Constable Beats The Bounds
Constable Series – Book XXXVI

By Nicholas Rhea

        I’m sure that many people reading this will be long-time fans of Heartbeat and will be sad that the series has come to an end. At least you can draw the curtains, stoke up the fire and relax with the hot beverage of your choice while you curl up with the latest installment of “Constable Nick’s” casebook.

Rhea’s storyteller style hooks the reader from page one and doesn’t let go. This is not to say that these are exciting books, but you really want to hear what happens next just as you would if he was talking to you. It is this talent that has won him many legions of fans and enabled him to write a truly awesome number of books. I often think that he could write about almost anything and make it sound interesting!

In this book he describes the ancient custom of “beating the bounds,” and then goes on to tell many more unrelated tales that all have the word “bound” in their title for one reason or another. Recalling the days when police work in a rural area like this was often akin to social work, he hunts for a missing cat, discovers why a farmhouse has been left with unlocked doors and fully furnished, gets to the bottom of why a hitherto honest girl is being called a thief, and finds out why a woman in an isolated house keeps hearing her doorbell ring and finds nobody there. This is all a world away from modern policing methods…but what a pity. Even if you haven’t read any of the other books and are wondering what Heartbeat is (or was) you can dive in anywhere in this series and enjoy these anecdotes of “the good old days”.

Reviews of other titles in this series

Constable At The Double - Constable Around the Village #3 & Constable Across The Moors #4
Constable Over The Stile  #17
Constable Goes to Market  # 22
Constable Along the Riverbank  #24
Constable In The Wilderness  #26
Constable over the Bridge   #27
Constable Along The Trail   #28
Constable in the Country   #29
Constable On The Coast   #30
Constable on View   #31
Constable Beats The Bounds #32 
Constable at the Fair   #33
Constable Over The Hill   #35