Review: Aberystwyth Mon Amour

Oh my goodness, I haven't laughed so hard reading a book in quite some time. I had a smile on my face after the first chapter and burst out laughing aloud after the second, and on it went. This is Malcolm Pryce's debut, and what a debut it is. It's a genre bending and completely and utterly whacked. No wonder I loved it.

Welcome to Aberytswyth. It's a little town in Wales, and we know this because it has exactly 4000 stoves, a point that seems irrelevant but actually has real significance. Louie Knight is the best...well, the only P.I. in town, and he does OK. Steers clear of the Druids, makes sure not to incur the wrath of Lovespoon, the schoolteacher who rules the town with an iron fist, and doesn't get laid a lot. But his luck's about to change when sultry chanteuse Myfawny Montez waltzes into town. You see, her cousin has disappeared, and she wants Louie to find him. it seems that Evans the Boot--as he's known to all, especially those adults he pissed off with his pranks--is just one of several schoolboys to go missing or wind up dead in particularly gruesome fashion, as Louie finds out. Everybody suspects Lovespoon of the dastardly crimes. But did he do it? If not, who did? And even if Louie solves the case, will he get Myfanwy? Will he piss off the entire town?

God, for a short book there is so much going on. First, it's a parody of the P.I. genre and Pryce gets everything dead-on and then shakes things up. Knight, for one, isn't a very good P.I., and he knows it, as does Calamity Jane, the smart-aleck young girl who latches onto him and becomes his not-quite-willing "partner" and proves to be a hell of a lot better at the job than Louie will ever be. Then there's the coven of witches, and the Druids, and the fact that all hinges on a mysterious essay that may have led to the schoolboys' demises, and we are in for one wild, wild ride.

This book is also very Welsh, and I freely admit to not getting a lot of the references. But no matter, this is a book that could and should be enjoyed by all. And there'll be a sequel out in August--LAST TANGO IN ABERYTSWYTH. I'm pre-ordering my copy pronto.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Sarah - RAM

Book Review: Aberystwyth Mon Amour