≫ Download Gratis Don't Cry For Me Aberystwyth Malcolm Pryce 9780747593171 Books

Don't Cry For Me Aberystwyth Malcolm Pryce 9780747593171 Books

Download As PDF : Don't Cry For Me Aberystwyth Malcolm Pryce 9780747593171 Books

Don't Cry For Me Aberystwyth Malcolm Pryce 9780747593171 Books

Quirky, interesting, Raymond Chandler meets Neil Gaiman - brilliant


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Don't Cry For Me Aberystwyth Malcolm Pryce 9780747593171 Books Reviews

While the second and third books in Malcolm Pryce's Abertystwyth series didn't quite make it for me--I thought he had tried to stretch the material too far--this fourth mystery is probably the best of the bunch. It's Christmastime in Aberystwyth and Santa (the only Jewish man in town) is shot dead. The Queen of Denmark wants the case solved, but the pressure is so great that Louie and Calamity split. Louie has to deal with another out-of-town cop, a Pieman, Mossad, the Pinkertons, and more besides before he can get to the bottom of what turns out to be another Patagonian war story--and maybe get back Myfanwy as well.
I enjoy noir tales, and every now and then it's fun to change things up with a humorous noir. The problem is that a good, amusing noir is so hard to pull off. It's an oil and water thing. Good noir, to me, is dark and hopeless, and the endings are usually ironic, unjust, and crushingly grim. That doesn't sound much like a recipe for an amusing romp. Enter this book.

Pryce pulls off the almost impossible task of producing a perfectly satisfying detective mystery noir, while also creating amusing characters, witty banter, a clever and ironic narrator, and memorable vivid set pieces. It may be his judicious introduction of the absurd. This isn't a straight detective novel with funny dialogue and it isn't a funny novel with a touch of mystery. It is, rather, a restrained exploration of the absurd that comes with just enough deadpan delivery to sell the idea that it's a detective novel. It also has a darker mood than Pryce's previous Aberystwyth books, and more of the humor has an edge to it.

When one of the main characters is a taxidermied dog with a Mona Lisa smile, (and at the end we learn the reason for that smile), you realize that we aren't really in Hammett/Chandler territory. But we also aren't in manic farce or comic country. We are at some weird intersection of the two. And I take special delight in this being set in Wales, which has made something of a specialty of hosting the weird intersections of things.

So, alternately funny, touching, silly, deadpan, introspective, chilly, and warm, (and loaded with great, short one-off rants), this is a marvelously well written book that will satisfy even if you just breeze along appreciating some of Pryce's top drawer throwaway lines and observations. Add appealing characters, and a silly but coherent plot, and you end up with a unique and quite satisfying treat.
Excellent comedic noir slice of west Wales.
Great story - lots of fun - another wonderful adventure in this strange place Aberystwyth. I would not be surprised if Malcolm Pryce was a wanted man in Wales!
Quirky, interesting, Raymond Chandler meets Neil Gaiman - brilliant