Gil Mayo Books In Order

Publication Order of Gil Mayo Books

The name ‘Gil Mayo’ refers to a series of novels that began publication in the late 1980s. The books are mysteries that detail the exploits of a Detective Chief Inspector.

+The Story

There have been a few debates regarding the question of whether or not the Gil Mayo books are cozy mysteries. It is generally assumed that they are not. Readers have argued that the fact that the series takes place in a small village does not necessarily grant it the status of a cozy mystery.

The books tell the story of Gil Mayo, a Detective Chief Inspector operating out of Yorkshire. Mayo’s good work attracts the attention of his superiors and it isn’t long before he is promoted.

The promotion takes the form of a transfer to the fictional town of Lavenstock. Mayo realizes that Lavenstock is exactly what he needs. The DCI is a widower. He is in his 40s and he has a teenage daughter.

Living in Lavenstock elicits plenty of challenges for a man of his particular attributes. But he manages as best as he can and proves to be just what his new town needs to bring order. Gil Mayo has a keen eye for details.

He sees what a lot of people either miss or dismiss. And he knows how to put all those details together to solve difficult puzzles and catch the bad guys. Many of the mysteries in the Gil Mayo series are solved because Gil finds the unexpected.

Marjorie Eccles, the author, typically shows her hand and hints at the fact that things are winding down by having Gil Mayo flash a ‘knowing look’. It is that which tells readers that Gil Mayo has either seen or realized something important.

However, Eccles succeeds in building tension by keeping her cards close to her chest in such situations and keeping readers in the dark about whatever clue Mayo noticed. She gives the DCI a little more time to interview people, reexamine the evidence and reassess the data, ensuring that his conclusion is correct before finally revealing the truth to everyone else.

The Gil Mayo series is relatively ordinary and is easily lost in the myriad of procedural detective dramas on the market. While most crime novelists of the 21st century work hard to create eclectic detectives with extraordinary crime-solving abilities, Marjorie Eccles’ Gil Mayo is just a man.

He’s good at his job but he isn’t the only one. Mayo isn’t unnaturally intelligent and he isn’t hiding any special gifts that set him apart. The DCI just does his job. He might persevere longer on cases but he isn’t anything peculiar.

Marjorie Eccles has been known to attract complaints from some readers who do not think her books are action-packed enough. The series definitely leans towards the calmer, softer side of things.

You rarely find Gil Mayo facing off against demented serial killers in complex life and death games. A number of the big revelations are done through Gil simply telling everyone what he has discovered.

Marjorie Eccles knows her series. She doesn’t try to elevate it above its station. The books are written to appeal to readers looking for clean, gore-free mysteries with a decent police detective at their center.

+Adaptations

The Gil Mayo book series was turned into a television series called ‘Mayo’ in 2006. The show was created by the BBC and was designed to be a detective comedy-drama featuring Alistair McGowan and Jessica Oyelowo.

The show only lasted eight episodes before being canceled.

The Gil Mayo book series tends to suffer whenever it is compared to its television counterpart. Readers are primarily disappointed that the books are not as humorous as the television show.

+Late of this Parish

People do not love Reverend Cecil Willard. It is not in the scholarly man’s nature to be loved. Quite austere even during his time as a local boys’ school headmaster, Willard always boasted very stern principles and opinions.

And it wasn’t that surprising that his neighbors and those much closer to his life never felt endeared to him. Yet his death comes as a surprise to everyone.

Sure his recent stroke had made him even more unpleasant. The bad temper made it so that even Laura, his only child, couldn’t stand to live with him. And yet that aggravating personality shouldn’t have been enough for anyone to do him real harm.

Or at least that is what his community says when his remains are found in the church. DCI Gil Mayo quickly realizes that there is no shortage of suspects in the case. Everywhere he turns, he uncovers individuals who had good reasons to hate the Reverend.

It isn’t just his submissive daughter or his animal-loving neighbors but also his gardener. It takes persistence for Mayo’s investigation to reveal the power struggle for headship that is unfolding at a school and the mystery of a woman named Sara that appears in Willard’s diary.

To find the answers and Willard’s killer, Mayo must look beyond the confines of the community. He must probe the unlikely places and hope that he can find an answer before his target kills again.

+The Company She Kept

No one had any reason to kill Angie Robinson, or at least that is what everyone keeps saying. But clearly, there was more going on than people are saying because someone did kill Angie.

They left her body half-dressed on a lonely moorland road, and it is up to DCI Gil Mayo to find her killer. Everything Mayo sees initially seems to suggest that Angie was the victim of a random attack.

Angie did not just live a blameless life. She made it her goal to serve. All her energies went to supporting the local women’s hospital. Surely, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

But DCI Mayo cannot accept that explanation, not after he receives a letter hinting at a previous murder.

This is the seventh book in the Gil Mayo series. The book starts with DCI Mayo and a member of his team receiving an anonymous letter. Something happened 14 years ago, something sinister.

And now someone is working really hard to bring that buried secret to the surface. When Angie Robinson’s body is discovered and Gil realizes that she was the writer of the anonymous letter, the DCI begins to suspect foul play.