L.C. Tyler

This cosy crime novel started off promisingly with a dryly voiced narrative by a writer, Ethelred, who is facing the predicament of being modestly successful but only by dint of cranking out three different series of easy-reads: a detective series, a romance series under a woman's name, and a historical whodunnit series set in the reign of Richard II. The problem is that his detective has become a character in his own right and is not co-operating when Ethelred tries to write the next book in the series, so throughout the story extracts appear of book beginnings which Ethelred deletes as unsatisfactory. Events in his own life are interfering with his ability to channel the policeman's character.

Meanwhile, he has had to identify the body of his ex-wife whom it seems has been found murdered at a local beauty spot. He appears to have the cast-iron alibi of having spent a few days in France around the time of the murder yet the police keep questioning him, as does his literary agent, a chocolate fixated eccentric middle aged woman called Elsie who insists on leading an investigation in parallel to the one being conducted by the police. It becomes apparent that there are a number of people who were swindled by Ethelred's ex-wife even though he has remained friendly with her despite her adultery and manipulative behaviour.

I thought this was promising to begin with given the wry humour, but I found the Elsie character a bit too irritating and 'forced' somehow, especially when the novel suddenly switched to her viewpoint and more and more of it was from that. I also wasn't keen on the twist which started to loom more and more obviously by about half way, certainly by two thirds of the way through. The ending itself is rather deflating, though I gather this is book 1 of a series and things are therefore not as they appear - the seeming death of one of the main characters. Therefore this balances out at a 2-star OK rating and I won't be looking for more of the series.… (mer)

This was funny, quirky and filled with wonderful characters reminiscent of Wodehouse. Ethelred (aka Red) Tressider is an author with three pseudonyms, each writing different genres. One writes mysteries, that garnered his agent's nickname of the "red herring seller". The agent, Elsie Thirkettle, is an eccentric who takes no nonsense from anyone and sets her own rules. With Elsie as the apprentice they investigate the murder of Ethelred's former wife. Although they divorced some years previously, he is under suspicion because her body was found near where he lives. This humorous novel is the first in a series, of which I am fortunate to own the second - and the surprise ending ensures it will be read soon.… (mer)