So, it was CrimeFest in Bristol last weekend and it was good to meet a whole bunch of new people. One of the best side effects of attending CrimeFest is the number of new books I’ve discovered. I hope to mention a few more in the coming weeks but I thought I’d start by recommending a pair of books that fall squarely into the category of comic crime fiction.
First up is L.C. Tyler’s THE HERRING SELLER'S APPRENTICE. I was two chapters in to Devil May Care when I picked this one up for a quick look and found I couldn’t put it down. Tyler has a really strong inter-play between his two main characters, jobbing writer, Ethelred Tressider, and his abrasive literary agent, Elsie Thirkettle. The dialogue throughout is very funny, but whenever these two get into a verbal sparring match, things crank up a notch. (Any agent who calls her client a “tart” and gets away with it has to be worth spending time with.) The story is built around the disappearance of Ethelred’s ex-wife, Geraldine, and a complex plot quickly emerges. The novel moves at an addictive pace and is constantly inventive. Also, for any fans of The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam, it’s interesting to see how another pairing between a crime writer and a literary agent works on the page. Tyler’s novel was shortlisted for the Last Laugh Award, and for good reason too.
Next up is a comic masterpiece, Donna Moore’s GO TO HELENA HANDBASKET. This one won the Lefty Award for comic crime fiction and I’m just gutted I took so long to get around to reading it. Helena is a PI with a difference – man-hungry, a little slow on the uptake and addicted to good shoes. The novel lampoons every stereotype and cliché in the crime fiction genre and it manages to do it all while telling a damn good story.
Two other comic novels I’m looking forward to reading in the near future are Declan Burke’s THE BIG O and Ruth Dudley-Edwards MURDERING AMERICANS. Ruth’s novel won the Last Laugh Award at CrimeFest and she gave a very funny acceptance speech, so I’m sure her novel will be a real treat. In the meantime, though, it’s back to Bond…
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