The Dave Bliss Quintet: An Inspector Bliss Mystery

Daniel Pinsent is a graduate student at The Memorial University of
Newfoundland.

James Hawkins is a retired district police commander, a playwright, and
the author of nearly a dozen books. The fifth instalment in his
Inspector Dave Bliss series has an ambitious plot that revolves around
five separate mysteries, including uncovering the 300-year-old mystery
of the man in the iron mask and the location of some Nazi gold.

The novel opens with Inspector Bliss on a highly secretive
reconnaissance mission in

Mediterranean France. Distracting him from this mission are a number of
strange mysteries that demand solving. Why is an effeminate, blond young
man locked in a cage with his dog? Why has the local potter had his hand
cut off? Bliss solves a quintet of mysteries, including the
aforementioned two, with the help of his attractive landlady.

This mystery novel is sufficiently quirky to appeal to readers who are
not fans of the genre. Inspector Bliss is a self-deprecating,
conflicted, yet humorous and capable lead character. The novel’s
quiet, laid-back atmosphere is reinforced by Inspector Bliss’s love of
Dave Brubeck’s jazz, which provides The Dave Bliss Quintet with an
evocative soundtrack.