deb recommending the series may push me to dig them out.
Jerry, I regret waiting so long to read Cynthia Harrod-Eagles. She’s excellent!