In Dead Men Don’t Ski, we are introduced to Inspector Henry Tibbett of Scotland Yard and his wife, Emmy. Henry and his wife are off to an Italian ski inn, the Bella Vista, above the village of Santa Chiara, a small Italian village near the Austrian border. Henry and his wife had planned a trip for the skiing — Emmy was a somewhat more veteran skier than Henry who was a total newbie to the sport — when Scotland Yard decided to assign Henry to keep an eye out in Santa Chiara because there was some suspicious activity that had come to the Yard’s attention going on there.
When Henry and his wife travel by train to the inn, they meet a number of English and other guests who will be staying at the Bella Vista with them. Not too long after they arrive at the inn, there is a murder. Henry and his wife become involved with the Italian police in trying to solve the case. And, with Henry being a great detective, as you can guess, he is instrumental in solving the case.
Henry and his wife are classic mystery characters. Henry is 48 years old and Emmy is somewhat younger. Henry has a reputation of solving many cases partially through use of his “nose”. Henry’s instincts plus Emmy’s common sense approach make this one of the great detective duos in mystery fiction. With this first book in the series being written in 1958 and the series extending to nineteen books with the last published in 1993, Patricia Moyes provided a fine series of post-classic era mysteries.
Moyes was born in 1923, which was just about when Agatha Christie’s first books were being released and when Christie was becoming famous. Although born a generation after Christie, Moyes’ Henry Tibbett’s Mystery books are very similar to classic Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh (sometimes known as the Golden Age’s Queens of Crime). Although Moyes was born too late to be a member of the Golden Age of Crime, her stories are a fine follow-on to that era. If you enjoy classic Cozies but haven’t yet met Henry Tibbett and his wife Emmy, I think you are in for a treat!
P.S. If you’re interested in other entries about some highly recommended Cozy Mystery series, you can see them on the Most Popular and Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.
Vallaing says
Really looking forward to these as I’ve never heard of them!! Thanks as always.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Vallaing, I hope you enjoy them, and you’re welcome!
Noilin says
Really enjoy Henry Tibbett Mysteries. Great characters. Especially like how Emmy has developed.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Noilin, I certainly agree that it’s a great series with very strong characters!
Patrick McIntosh says
One of the Henry Tibbet mysteries actually mirrors a real life murder case even thought it came out before the true crime occurred.
Seasons of Snows and Sins A popular ski instructor is murdered, apparently by his long-suffering wife, who was distraught after his affair with Giselle Arnay, the French film star.
Real case Skier Spider Sabich was shot in the bathroom of his Starwood home by his live-in girlfriend, singer-actress Claudine Longet.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Patrick, it’s always a bit odd when that sort of thing comes up.
Ronese Elliott Lee says
I stumbled across your blog and my goodness I can’t read fast enough. Thanks for compiling these lists!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Ronese, you’re welcome!
TLynn says
I read all of these years ago and loved them ! I still have all the books, so perhaps it is time to go back and revisit old friends…..
Danna - cozy mystery list says
TLynn, there’s no time like the present to revisit old favorites!
Dee says
I had read many Ngaio Marsh mysteries years ago..time for a re-read!
How do you pronounce that first name? Ngaio
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Dee, the pronunciation of Ngaio Marsh’s first name is actually a somewhat tricky topic – her publishers, both British and American, apparently tried to clear it up at some point, and both apparently got it wrong! What I have heard is that she pronounced it with three syllables and the G silent – “Ny-e-o”.
James Mullen says
I picked up several of Moyes’ books at a book sale this summer, and just finished Down Among the Dead Men. I enjoyed it thoroughly and will be running through the rest now, with an eye to reading them all. They are truly fun characters!
Deborah Gunter says
I stumbled across a Youtube audio of a BBC production of Murder a la Mode featuring Inspector Tibbett. Being curious, I wanted to know more about the author. Wiki has very little. Thankfully, I found your site.
I have my new series for the rest of the pandemic. Inspector Tibbett is on the agenda to keep my mind off US politics and the bungled corona virus debacle.
Thank you so much.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Deborah, you’re welcome! I’m glad that the site has helped you find at least one great series.