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Blotto and Twinks #5
Blotto, Twinks and Riddle of the Sphinx
The curse of Pharaoh Sinus Nefertop is upon Blotto so it's up to Twinks to banish it!
Yet another financial crisis at Tawcester Towers! So this time the Dowager Duchess decides to sell off the less important family possessions, which have, for a long time, been consigned to the attics of the ancestral home.
Blotto and Twinks are dispatched to help the valuer as he carries out an inspection. Not much of any worth is found but then the valuer spies some Egyptian artifacts, collected by the tenth duke, Rupert the Egyptologist. In some excitement he rushes back to London to consult his reference books, leaving Blotto and Twinks alone in the attic, where they are drawn to a sarchophagus decorated with hieroglyphs. Twinks starts to translate: 'Anyone who desecrates this shrine will be visited by the Pharoah's curse...' - just as Corky Froggett prises the lid off.
From that moment on a series of unpleasant incidents start happening at Tawcester Towers and it seems that Corky has been cursed.
It's the brainy Twinks who decide the only thing to be done is to put the genie back in the bottle and so she, together with Blotto and their trusty chauffeur Corky Froggett, undertake take the sarcophagus back to Egypt, to the Valley of the Kings as only when this is done will the effect of the Pharoah's curse be lifted...
Yet another financial crisis at Tawcester Towers! So this time the Dowager Duchess decides to sell off the less important family possessions, which have, for a long time, been consigned to the attics of the ancestral home.
Blotto and Twinks are dispatched to help the valuer as he carries out an inspection. Not much of any worth is found but then the valuer spies some Egyptian artifacts, collected by the tenth duke, Rupert the Egyptologist. In some excitement he rushes back to London to consult his reference books, leaving Blotto and Twinks alone in the attic, where they are drawn to a sarchophagus decorated with hieroglyphs. Twinks starts to translate: 'Anyone who desecrates this shrine will be visited by the Pharoah's curse...' - just as Corky Froggett prises the lid off.
From that moment on a series of unpleasant incidents start happening at Tawcester Towers and it seems that Corky has been cursed.
It's the brainy Twinks who decide the only thing to be done is to put the genie back in the bottle and so she, together with Blotto and their trusty chauffeur Corky Froggett, undertake take the sarcophagus back to Egypt, to the Valley of the Kings as only when this is done will the effect of the Pharoah's curse be lifted...
225 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 18, 2013
6 people are currently reading
114 people want to read
About the author
Simon Brett
329 books532 followersSimon Brett is a prolific British writer of whodunnits.
He is the son of a Chartered Surveyor and was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first class honours degree in English.
He then joined the BBC as a trainee and worked for BBC Radio and London Weekend Television, where his work included 'Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and 'Frank Muir Goes Into ...'.
After his spells with the media he began devoting most of his time to writing from the late 1970s and is well known for his various series of crime novels.
He is married with three children and lives in Burpham, near Arundel, West Sussex, England. He is the current president of the Detection Club.
He is the son of a Chartered Surveyor and was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first class honours degree in English.
He then joined the BBC as a trainee and worked for BBC Radio and London Weekend Television, where his work included 'Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and 'Frank Muir Goes Into ...'.
After his spells with the media he began devoting most of his time to writing from the late 1970s and is well known for his various series of crime novels.
He is married with three children and lives in Burpham, near Arundel, West Sussex, England. He is the current president of the Detection Club.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
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December 21, 2018A farcical comic mystery written in a cod Wodehouse style. Brilliant idea. Whether you find it funny in practice comes down to taste. Some very good lines, as you'd expect from this author, but the mystery was telegraphed to the point of it not really being a mystery, and the running joke about baksheesh, which is the only interaction with anyone Egyptian in a book set in Egypt, leaves a nasty taste. Perhaps this is part of the overall joke about the MCs' attitudes, like the depiction of the working classes as smelly, but the problem with writing racist things for fun is, they're still racist. Not a success for me.
June 26, 2019
2019 bk 199. After finding and reading a prior Blotto and Twinks title, I didn't think I'd find another copy so soon (without resorting to Amazon) nor find it at half price, but I did. The young British aristocrats are at it again, Twinks with her intelligence, Blotto with, well his cricket bat, seek to rid their chauffeur of the curse of the mummy in their attic. Doesn't everyone have a mummy in their attic - one that comes with its own curse. Alas the mummy was found in a hunt for something saleable, their birth mother having mis-invested the gold they had brought home in their last adventure (that being the only mention of the prior book, otherwise this book stands quite well all on its lonesome. Our twins want to do the right thing by the mummy and smuggle it back to Egypt, only to discover ..... sorry - you will just have to read it yourself. This awesome duo is fun, sometimes frivolous, and always do their best to take something back to mums in England.
December 28, 2013
I do adore this series though they are written as parody/satire and not to be taken too seriously. Here the aristocratic twins get themselves involved in an archeological adventure when their chauffeur Corky Froggett unwittingly unleashes a Pharaoh's curse.
December 28, 2013
I so love this series that I have listened to Simon Brett's very amusing narration of the story as well as reading the print edition.
He does an excellent job with the characters, especially the plummy upper class twits that populate the book. It is such a pleasure to listen to him.
He does an excellent job with the characters, especially the plummy upper class twits that populate the book. It is such a pleasure to listen to him.
March 29, 2023
I picked up this book because the title brought great whimsy to me. I didn’t realise that it was 5th in the series at the time, but it still worked as a stand alone novel. I enjoyed the first half of this book; the whimsical nature and advanced language, and the thematic Agatha Christie-esque set up. Once this was set up though, I found the second half tedious; with short chapters, loss of whimsy, and haphazard resolutions to plot lines that could have been fleshed out better. Egyptian curses caused by Socialists was a wild thing to put together lmao. The book also struggled with racism and representation; consistently referring to Egyptians as dirty, smelly and poor. Regardless of 1920s sentiment, for a book written in 2013, there was room to do better. There was no positive interactions written between the white people and anyone else. For a book based largely in Egypt; not good.
I would say children in their early teens who enjoy being extended by something that has historical ties but is still rooted in fantasy would enjoy this book. But I would follow this through by having conversations about representation, racism and class ideals (both how they’re written about and how they may impact readers) when finished.
I would say children in their early teens who enjoy being extended by something that has historical ties but is still rooted in fantasy would enjoy this book. But I would follow this through by having conversations about representation, racism and class ideals (both how they’re written about and how they may impact readers) when finished.
August 30, 2021
It is a very particular style that you either love or hate. I'm not sure there's anything in between. The language and phrasing is like an exaggerated Wodehouse. Lots of phrases that begin w/ "me old..." and end with things like toothbrush, ham sandwich or other ridiculous word or phrase. It delights me to no end. It is utterly escapist literature. The world & language of Blotto and Twinks is a great contrast to *the old day job* of mine and thus allows me to unwind or otherwise escape. Larksisimo!
February 22, 2024
The Blotto and Twinks books are written with a marmite style of comedy which I love, but I think not everyone will take to. While the writing manner is fairly similar to Jeeves and Wooster, this book is at the same time openly critical of the life of privilege the central characters enjoy.
Unlike the two others in the series that I've read, this book is not a murder mystery. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing overall - perhaps neutral? I very much enjoyed it, and am looking forward to reading another.
Unlike the two others in the series that I've read, this book is not a murder mystery. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing overall - perhaps neutral? I very much enjoyed it, and am looking forward to reading another.
August 13, 2017
Hilarious. This is the first book I have read in the Blotto and Twinks series. I have listened to the audio book, and loved it. Brother and sister, Twinks and Blotto, respectively, couldn't be more different. Blotto may be handsome, but hasn't got an original thought in his head. Twinks is smart, resourceful, and beautiful. Their conversations and hijinks will keep you in stitches, and they go about their gifted life, as aristocrats in the 1800s, getting into all sorts of trouble.
June 30, 2017
It was OK. A little facile but an easy-enough read.
April 16, 2018
Hilarious - over the top satire - loved it
November 18, 2020
3.5 stars. Jolly good fluff.
December 27, 2020
Spoffing fun!!
February 10, 2024
This was quite irreverent and not at all PC, but also very enjoyable and I laughed out loud several times. A fun read since I just got back from Egypt.
August 12, 2024
I love this series. It grows on you, an acquired taste.
October 6, 2024
Not really up to the previous books in the series. I don't feel Twinks has kept her intelligence and the Stereotype are more over played.
February 28, 2017
First of all, I adore Simon Brett. However, I think I can safely forego the rest of these books. If you are into 1920s-era British aristocratic silliness, go nuts. This was ... uhm, far too silly for me. Stopping at the whole car-big-enough-to-hide-a-sarcophagus-in-while-driving-across-Europe....and that was just one of the big things.
I imagine this would go down better if you were British, or a fan of the era, or a fan of making fun of the aristocracy as it died.
Sorry, I'll stick with Charles Paris, Mrs Pargeter, and even the Fethering books. These are too over the top for me.
I imagine this would go down better if you were British, or a fan of the era, or a fan of making fun of the aristocracy as it died.
Sorry, I'll stick with Charles Paris, Mrs Pargeter, and even the Fethering books. These are too over the top for me.
February 10, 2015
Simon Brett's "Blotto and Twinks" series is one of the most entertaining in all of classic style detective fiction. If P G Wodehouse had written a Sherlock Holmes fanfic, I can't help thinking it would have been very much like this.
This time, the handsome and thoroughly decent - albeit thick as three short planks "Blotto" (real name: The Honourable Devereux Lyminster,) and his toothsome and highly intelligent sister "Twinks" (aka Lady Honoria Lyminster) have to, once again, find a way to restore the fast plummeting family fortunes, lest Tawcester (pronounced "Taster") Towers, the old family pile, gets sold from under them to - gasp - working class people.
And if this isn't enough, they also have to cope with an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus brought back from Egypt by their ancestor, Rupert the Egyptologist (all of their ancestors were called Rupert the Something)... this artefact is connected with an ancient curse that inflicts the twelve plagues of Egypt on Corky Froggett, the unfortunate chauffeur. The only way to lift the curse, it seems, is to return the thing to its proper home.
So off they go in Blotto's Lagonda, and it's adventure and hilarity and nasty doings all the way, with Blotto swinging his trusty cricket bat and wishing everyone were English, Twinks being gorgeous and solving every intellectual problem with ease, and Corky desperately seeking the dirty postcards for which Egypt is renowned!
And then Blotto meets Christabel Whipple, his ideal woman - she's as tall as he is, and looks just like his horse - and falls in love!
Like all the books in this series, it's laugh-out-loud hilarious, containing every cliche one associates with the British upper class of the 1920s, including addressing each other as "me old butter dish" and suchlike endearments, an absolute refusal to regard the working class as anything but intelligent primates, an inbuilt conviction that everything British is automatically superior and, in general (Twinks apart) a refusal to face reality.
It's satirical in a way, with the attitude of the pair's mother the Dowager Duchess who thinks she is doing the local tradesmen a favour by accepting their services without paying for it and lamenting the end of the feudal system, but it's a gentle kind of satire that is almost affectionate towards the class it lampoons. So much so that whatever your political convictions you'll find yourself cheering for the upper-crust heroes and booing the socialist-inspired villains. And (if you are a hetero male or lesbian female with your hormones in the right place) probably falling in lust with Twinks as well.
Read this one, read the whole series. It's totally spiffing, me old cocoa tins. As Twinks would say, "Larkissimo!"
This time, the handsome and thoroughly decent - albeit thick as three short planks "Blotto" (real name: The Honourable Devereux Lyminster,) and his toothsome and highly intelligent sister "Twinks" (aka Lady Honoria Lyminster) have to, once again, find a way to restore the fast plummeting family fortunes, lest Tawcester (pronounced "Taster") Towers, the old family pile, gets sold from under them to - gasp - working class people.
And if this isn't enough, they also have to cope with an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus brought back from Egypt by their ancestor, Rupert the Egyptologist (all of their ancestors were called Rupert the Something)... this artefact is connected with an ancient curse that inflicts the twelve plagues of Egypt on Corky Froggett, the unfortunate chauffeur. The only way to lift the curse, it seems, is to return the thing to its proper home.
So off they go in Blotto's Lagonda, and it's adventure and hilarity and nasty doings all the way, with Blotto swinging his trusty cricket bat and wishing everyone were English, Twinks being gorgeous and solving every intellectual problem with ease, and Corky desperately seeking the dirty postcards for which Egypt is renowned!
And then Blotto meets Christabel Whipple, his ideal woman - she's as tall as he is, and looks just like his horse - and falls in love!
Like all the books in this series, it's laugh-out-loud hilarious, containing every cliche one associates with the British upper class of the 1920s, including addressing each other as "me old butter dish" and suchlike endearments, an absolute refusal to regard the working class as anything but intelligent primates, an inbuilt conviction that everything British is automatically superior and, in general (Twinks apart) a refusal to face reality.
It's satirical in a way, with the attitude of the pair's mother the Dowager Duchess who thinks she is doing the local tradesmen a favour by accepting their services without paying for it and lamenting the end of the feudal system, but it's a gentle kind of satire that is almost affectionate towards the class it lampoons. So much so that whatever your political convictions you'll find yourself cheering for the upper-crust heroes and booing the socialist-inspired villains. And (if you are a hetero male or lesbian female with your hormones in the right place) probably falling in lust with Twinks as well.
Read this one, read the whole series. It's totally spiffing, me old cocoa tins. As Twinks would say, "Larkissimo!"
March 9, 2016
Simon Brett is a good writer and I very much enjoyed his series of books featuring Charles Paris. I am also enjoying his series of Fethering mysteries. However some of his books I have not liked, for example I only read one of his books featuring Mrs Pargeter as it did not appeal to me at all. I had not come across Blotto and Twinks before so thought I would try this book. Set in the 1920s the main characters are a brother and sister from an old aristocratic family - the sister, Twinks, is the brain and her brother, Blotto, is the brawn. This is meant to be a farce but sadly I was not in tune with the humour at all. In fact I was so irritated by Blotto's speech patterns I nearly abandoned the book after twenty pages. There is a bit of a mystery and I confess I did not see quite where the story was going until the author revealed it but all in all I did not find this funny and will not be reading any more of this series.
January 16, 2014
I just love these books. mad and funny..
December 12, 2014
Silly but fun in a twitty British way:)
December 20, 2014
Not the best in the series and a bit predictable, but a fun quick read.
September 22, 2015
Drivel. Managed aout three pages.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews