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Aberystwyth Noir #1
Aberystwyth Mon Amour
Schoolboys are disappearing all over Aberystwyth and nobody knows why. Louie Knight, the town's private investigator, soon realises that it is going to take more than a double ripple from Sospan, the philosopher cum ice-cream seller, to help find out what is happening to these boys and whether or not Lovespoon, the Welsh teacher, Grand Wizard of the Druids and controller of the town, is more than just a sinister bully. And just who was Gwenno Guevara?
245 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
93 people are currently reading
2173 people want to read
About the author
Malcolm Pryce
19 books126 followersMalcolm Pryce is a British author, mostly known for his noir detective novels.
Born in Shrewsbury, England, Pryce moved at the age of nine to Aberystwyth, where he later attended Penglais Comprehensive School before leaving to do some travelling. After working in a variety of jobs. including BMW assembly-line worker in Germany, hotel washer-up, "the world's worst aluminium salesman", and deck hand on a yacht in Polynesia, Pryce became an advertising copywriter in London and Singapore. He is currently resident in Oxford.
Pryce writes in the style of Raymond Chandler, but his novels are incongruously set on the rainswept streets of an alternate universe version of the Welsh seaside resort and university town of Aberystwyth. The hero of the novels is Louie Knight, the best private detective in Aberystwyth (also the only private detective in Aberystwyth), who battles crime organised by the local Druids, investigates the strange case of the town's disappearing youths, and gets involved in its burgeoning film industry, which produces What The Butler Saw movies.
Born in Shrewsbury, England, Pryce moved at the age of nine to Aberystwyth, where he later attended Penglais Comprehensive School before leaving to do some travelling. After working in a variety of jobs. including BMW assembly-line worker in Germany, hotel washer-up, "the world's worst aluminium salesman", and deck hand on a yacht in Polynesia, Pryce became an advertising copywriter in London and Singapore. He is currently resident in Oxford.
Pryce writes in the style of Raymond Chandler, but his novels are incongruously set on the rainswept streets of an alternate universe version of the Welsh seaside resort and university town of Aberystwyth. The hero of the novels is Louie Knight, the best private detective in Aberystwyth (also the only private detective in Aberystwyth), who battles crime organised by the local Druids, investigates the strange case of the town's disappearing youths, and gets involved in its burgeoning film industry, which produces What The Butler Saw movies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 262 reviews
July 28, 2018
Well, this was different...
A noir-style mystery set in alternative version (one hopes!) of Aberystwyth, where a Druid mob silences its opposition by making them ... disappear or just kills about anyone who knows too much.
And all because the Grand Wizard is...
Ah. Hehe.
The mystery in this one started off intriguing. A schoolboy has disappeared. Then other schoolboys turn up dead. So, when Aberystwyth's finest ... and only ... private eye is hired to investigate, the mystery turns into a spoofy, yet, gritty detective story that tries and tries.
This issue I have is that I am not sure what it tried exactly.
The noir feel was there, certainly, but the spoofiness didn't really work for me. Maybe it was the lack of subtlety, maybe it was the abundance of schoolboy humour (gaah...), maybe it was abrupt (and somewhat predictable) ending. I don't know. What I do know is that this book made me want to pick up a Thursday Next novel again...which, btw, also features Wales in a special light, even tho slightly differently.
I'm glad I read this, and parts of the book were funny, but I'm not going to continue with the series.
A noir-style mystery set in alternative version (one hopes!) of Aberystwyth, where a Druid mob silences its opposition by making them ... disappear or just kills about anyone who knows too much.
And all because the Grand Wizard is...
Ah. Hehe.
The mystery in this one started off intriguing. A schoolboy has disappeared. Then other schoolboys turn up dead. So, when Aberystwyth's finest ... and only ... private eye is hired to investigate, the mystery turns into a spoofy, yet, gritty detective story that tries and tries.
This issue I have is that I am not sure what it tried exactly.
The noir feel was there, certainly, but the spoofiness didn't really work for me. Maybe it was the lack of subtlety, maybe it was the abundance of schoolboy humour (gaah...), maybe it was abrupt (and somewhat predictable) ending. I don't know. What I do know is that this book made me want to pick up a Thursday Next novel again...which, btw, also features Wales in a special light, even tho slightly differently.
I'm glad I read this, and parts of the book were funny, but I'm not going to continue with the series.
February 26, 2012
There's a particular strain of whimsy running through British fiction that I can't quite figure out. Sometimes, as with Jasper Fforde, I find it tedious; very occasionally, as with a few Robert Rankin and an even fewer Tom Holt novels, it works. Terry Pratchett is the only person who has pulled it off with any consistency: a comic novel with a dead serious plot.
Malcolm Pryce veers between a bewildering variety of registers in this novel, encompassing schoolboy humour (a girl with the surname Blojob), absurd comedy, ripe Chandeleresque metaphors, hard-boiled meditations on human nature and a mystery plot that is ridiculous to the point of burlesque, while still striving for some genuine emotional resonance. It all seems a bit too much, but it works well enough for a harmless weekend afternoon read. Maybe the joke will wear thin if I try and read any more in this series.
Malcolm Pryce veers between a bewildering variety of registers in this novel, encompassing schoolboy humour (a girl with the surname Blojob), absurd comedy, ripe Chandeleresque metaphors, hard-boiled meditations on human nature and a mystery plot that is ridiculous to the point of burlesque, while still striving for some genuine emotional resonance. It all seems a bit too much, but it works well enough for a harmless weekend afternoon read. Maybe the joke will wear thin if I try and read any more in this series.
September 28, 2011
4.5 stars really. This book was a perfect mix of very well done noir and some hilarious black comedy with just a touch of fantasy thrown in. The only gripe I had was that a couple bits of the mystery were a little obvious, but the writing was so excellent that it overshadowed that issue for me. Louie Kight is my new favorite investigator.
I am jonesing for the next book Last Tango in Aberystwyth, which I've ordered but has not arrived. It's all i can think about.
I am jonesing for the next book Last Tango in Aberystwyth, which I've ordered but has not arrived. It's all i can think about.
January 23, 2016
After reading various reviews about this book I had high expectations. Billed in a similar genre, and alongside such writers, as Tom Holt, Jasper Fforde and Terry Pratchett. I have now finished the book and I am quite disappointed, it didn't really resonate with me at all. I get that it was a bit of a pastiche on the glut of dime store detective novels, although transposed to Wales, but the plot was very thin. There was some humour, but not anything that I felt that I immediately wanted to share with someone. The characters seemed rather wooden too.
All in all, I guess that it tried to be too many things, and didn't really succeed in any of them. Having said that it does have rather a unique outlook, which helped raise it up to 2 stars.
All in all, I guess that it tried to be too many things, and didn't really succeed in any of them. Having said that it does have rather a unique outlook, which helped raise it up to 2 stars.
February 26, 2011
I really, really wanted to like Aberystwyth Mon Amour. Somehow, though, I'm not sure I really did. I thought it was very inventive and pretty funny. I loved the horror of a realisation that someone was, wait for it... English, for example. It's funny, but it's also true, in a way. The idea of someone who seems like a quintessential part of Welsh culture turning out to be English -- I can imagine that really happening, really being a betrayal, although not on such a dramatic scale.
The plot is patently ridiculous, but that's pretty much the point. It's fun and easy enough to read, but the prose is hardly worthy of being compared to Raymond Chandler's (yeah, I have a real thing about people being compared to Chandler; I have the same thing about all female singer-songwriters being compared to Joni Mitchell). The atmosphere obviously isn't very Chandler-esque, and really it's just the whole idea of a private detective that links the two -- that and the references to all private detectives drinking whiskey, etc.
The ridiculousness kept me off kilter. I just went with the flow and didn't try working things out. So I didn't get the satisfaction of being right, or the pleasant shock of being wrong, either.
The plot is patently ridiculous, but that's pretty much the point. It's fun and easy enough to read, but the prose is hardly worthy of being compared to Raymond Chandler's (yeah, I have a real thing about people being compared to Chandler; I have the same thing about all female singer-songwriters being compared to Joni Mitchell). The atmosphere obviously isn't very Chandler-esque, and really it's just the whole idea of a private detective that links the two -- that and the references to all private detectives drinking whiskey, etc.
The ridiculousness kept me off kilter. I just went with the flow and didn't try working things out. So I didn't get the satisfaction of being right, or the pleasant shock of being wrong, either.
January 6, 2010
I spotted this as a cheap read in a random bookshop a few years ago, and I'm glad I did; it has some delightfully offbeat humour and a level of darkness that suits me to a T.
However, I really strongly advise people that if they've never been to Aberyswyth (or at least Wales) they're really missing a trick. I could really feel it as I read it, so many jokes were going over my head just because at the time, I didn't really know much about Wales. Something I've confirmed since I've moved there.
However, I really strongly advise people that if they've never been to Aberyswyth (or at least Wales) they're really missing a trick. I could really feel it as I read it, so many jokes were going over my head just because at the time, I didn't really know much about Wales. Something I've confirmed since I've moved there.
May 29, 2017
Having attended university in Aberystwyth I could tell the author knew the town however I got the impression that it was full of in-jokes and therefore not funny to anyone not in the authors friendship group . It felt as though it had been dreamt up on a drunken night out and seemed hilarious to the people involved but not translated well to paper. I'm not sure why it seems to try to be two genres, fantasy and noir fiction, as these two did not marry well. Why set it in Aberystwyth if the fantasy element was to be included? Surely it would have been better to make it a fictional town or to just have a detective novel set in Aberystwyth.
April 24, 2023
Wow. The humour in this, the Welsh in-jokes, the style of writing, the plot, everything was amazing.
I loved understanding the Welsh place names, due to the fact that I moved to Swansea nearly 13 years ago and I love it.
The plot kept me reading all the time to find out what happened next. I loved all the characters and the action too.
I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
I loved understanding the Welsh place names, due to the fact that I moved to Swansea nearly 13 years ago and I love it.
The plot kept me reading all the time to find out what happened next. I loved all the characters and the action too.
I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
July 14, 2013
Another holiday read. Browsing the shelves of 'BOOKS ETC.' in Gatwick airport when suddenly the word Aberystwyth jumped out at me - but surely I was wrong and had misread the title as the picture on the front had nothing to do with the town I know so well. The brash colours of this typically American looking 'Dime Thriller' even has printed on crease marks to make the book look well thumbed. I wont say that I couldn't put this book down, just that I bought it at 7.00am and it was finished by 11pm the same day - helped by a 2 hour time difference between the UK and Cyprus.
Extract from the back cover sums up a lot. "Schoolboys are disappearing all over Aberystwyth and nobody knows why. Louie Knight, the town's private investigator, soon realises that it is going to take more than a double ripple from Sospan, the philosopher cum ice-cream seller, to help find out what is happening to these boys and whether or not Lovespoon, the Welsh teacher, Grand Wizard of the Druids and controller of the town, is more than just a sinister bully. And just who was Gwenno Guevara."
I am lucky enough to know Aberystwyth without having lived there. I was once an honorary member of the Aberystwyth Wine Club and traveled with them on three occasions around various wine regions of France. It is on trips like that you find out about the quirky characters of the various teachers, lecturers, lawyers etc with their understandings of Welsh, English and French languages. For those that do not know Aberystwyth it is not in North Wales, Mid Wales or South Wales but seems to be a small kingdom on its own with its own rules on life - hence the ideal setting for a quirky book like this.
Importantly, if you were a student at the local university then you MUST read the novel to relive the memories of the many landmarks featured. If you live in Aberystwyth then you will probably have already read a 'passed around' copy. My favourite memory - The Milk Bar where I shared a cup of tea on many an occasion with Chris Samuel who, at that time, managed what was then the best wine outlet in Aberystwyth but which has now, unfortunately become a standard UK off licence.
Extract from the back cover sums up a lot. "Schoolboys are disappearing all over Aberystwyth and nobody knows why. Louie Knight, the town's private investigator, soon realises that it is going to take more than a double ripple from Sospan, the philosopher cum ice-cream seller, to help find out what is happening to these boys and whether or not Lovespoon, the Welsh teacher, Grand Wizard of the Druids and controller of the town, is more than just a sinister bully. And just who was Gwenno Guevara."
I am lucky enough to know Aberystwyth without having lived there. I was once an honorary member of the Aberystwyth Wine Club and traveled with them on three occasions around various wine regions of France. It is on trips like that you find out about the quirky characters of the various teachers, lecturers, lawyers etc with their understandings of Welsh, English and French languages. For those that do not know Aberystwyth it is not in North Wales, Mid Wales or South Wales but seems to be a small kingdom on its own with its own rules on life - hence the ideal setting for a quirky book like this.
Importantly, if you were a student at the local university then you MUST read the novel to relive the memories of the many landmarks featured. If you live in Aberystwyth then you will probably have already read a 'passed around' copy. My favourite memory - The Milk Bar where I shared a cup of tea on many an occasion with Chris Samuel who, at that time, managed what was then the best wine outlet in Aberystwyth but which has now, unfortunately become a standard UK off licence.
September 18, 2011
Love it or hate it? People who have read it seem to have gravitated to the two extremes, and the reviews here reflect this.
I really can't make my mind up about it, as there were parts where I suspended disbelief and was carried along with a clever and twisty plot, and there were other parts where it just annoyed me. Details of the town geography and topography captured perfectly, only to be let down by something discordantly out of place.
People mention the capturing of the Welsh voice, but for me this element was sadly lacking. In fact it seemed to indicate that English was the only language spoken in Aberystwyth apart from superficial greetings of single Welsh phrases. No huddles of people gossiping in Welsh and breaking into English when a stranger enters the shop, with an obvious change of subject, which occurs frequently in fact. No failing to understand something quite basic when asked in English. Little real description of the surroundings or environment to build a picture. That part of it for me was disappointing.
There were inconsistencies in the plot at the end, where it moved so fast one wonders whether Pryce bungled it because of a tight deadline to finish writing.
It makes me think of my school reports: "Full of promise but needs more care in the execution".
A whole series? Well the titles are quite clever, but I'm not sure the contents would live up to their titles.
I really can't make my mind up about it, as there were parts where I suspended disbelief and was carried along with a clever and twisty plot, and there were other parts where it just annoyed me. Details of the town geography and topography captured perfectly, only to be let down by something discordantly out of place.
People mention the capturing of the Welsh voice, but for me this element was sadly lacking. In fact it seemed to indicate that English was the only language spoken in Aberystwyth apart from superficial greetings of single Welsh phrases. No huddles of people gossiping in Welsh and breaking into English when a stranger enters the shop, with an obvious change of subject, which occurs frequently in fact. No failing to understand something quite basic when asked in English. Little real description of the surroundings or environment to build a picture. That part of it for me was disappointing.
There were inconsistencies in the plot at the end, where it moved so fast one wonders whether Pryce bungled it because of a tight deadline to finish writing.
It makes me think of my school reports: "Full of promise but needs more care in the execution".
A whole series? Well the titles are quite clever, but I'm not sure the contents would live up to their titles.
December 23, 2016
While I may not have enjoyed this quite as much as The Day Aberystwyth Stood Still, this was still an absolute joy to read and completely embraced the dark satirical humour that I loved in the later book. Here Pryce throws Knight into the strange and weird world of the Druids who run the town Mafia style including the Moulin where Myfanwy works. A feisty young woman who uses her skills and talents to encourage Knight to investigate the schoolboy murders that have been happening all over Aberystwyth. Throw in some veterans, hidden identities and some really good ice cream and you have a story that can barely be believed and a biblical ending that while a little rushed (although this may be the speed I was reading it), is still utterly gripping.
July 15, 2022
I decided to pick this book up mainly because it’s set in Aberystwyth and I enjoy a crime novel. The noir style was definitely there, but there were many parts (especially the ending) which seemed rushed and disjointed. If you went to uni in Aber/lived here/visited at one time, I’d give it a go- there are some enjoyable elements to the book (and it certainly does not lack in surprises, whether they help the plot that’s a different question). I’m afraid I won’t be continuing with the series.
January 8, 2023
I can honestly say, hand on heart that this book is one that has in fact definitely been published.
100% is a book.
100% is a book.
February 16, 2025
A regrettably feeble attempt at satirical noir that has enough quirky material for a solid thirty-page short story and that feels egregiously padded out. Pryce claims he's mimicking Chandler, but he just doesn't have the wild simile chops on the prose level. King of Welsh noir? I wouldn't call this hack the king of anything. Louie Knight is a one-note detective of one-dimensional tropes. Even the promising mystery of schoolkids disappearing all across this Welsh town has a completely disappointing denoument. This novel has its moments, but it's not much fun.
August 3, 2013
What a wonderful find! This loving homage to the hardboiled detective novel is set in an alternate-history Wales, where the Druids are the local mob, and the Welsh military adventure in Patagonia left traumatized and stigmatized veterans homeless on the seaside. Every genre cliche is twisted to the setting, often hilariously, even for someone missing the vast amount of cultural in-jokes.
On top of that, it's a really good story, with memorable characters, carefully crafted plot twists, Chekhov's gun deployed with brilliant results, and a climax you've been waiting your whole life to see in a movie.
If you love the genre, or Welsh culture, or just a solid, fun, often laugh-out-loud read, pick this up. I can't wait till the sequels get here.
On top of that, it's a really good story, with memorable characters, carefully crafted plot twists, Chekhov's gun deployed with brilliant results, and a climax you've been waiting your whole life to see in a movie.
If you love the genre, or Welsh culture, or just a solid, fun, often laugh-out-loud read, pick this up. I can't wait till the sequels get here.
August 7, 2021
This started off well; the humour and the excellent juxtaposition of the gumshoe tropes with the more 'mundane' setting of Aberystwyth worked really well and raised a smile, as intended.
Then, as I got into the second half of the book I realised that I didn't care that much for the characters of story, and the humour wasn't quite as frequent as I would have liked.
That said, it was highly original, and definitely amusing.
Then, as I got into the second half of the book I realised that I didn't care that much for the characters of story, and the humour wasn't quite as frequent as I would have liked.
That said, it was highly original, and definitely amusing.
May 13, 2019
Reminds me a bit of Jasper Fforde, with quirky characters, several plot lines and some humour thrown in. Quite enjoyable.
May 16, 2022
Picked this up in a charity shop on holiday in Wales. I'm not a big fan of pratchett and Rankin or fforde and found the author didn't explain satisfactorily many plot points that left me disappointed and detracted from the book as a whole . Maybe this wasn't meant for me and not everything needs to be explained but I won't be reading any more
December 22, 2018
A PI mystery set in a fantasy universe. Some people like this kind of thing, but I guess I don't.
July 23, 2020
Not for me lads
June 22, 2024
Wonderful
January 4, 2025
I am enjoying it, but one main niggle sticks out. Vincent either can't say 's' or he can... it is too inconsistent and grates quite a bit.
February 21, 2021
well that was quite something!
May 6, 2011
The first of Malcolm Pryce's Louie Knight Mysteries introduces us to a world where the language and mores of a Raymond Chandler novel are transported to the small Welsh seaside town of Aberystwyth. The local bars are replaced by an ice cream vendor and a 24 hour whelk stall, the girls at the strip club dress in flirtatious versions of Welsh national costume. As this suggests, the version of Wales Pryce presents is slightly surreal, with witchcraft and runes and a town council run by a mob of corrupt Druids. Wales is a former colonial power, a disastrous attempt to conquer Patagonia staining the national conscience (“the Welsh Vietnam”).
Louie Knight, the town's only private eye, is asked to look into the disappearance of a stripper's cousin, and becomes enmeshed in the murder of several schoolboys and, of course, a plot that threatens the town. He narrates the proceedings like Philip Marlowe, which nicely counterpoints the small town setting and the Welsh accents that come across in the dialogue.
Aberystwyth Mon Amour is an interesting, light read, but suffers from an unevenness of tone. While there are many witty, comic moments, Pryce doesn't quite seem to know how to tread the line between this and the darkness in the story – both the inherent darkness in the murders and the themes of loss and displacement that permeate the book. This uncertainty also seems to affect how distant from our reality this Aberystwyth is; for me he could have embraced the surreal aspects more, and indeed seems to do so toward the end of the book. It was somewhat reminiscent of the world of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next, a reality skewed from our own at a rakish angle, but I felt that Pryce's reality needs to be slightly better defined. I'm intrigued to see how his style develops; if the tone and setting can solidify then it may well a thoroughly enjoyable series.
The next book is Last Tango in Aberystwyth and the third The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth, which I think may just be the best book title of all time.
Louie Knight, the town's only private eye, is asked to look into the disappearance of a stripper's cousin, and becomes enmeshed in the murder of several schoolboys and, of course, a plot that threatens the town. He narrates the proceedings like Philip Marlowe, which nicely counterpoints the small town setting and the Welsh accents that come across in the dialogue.
Aberystwyth Mon Amour is an interesting, light read, but suffers from an unevenness of tone. While there are many witty, comic moments, Pryce doesn't quite seem to know how to tread the line between this and the darkness in the story – both the inherent darkness in the murders and the themes of loss and displacement that permeate the book. This uncertainty also seems to affect how distant from our reality this Aberystwyth is; for me he could have embraced the surreal aspects more, and indeed seems to do so toward the end of the book. It was somewhat reminiscent of the world of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next, a reality skewed from our own at a rakish angle, but I felt that Pryce's reality needs to be slightly better defined. I'm intrigued to see how his style develops; if the tone and setting can solidify then it may well a thoroughly enjoyable series.
The next book is Last Tango in Aberystwyth and the third The Unbearable Lightness of Being in Aberystwyth, which I think may just be the best book title of all time.
February 1, 2016
Доведение до абсурда - это своего рода талант, присущий далеко не всем авторам, но Малколм Прайс им явно наделён. Он написал один из самых странных детективов, которые мне когда-либо доводилось читать.
По сути, наверно, эта книга - скорее пародия на нуарный детектив, и законы жанра здесь вполне соблюдены. Но уж очень гротескно. Отдельные моменты в книге настолько дурацкие, что даже не кажутся странными; абсурдность происходящего если и не возведена в абсолют, то в любом случае близка к этому. В этой связи ничуть не удивляет количество отрицательных рецензий: укуренные книги всё-таки, видимо, не всем по душе. Временами, читая, я не могла понять, когда автор пишет серьёзно, а когда прикалывается. Возможно, он в принципе не пишет серьёзно, а только прикалывается всю дорогу.
Что радовало лично меня - место действия и герои, в том смысле, что книга про Уэльс. Аберистуит - вполне себе реальный город на севере страны, причём описан он здесь годно: это не просто декорация, а полноценное место действия, фактически в чём-то даже один из героев книги. Сами персонажи по-валлийски, правда, практически не говорят, но имена, да и характеры, сомнений не вызывают - это валлийцы. Правильные. Каноничные, если можно так сказать. И переводчику зачёт за имена и названия, ибо валлийский, как, впрочем, и другие кельтские языки, на письме выглядит так, словно кто-то ударил кулаком по клавиатуре, и правильно перевести эти чудеса письменности на русский не так легко, как может показаться. Здесь всё выглядит правдоподобно.
В общем, это очень странная книга, но удивительным образом эта странность подкупает и затягивает. Я уже с нетерпением жду возвращения в Аберистуит - благо, есть ещё целых пять книг об этом загадочном городе.
По сути, наверно, эта книга - скорее пародия на нуарный детектив, и законы жанра здесь вполне соблюдены. Но уж очень гротескно. Отдельные моменты в книге настолько дурацкие, что даже не кажутся странными; абсурдность происходящего если и не возведена в абсолют, то в любом случае близка к этому. В этой связи ничуть не удивляет количество отрицательных рецензий: укуренные книги всё-таки, видимо, не всем по душе. Временами, читая, я не могла понять, когда автор пишет серьёзно, а когда прикалывается. Возможно, он в принципе не пишет серьёзно, а только прикалывается всю дорогу.
Что радовало лично меня - место действия и герои, в том смысле, что книга про Уэльс. Аберистуит - вполне себе реальный город на севере страны, причём описан он здесь годно: это не просто декорация, а полноценное место действия, фактически в чём-то даже один из героев книги. Сами персонажи по-валлийски, правда, практически не говорят, но имена, да и характеры, сомнений не вызывают - это валлийцы. Правильные. Каноничные, если можно так сказать. И переводчику зачёт за имена и названия, ибо валлийский, как, впрочем, и другие кельтские языки, на письме выглядит так, словно кто-то ударил кулаком по клавиатуре, и правильно перевести эти чудеса письменности на русский не так легко, как может показаться. Здесь всё выглядит правдоподобно.
В общем, это очень странная книга, но удивительным образом эта странность подкупает и затягивает. Я уже с нетерпением жду возвращения в Аберистуит - благо, есть ещё целых пять книг об этом загадочном городе.
July 5, 2016
Now this was a nice surprise. It took some time to get used to this alternative version of Wales (not that I know enough of the real one), and this accounts for the 4 instead of 5 stars, but otherwise a real treat, a mixture of Chandleresque melancholy with occasionally cynical black humour, a rampant fantasy and some really memorable scenes (not characters though, but the genre is a bit dependent on cliches). Some of the turns most likely meant to be surprises I guessed, but then there were a few surprises that I didn't. One of these, related to a person Louie meets in a prison toward the end of the novel (won't say more) added another scratch to the smooth surface, because the surprise entailed a bit of deusexmachinery that one shouldn't necessarily encounter in a work of this quality. So, a bit of room for development, but Louie Knight will most likely be a frequent appearance on my reading list from now on.
May 15, 2011
Hilarious. A bit twisted and darkly comic, too. But really, this sets the bar pretty high for the rest of the series. There were so many unexpected twists and just plan weird situations, yet all somewhat believable. An alternate reality version of Aberystwyth, the seaside Welsh town where in Pryce's version, Druids run the place like the mob. I hesitate to say too much, because the fun is in anticipating just how strange things get, and then they get even wilder. It's definitely a typical "noir" novel, and in being so, also manages to be a parody of an entire genre while itself belonging to said genre. It's light, fun reading, especially for anyone with any connection to or fondness for Wales.
January 5, 2012
I've been meaning to read this book for some time and when I came across the first 3 novels in the series at a local car-boot sale (for the princely sum of £1) I snapped them up.
This is a comic fantasy "noir" novel with plenty of twists and turns. Think of a mesh up between Raymond Chandler and Jasper Fforde and you will end up with this book. It is set in an alternate reality version of Aberystwyth (like Fforde's alternate reality in the Thursday Next novels). Druids run the place as the mob, schoolboys go missing, add in a femme fatale (think of Lauren Bascall's character in The Big Sleep) and Louie Knight, the town's only private investigator, soon gets embroiled up to his neck trying to solve the crimes taking place.
Well worth a read.
This is a comic fantasy "noir" novel with plenty of twists and turns. Think of a mesh up between Raymond Chandler and Jasper Fforde and you will end up with this book. It is set in an alternate reality version of Aberystwyth (like Fforde's alternate reality in the Thursday Next novels). Druids run the place as the mob, schoolboys go missing, add in a femme fatale (think of Lauren Bascall's character in The Big Sleep) and Louie Knight, the town's only private investigator, soon gets embroiled up to his neck trying to solve the crimes taking place.
Well worth a read.
January 31, 2010
I’ve read other books in Malcolm Pryce’s Aberystwyth series, but never the first one. Having now raced through it (it’s the perfect book for a wet afternoon), I have to say it’s the best. Whimsy is something I can take or leave, but Pryce’s placing of a hard boiled world in a West Wales town is one that carries a great deal of wit and charm. Whelk bars and ice-cream parlours stand in for speakeasies, the good time girls all wear traditional Welsh outfits, and a long ago war between Wales and Patagonia provides the disillusioned veterans. The plot is absolutely preposterous, but the vim and inventiveness of this book make it truly entertaining.
July 20, 2011
Hmm. Bit of a mixed bag this one. Set in an alternate Aberystwyth run by the Druids, private investigator Louie Knight walks those mean streets trying to find out who's killing off local schoolboys. And why is headmaster and chief Druid Lovespoon building an Ark. What is the secret of the doomed raid on Rio Caeriog during the Welsh-Patagonian War....no stay with me here. Amusing but a big saggy in the middle, this is a good book to while away the hours if you have nothing better to read. I suspect this is the best of the series.
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