James Hawkins (1) (1947–)
Author of A Year Less a Day: An Inspector Bliss Mystery
For other authors named James Hawkins, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
James Hawkins was director of education at the Canadian Institute for Environmental Investigations.
Series
Works by James Hawkins
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Hawkins, Derek James
- Other names
- Hawkins, D. James
- Birthdate
- 1947
- Gender
- male
- Occupations
- police
private investigator
director of education (Canadian Institute for Environmental Investigations)
actor
television presenter - Short biography
- James Hawkins was born in rural southern England. He grew up to be a police commander in the United Kingdom for twenty years before moving to Canada and working as a private investigator. He was also director of education at the Canadian Institute for Environmental Investigations for about 5 years.
In 1996, he took up writing full-time. His debut mystery novel, Missing: Presumed Dead (2001), introduced his popular detective, David Bliss.
James now splits his time between Vancouver Island (British Columbia), Ontario, England and France. - Places of residence
- England, UK
Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
France
Ontario, Canada
Members
Reviews
"In this, his fifth escapade, Inspector David Bliss goes undercover once again and heads to St-Juan-sur-Mer on the Cote d'Azur. His mission is so secret that even Bliss doesn't know why he is there: he knows only that he is tracking down a man the force wants in custody for an unstated reason.
But the winds of the Mediterranean provide clues that take Bliss off course and lead him to unravel two of the world's best-known unsolved mysteries: the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask and the show more location of the stolen Nazi gold." - Castle Street Mystery/Dundurn Group jacket notes.
I found this novel less compelling and more annoying than I had hoped. Events seem to happen at random, various stories are only partially resolved or resolved unsatisfactorily, the whole thing is quite improbable. There are many references to recorded music of the Dave Brubeck Quintet (whence the title), which is interesting but gets repetitive. The novel has a meandering, improvised feel to it, now I come to think of it. On the whole, a bit disappointing. I think I liked others in the Inspector Bliss series better than this one, but I haven't read them all. show less
But the winds of the Mediterranean provide clues that take Bliss off course and lead him to unravel two of the world's best-known unsolved mysteries: the identity of the Man in the Iron Mask and the show more location of the stolen Nazi gold." - Castle Street Mystery/Dundurn Group jacket notes.
I found this novel less compelling and more annoying than I had hoped. Events seem to happen at random, various stories are only partially resolved or resolved unsatisfactorily, the whole thing is quite improbable. There are many references to recorded music of the Dave Brubeck Quintet (whence the title), which is interesting but gets repetitive. The novel has a meandering, improvised feel to it, now I come to think of it. On the whole, a bit disappointing. I think I liked others in the Inspector Bliss series better than this one, but I haven't read them all. show less
Awards
Statistics
- Works
- 10
- Members
- 120
- Popularity
- #165,355
- Rating
- 3.0
- Reviews
- 1
- ISBNs
- 33
- Favorited
- 1