I confess that I had not heard of this book until Mr. Fallis came to speak at the Sisters in Crime Toronto Chapter meeting. From the bits that he read I was hooked. Once I picked up my own copy, I read it in one sitting. It is a fantastic, well-written, fun read. The wry humour coupled with the insights into federal political machinations was just delicious.

A former politico, Fallis self-published The Best Laid Plans, his first novel. Once it won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour things took off. In 2011, it was the winner of CBC’s Canada Reads competition.

Told from the point-of-view of Daniel Addison, head speech writer for the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, we begin the story on his last days at work. The circumstances of his leaving are mundane and yet depressingly true. We immediately like this engaging character. The fact that he’s a speech writer allows for the many bon mots and caustic observations he makes throughout the book.

We are soon introduced to Muriel Parkinson, a sharp and warm Liberal loyalist living in a nursing home and Angus McLintock, a reclusive professor at Carlton University. Angus talks to his recently deceased wife of 40 years through letters he writes in his journal. While these letters give us a deeper insight into his character, we don’t get the full impact of this plot device until nearly the end of the book. And it is a very satisfying pay-off.

The main plot revolves around the “price” Daniel has to pay in order to leave his parliamentary job: find a Liberal candidate to run in the upcoming election for the staunchly Conservative riding of Cumberland-Prescott. Needless to say, the shenanigans and deal-making that ensue are the heart of the book, and where all the fun is.

Curl up when you have a few hours free and treat yourself to this fun little gem.
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Very enjtoyable2 ( )

I really liked this book. It was funny and good hearted and felt oh so Canadian. ( )

This was the audio version of this book, as originally podcast. I expect a few of the minor issues I had with it have probably been ironed out for the print version. If you like satire or Canadian politics (and maybe even more if you DON'T like politics) you will likely enjoy this book! ( )

Nice little Liberal Party fairy tale, too bad reality for the party is a bit harsher and the professor did not actually save the day :) The author does tend to lay it a bit thick on the Liberal party line. Nice and simple, all black and white, only good and bad people here, no real characters, only caricatures, but it's okay, too few books are set in Canadian politics, so read it. ( )