Huckleberry Fiend by J. Paul Drew

[image error]

HUCKLEBERRY FIEND is a book made for bibliophile mystery fans, so there’s no wonder I had such a good time reading it.

Our plot (which knows it’s ludicrous and knows we’ll find it ludicrous and revels in its own ludicrousness) centres on a former journalist, Paul, who comes into possession of the lost original manuscript of THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN. But, before he’s really decided what to do with, it’s stolen from him. He then gets it back, before – almost as swiftly – its stolen from him again. It would all be funny to him too, if there weren’t murders involved. As he investigates what the hell is going on, he meets all kinds of colourful characters who are interested in getting their mitts on the book, creating a full-on noir – with guns and menace and femme-fatales – while not leaving the library set.

I haven’t read THE ADEVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN since I was about eleven years old, and so fear that some of the literary allusions may have gone over my head. But still I had fun in the twists and turns of its plot and the general absurdist hard-boiled feel of it. Our protagonist is someone who is out of his depth and knows he’s out of his depth, but keeps a good humour about it anyway – and that makes for an engaged guide through the knotty and, apparently gun filled world, of antiquarians.

 

 

 

If you’re interested in my own writings, SOMETHING WENT WRONG AND OTHER STRANGE TALES – my frankly must read collection of scary and quirky short stories is available for free now!