I had never heard of this writer or series before coming across this title. Debuting in 1964 with Dover One, Porter's hugely popular (at the time) series spanned something like fourteen novels and more than a few short stories - and having read the second in the series, I can understand why. Detective Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover, of Scotland Yard, is a fat, slovenly, overbearing, lazy, narcissistic, foul-mouthed and bad-tempered boor of a man who is unhappy (though not nearly as unhappy as his young assistant, the capable Sergeant MacGregor) to find himself assigned to a murder case in the tiny village of Curdley, mostly the Yard's move to get the annoying detective out of London. In Curdley, a young woman was shot twice in the head outside the local vicarage eight months prior; she'd been lying in a coma since, until the local newspaper printed an article saying the girl seemed about to awaken, therefore possibly naming her killer ... prompting someone to enter the hospital and summarily smother the girl to death with a pillow. Dover's been assigned to the case and from his arrival hates Curdley, managing to irritate just about everyone there - though none remain more irritated than him - and as the detective fumbles his way through the investigation, taking credit for every break in the case and blaming MacGregor for every fumble, Dover finds a new suspect around every corner, determined to close this one (he hasn't closed all that many) as soon as possible so he can get out of Curdley, whether there is evidence to back up his case or not. You'd think Dover would be so annoying it would make this highly-entertaining, wonderfully-written novel hard to read, but Joyce Porter dollops in the humor and actually keeps the irascible Dover just shy of being too much to take. The mystery is well-written and well-solved, characters lively and fresh as the first day of spring, Dover himself just absolutely fascinating on the page, even when you want to strangle him. Original and terrific, Dover Two makes me sorry to have not started at book one (which I now have), anxious to dive into more cases featuring this eccentric, self-serving denizen of Scotland Yard. 5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Dover returns, and for anyone who has read Dover One, he is just as bloody-minded and bloody amusing as before!

If you haven’t read the previous book, there is nothing to worry about as each plot stands completely alone, and there cannot be much character development when your main character is already as perfect(ly awful) as DCI Dover. Dover is a textbook reluctant hero who steadfastly refuses to even contemplate ‘coming good’, but somehow seems to muddle through his cases anyway.

The cases follow traditional mystery patterns, with a small pool of suspects and plenty of obscure clues and twists to the reader expectations. This particular case has the fascinating hook of the victim possibly being murdered twice, which really puts Porter’s odd investigative pair through their paces. Keen young MacGregor with his fancy ‘actual police knowledge’ and ‘logical thought processes’ is the perfect foil for his lazy, grumpy, greedy, arrogant, and sadly rather stupid superior.

I am thoroughly enjoying this murder mystery series and look forward to continuing in Dover’s morose foot-reprints for as far as he can be bothered to plod!





Chief Inspector Dover wasn’t very optimistic about his chances of solving the case after all this time. Most of his cases he never solved anyhow, but he belligerently attributed this to the fact that the sticky ones were always, unfairly, shoved onto him. There may have been a faint whiff of truth in this because the Assistant Commissioner (Crime) couldn’t stand the sight of him (this feeling was mutual) and ruthlessly pushed him out on cases which were located in the remote provinces, whenever he got the chance.

– Joyce Porter, Dover Two


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

Both of these books were very entertaining and enjoyable. Good solid stories with characters of a time long gone. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Dover Two is another pleasant meander around the blundering investigations that seem to be DCI Dover’s particular stock in trade. There is the humour, introduced in gentle measure in Dover One that characterises the relationship between the DCI and his long-suffering sergeant, coupled with the gentler pace of police investigations in the 1960s. Again, a murder that his defeated the not especially inspired - or inspiring - local police requires the keen intelligence of a top Scotland Yard detective..... unfortunately, Dover is selected and 5he tale unfolds relentlessly.

The story won’t test the reader’s intelligence, but it will provide a useful antidote to the excessive hype that is often found in modern detective fiction. Recommended.

Another great mystery full of humour and highly entertaining. Once again , Dover shows himself to be lazy and not averse to the quick and easy methods of investigating a crime. Why waste time looking for proof, when you can get the accused to confess? Once again you feel for the hard working Sergeant who has to bare the burden of working under Dover. Well worth a read.

I took this on to review because i really enjoyed the first - and the eccentric and laconic detective is as bumbling and , amazingly, as successful in this one as in the first - different plot line of course. Long suffering assistant, McGregor, is on hand who really makes things run smooth around detective Dover, including dealing with his insufferable personality - this time a young woman who'd been clobbered on the head months ago, dies after months of being in a coma - she'd been perfectly healthy except for being brain damaged - so Dover is called in to look for clues as to why there was lipstick on her pillowcase. it's a murder case now. and not only the hunt for the first assailant, but for the latest evidence of one too. Hilarious scenes in low-rent boarding houses, and pubs, and drinking himself into a stupor - yet, it gets solved - and no little thanks to McGregor. thoroughly enjoyable - and i see a third one is already on the books - I wish the author and Dover all the best in attracting more and more readers ...

!From GoodReads:
If you liked the first one, this is better.
If you haven't read the first one - you're missing out.

Our hero growls and blusters his way through a murder investigation, accompanied by his long suffering and eyerolling sidekick.

This is a fun ,clever whodunnit with plenty of laughs and twists along the way.

I'm starting to have a bit of a soft spot for our awful anti-hero

A hugely entertaining read to follow on from the first in the series. Enjoy the irregular, unorthodox and error strewn way in which Ch.. Inspector Dover of the Yard solves another murder case by blundering from suspect to suspect while taking all of the credit as somehow, yet again, he arrives at the right conclusion. Great fun.

Another investigation during the life of the obnoxious Chief Inspector Dove. He solves his murders purely by accident with lots of mistakes along he way. It is compulsive reading to find out what he will come up with next. I sympathise with poor Detective Sergeant who never gets credit for anything and it costs him dear.

This was a period piece from the times before the police force knew about political correctness, or indeed the rights of suspects! Dover is an old school copper even for his times, however this was an enjoyable read watching him get it sooo wrong and then finally managing to nab the correct villain by a pure fluke. Give it a go it was well written.

I absolutely love the Dover series.Solid mystery with a surprise ending you never saw coming.Cantankerous, snarky Dover bumbling around and solving a mystery that no one thought he could.Extremely funny.
Thankyou Netgalley for this ARC

Dover Two is the second in a mystery series from the Sixties that is being republished for a new generation of readers. DCI Dover does not represent the best of Scotland Yard. Dover is played for laughs, a fat, lazy, and filthy detective who hates to walk and hates to work. However, he does have a few intuitive flashes that help bring the intricate plot to a resolution, though sometimes as much by accident as by detection.

When the woman known as the Sleeping Beauty is smothered after nearly a year in a coma after being shot in the head, Dover is dispatched to Curdley to solve the case. Curdley is a very sectarian village about half and half Catholic and Protestant. The victim was Protestant and her sister is convinced the Catholic police did not do their best to solve the case…and that may be true. Dover and his long-suffering Sergeant MacGregor quickly made discoveries that should have been made long before.



I enjoyed Dover Two quite a bit, especially as leavening from more serious books I have been reading. It’s a light mystery. While the shooting happens on a public street, there is an element of the locked-room mystery here. There are witnesses to the left, right, and center, so how did the shooter escape unseen? Or is one of the witnesses the shooter? Dover has an uncanny pleasure in accusing everyone and hoping they will confess. How well that works is a matter of good and bad luck.

Dover is an enjoyable detective, not just due to the humor of this unappealing and lazy DCI and his poor sergeant, but also thanks to the few flashes of intuition and real problem-solving he accomplishes. Those moments of competence balance him enough to make the story worthy.

I received an e-galley of Dover Two from the publisher through NetGalley.

Dover Two at Farrago Books | Duckworth Books Group

Having loved Dover one I could not not wait to read Do er two.This was another delicious read Dove is the anti-hero cranky nasty mean but always hilarious a character you love to hate.Add in a solid mystery I am so glad I discovered this series.#netgalley#duckworthbooks,

Joyce Porter doesn’t disappoint with this the second book in the Wilfred Dover series, having read Dover One (recommended) immediately before reading this book number two I knew what to expect. Another good true who-dun-it story with plenty of twists and turns , red herrings along the way and completed with normal twist. All written in that tongue in cheek way of book one, Wilfred Dover if anything is even more inept this time but again is he? You have to laugh at his attitude and ways, they are so anti-social and out of step with society norm. Overall a good read and looking forward to next in series

A young woman is murdered in an English village. Oddly enough, she has been in a coma for months. Chief Inspector Dover arrives from Scotland Yard and takes his usual approach to murder cases -- slipshod, ill-natured, and incompetent.

But one thing is different this time. Another Scotland Yard detective has become a folk hero. Dover might be bad at his job, but he doesn't like seeing someone else admired for doing better. As more people ask him whether he knows the detective being lionized in the press, Dover makes the unusual decision to put some effort into solving the case.

The mystery is tightly plotted, baffling, and fair to the reader. This is a classic puzzle type of mystery -- and those can be hard to find these days. But the interactions among the characters as reporting on "Super Percy" of the Yard gradually drives Dover mad with jealousy are devastatingly funny.

Well-written and satisfying as a novel, this book develops the series characters and pokes fun at human frailties.

Really enjoyed Dover two as much as Dover one.. How his sergeant copes with him is a mystery but he is the perfect foil.
This is not crime investigation at the highest level but it is very entertaining, probably more realistic than we realise. Would make a good tv show..
Hope there is a Dover three in the pipeline

Having devoured Dover One I could not wait to start on Dover Two. It was not a disappointment. I can hardly believe that these gems have not gained the renown that they deserve. Despite being written 50 years ago at a time when hanging was the penalty for capital murder, the writing has a remarkable freshness. Chief Inspector Wilfred Dover is a marvelous comic creation - one wonders whether Mick Herron could have had him in mind when creating Jackson Lamb.

Although I disliked the lead detective in these mysteries, I found in this second book, he was a little more likeable, until close to the end. Having said that, I found the story extremely well written, and very moreish. One I really couldn't easily put down.

I enjoyed the first book in this series and was very pleased to receive a review copy of the sequel from the publisher and Netgalley.I wasn't disappointed either-I enjoyed Dover Two just as much.It had the same humour and clever plotting,and the protagonist was just as delightfully unlikeable on his second outing as he was in the first book.Great stuff-I look forward to the third!

This is good, and better than Dover One. Written in the 60s, the main character pretty unlikable, which is unusual for a fictional inspector. But he is a "character" and we get to know him a little more here. The author has a pretty good writing style, which helps things along.

I really appreciate the copy for review!!