Scan barcode
A review by ewanl
The Diabolical Club by Stevyn Colgan
5.0
Just before I picked up Stevyn Colgan’s 2nd instalment of South Herefordshire “whodunit-ery”, I finished reading Barbara Vine’s A Dark Adapted Eye. It was like going from the sublimely disturbing to – you’ve guessed it – the ridiculously funny. I had read “A Murder to Die For” and enjoyed it very much. So I looked forward to “The Diabolical Club” with some enthusiasm. Reader, I was very far from disappointed. Those familiar with the author’s work will remember Colgan’s diligent research, and the watchmaker’s precision of his plotting.
It is a couple of years since the outrage at the Agnes Crabbe Murder Mystery Festival, but Frank Shunter is still chafing at retirement. A local politico is suspected of murder and seeks out Shunter’s help to prove him innocent. The herrings are red and some of the jokes are blue but as usual the author manages to write good-natured humour that is actually FUNNY. (You try it, it’s not easy). Keep an eye out for references to delight golden age whodunit fans as they are another pleasure of this episode of South Herewardshire fun.
Thoroughly good fun, and as such I recommend it to you.
I came by my copy of “The Diabolical Club” through backing the book at Unbound.com, and I shan’t hesitate to do the same for the third volume in the series, “Cockerings“, just as soon as finances allow.
It is a couple of years since the outrage at the Agnes Crabbe Murder Mystery Festival, but Frank Shunter is still chafing at retirement. A local politico is suspected of murder and seeks out Shunter’s help to prove him innocent. The herrings are red and some of the jokes are blue but as usual the author manages to write good-natured humour that is actually FUNNY. (You try it, it’s not easy). Keep an eye out for references to delight golden age whodunit fans as they are another pleasure of this episode of South Herewardshire fun.
Thoroughly good fun, and as such I recommend it to you.
I came by my copy of “The Diabolical Club” through backing the book at Unbound.com, and I shan’t hesitate to do the same for the third volume in the series, “Cockerings“, just as soon as finances allow.