This is the first in a series of mysteries published between 1959 and 1993 and featuring Inspector Henry Tibbett. I had never come across them, or their author Patricia Moyes, until now, but I really enjoyed this one and will definitely be looking for more.
Dead Men Don’t Ski begins with Henry Tibbett and his wife, Emmy, setting off on a skiing trip to Italy. It’s a much-needed holiday for the two of them, but Henry is also planning to mix business with pleasure. The hotel they’ll be staying at in Santa Chiara is suspected of being the centre of operations of a ring of drug smugglers and Henry has been asked by Scotland Yard to work with the local Italian police to find out who the culprits are. Of course, he doesn’t admit this to his fellow guests as he wants them to speak and act freely around him. These guests include a party of young English tourists – Jimmy, Roger and Caro; a retired military man, Colonel Buckfast and his wife; a beautiful Italian baroness and her possessive Austrian husband; and a German couple with their daughter and her prospective husband, as well as an assortment of hotel staff, skiing instructors and local residents.
At first, Henry and Emmy manage to blend in with everyone else, enjoying the scenery, attending skiing lessons and relaxing around the hotel. But when one of the guests boards the ski lift at the top of the mountain and is found dead by the time he reaches the bottom, Henry’s detective skills are needed to solve the crime and he will no longer be able to stay undercover.
This is an entertaining novel with a beautiful setting. Santa Chiara is described as a small village close to Chiusa near the border of Italy and Austria and drawing from the cultures of both countries. There are lovely descriptions of snow-covered peaks and valleys, pine trees and pink rock, Alpine houses with wooden balconies – and the Bella Vista Hotel perched high in the mountains. I was reminded of another ski resort mystery, Death in Kashmir by M.M. Kaye, although I thought that book was darker than this one.
I liked Henry Tibbett and it was also good to see so much of Emmy. Often the detective’s wife is kept very much in the background, maybe popping up now and then to make a cup of tea or answer the phone, but in this book Emmy is present from beginning to end. It would have been nice to see her play a bigger role in helping to actually solve the mystery, but maybe she will in one of the later books in the series. The other characters are also interesting; with such a mix of different nationalities you do need to be prepared for some slightly dated attitudes, but no worse than in most other books of this period. I was particularly drawn to Maria-Pia, the Baroness, and her cold, controlling husband Hermann, who turns out to have hidden depths.
As for the mystery itself, it’s a good one with plenty of suspects, although my heart sank when Spezzi, the Italian policeman working with Henry, draws up a detailed timetable of events, which is reproduced in the book. I find mysteries that focus on timings and alibis to be tedious and difficult to follow, so I was pleased that this book didn’t dwell too much on that after all – it was just part of Spezzi’s approach to crime solving and although his timetable did prove very useful, the interviews he and Henry conduct with the witnesses and suspects were just as important.
The first two books in this series are available now in attractive new editions from Farrago Books and with the next two advertised for publication later this year I hope that means they’ll be reissuing the whole series. I suspect it’s probably not essential to read them in order but I’m planning to try the second one, The Sunken Sailor, soon.
Thanks to Farrago Books for providing a copy of this book for review via NetGalley.
She Reads Novels 
Thank you for doing the full review – sadly, I didn’t review it properly at the time, so I only have a vague memory of it but I do remember liking it a lot.
That’s why I like to review everything I read, but sometimes it’s just not possible. It’s good to be able to look back and remind yourself of what you liked about a book.
This sounds great fun – a new author and new detective for me!!
She was a completely new author for me as well, but I was very impressed and will definitely be reading more!
Lovely, all new to me and the setting and characters sound brilliant, thank you!
The setting was my favourite thing about this book. It sounded so beautiful!
I see that there’s 19 books in the series! Nice to see there’s LOTS of content going forward. I agree that its good when the detective’s wife/partner gets involved in more than answering phones & making tea. They are sidelined FAR too much in some fiction.
Yes, it’s good to know that there are lots more books to look forward to! I’m hoping Emmy will continue to play a big part in them.
This is a new author for me, never heard of her before. Thanks to your lovely review, now I have a series to look forward to. Have also found a relatively cheap e-book of this, so I’m a happy woman today! ^^
She was a new author for me too and I’m really glad I’ve discovered her. I hope you like this one – there are lots more in the series to look forward to!
This sounds like it’ll be a good series and that title is brilliant
Yes, I have high hopes for the rest of the series!
Im glad you enjoyed this one. I hadn’t heard of it until you mentioned it in a previous post and as the quote caught my eye I was curious to learn a bit more about it. It’ll be interesting to see if the wife helps more in future cases but its definitely nice to hear that shes not simply relegated to the background. The mystery itself sounds interesting too. Ive also noticed that there seem to be more older books getting reprinted at the moment.
Yes, reprints of classic mysteries are very popular at the moment. I’m glad this series is being made available again so more people can discover it. I’m looking forward to continuing with the next book and hopefully Henry’s wife will get more involved in solving the mystery this time.
Oh, good. I’ve heard of Patricia Moyes but hadn’t tried any of her books.
I really liked it. I hope you’re able to try one.
Oh, I’m glad to see they’re being reissued! I’ve only been able to read the ones I find at charity sales, and I haven’t read this one. It’s a pretty fun series and Emily is definitely involved. They often occur when they go on vacation and a murder occurs…
I had never come across any of them until now but I’ll definitely be reading more. I’m pleased to hear Emmy continues to be involved!