Entertaining. I'll qualify that by saying there are a couple of issues with this set of books. Every so often there is a turn of language that grates with me - one example that springs to mind is the use of 'mad keen' several times. Also the story is wild yes but it is not half as clever as the similar style of storytelling that you get from the Malcolm Pryce Aberystwyth novels. Still th story keeps chugging along, four books in and I am still going to read the next one. So Magrs must be doing something right! ( )

Another excellent installment in the on-going saga of Whitby's detecting duo of Brenda & Effie. This time: it's a Hammer Horror Films-like company re-shooting a 1967 film rumoured to have been responsible for several deaths when shooting the original in Wales, plus several cases of madness in audience members. The VHS version was recalled and destroyed, and the DVD was never released... or was it?

Excellent mixture of black humour, mystery, horror, and intriguing characters both based on real people and fictional identities. As the cover states: "Trust me. You may think that the story of the Bride of Frankenstein in a B&B in Whitby isn't for you. You would be wrong." Spot on, strap-line writer: this is for anyone, including your Great Aunt Edith. ( )

I've searched this blog and it seems that I haven't mentioned Paul Magr's Brenda series before, which is odd. The previous ones are Never the Bride, Something Borrowed and Conjugal Rites. They're set in Whitby among elderly ladies who investigate the wierd things that go on there, inbetween fish suppers and really strong tea. The main character, Brenda, is a B+B owner with a mysterious past. These are very good friendly reading, funny and quite clever. If like me you enjoyed the general funny tone of Jasper Fforde's books but found their clever-clever-ness a bit much on occasion, then these might be more to your taste. I love Jessie the womanzee in the second one. ( )

20 May 2010

More adventures of Brenda & Effie... but there's a new girl in town...

Where Karla Sorenson goes, trouble seems to follow. So when Karla comes to Whitby to remake her famous film "Get Thee Inside Me, Satan", during the filming of the original version of which, it's rumoured, the Devil himself was conjured up, trouble with a capital T seems bound to ensue. Then she decides to stay at the decidedly dodgy Christmas Hotel, scene of murder, cannibalism and nasty pies. And to make the film up by the Bitch's Maw. On Hallowe'en. During Goth Weekend...

Meanwhile, we have another new girl in town in the shape of innocent Penny; like the young couple in Rocky Horror, she has no idea of what she's getting herself into. Fresh out of a difficult marriage and enjoying a gothic persona, she's keen on Michael at the new coffee bar and starts work at one of the hotels. She's heard of Karla's film, but never seen a copy, until...

Meanwhile (again), Robert's got himself a new feller with a magic sofa; trouble is, he's a little bit elusive and mysterious. Will he step up to the mark when it really matters? I do like Robert...

And meanwhile (keeping up?) Brenda's settling in to a new relationship and Effie's a tiny bit miffed, having mislaid her chap in a rather unpleasant location a book or so back.

When all of these strands collide, well, we get the usual delicious mix of characters, plot, and the characteristic undermining of pomposity by a well-placed prosaic detail, at which Mr Magrs excels.

Warning: this one went RIGHT up to the edge of my feeble ability to stomach yucky things - not one to read over your breakfast, maybe. But then again, Karla starred in that brain-eating one I couldn't finish, so that's hardly surprising.

And, of course, I can't wait for the next installment...! ( )

This is the fourth book in the series and a much darker read than the previous series. A film crew are in Whitby filming a remake of 'Get Thee Inside Me, Satan', an allegedly cursed sixties horror film. Starring in the film is Karla Sorenson, who also starred in the original but is mysterious unaged and someone is abducting local men, including Frank and Robert. There's a lot going on in this book, which Magrs just about manages. There's lots of local colour, I love how he uses the Goth Festival, and he's set the story up nicely for a fifth book. ( )