Cat Among the Herrings by L.C. Tyler

Cat Among the Herrings is the seventh book in a series of comic crime novels which began with the excellent The Herring-Seller's Apprentice.I enjoyed that book and reviewed it in the earlier days of this blog, at which time I hadn't met the author. Not long after that, my son Jonathan - a big fan of the first book in the series - contributed his one and only review to this blog, of the second appearance of hapless crime novelist Ethelred Tressider and his literary agent Elsie Thirkettle.

Since that time, I've got to know Len Tyler quite well, and as he is the Chair of the CWA,and I am his obedient Vice Chair, you wouldn't expect me to give him a cruel review, would you? Nor am I going to do so. Rather, let me talk a bit about comic crime in the context of Len's books. The first thing to be said is that it's very difficult to write a consistently successful series of comic crime novels. Not many people have done it - the few exceptions include such highly skilled writers as Colin Watson and Simon Brett.

Len's method is very sensible. He takes, or so it seems to me, a slightly different approach to each book in the series, and thereby contrives to keep things fresh. The law of diminishing returns, as has often been said, does apply to comic crime series (Joyce Porter was a writer who began brilliantly, but most of her later work didn't really achieve the same standard). Happily, Cat Among the Herrings avoids the pitfall of sameyness.

The USP of this book is that it combines a present day murder mystery with a case dating back to the 19th century. This is a method comparable to that employed by, among others, Kate Ellis, but I can't think of a comic crime novel in which it has been used before. Len's interest in history - he's also written historical mysteries which I haven't got round to yet - ensures that this is a strong entry in the series. As for the comedy, there are many great lines, especially in the first half of the book, before the plot really thickens. It's especially entertaining if you're involved in writing crime, but even if you aren't, there's plenty here to keep you amused.

L.C. Tyler - Crooked Herring: review

You know how it is. You wait for ages for a new book from a favourite author, and then two turn up at once. So it is with L.C. Tyler. It's quite some time since his last book about Ethelred Tressider, the hapless mid-list detective novelist, but now Ethelred returns in Crooked Herring. And at more or less the same time, Len has published a historical crime novel, the first in a new series. I hope to read the latter before long. In the meantime, what about Crooked Herring?

Ethelred made his debut seven years ago, in The Herring-Seller's Apprentice, a very enjoyable mystery. I read and relished it before I met the author - a point that is worth making for a couple of reasons. First, I have got to know Len since then, and we're currently both members of the CWA committee. We even now share a publisher, because he's joined me at Allison & Busby, who have supplied this new hardback with an excellent and easy-on-the-eye dustjacket. Second, there's a lot in this particular story about crime writers reviewing each other - with calamitous results. So I was bound to wonder about reviewing Len's book. But I decided to go ahead, simply because the story is such fun.

Part of the pleasure, naturally, came from all the allusions to the working lives of contemporary British crime writers. Ethelred happens to have been a judge for a particular CWA award - and in fact Len too has been a judge. There are plentiful references to Crimefest and Harrogate, as well as Amazon reviews, which play an important part in the plot. Amazon reviews are often discussed by writers, who tend to have mixed feelings about them. But there's no doubt they form an important part of the modern literary landscape, although the ability to post reviews anonymously does raise questions as to their value and validity, as well as contributing to the plot of this particular novel. Yep, sockpuppets make an appearance...

Even if I didn't know Len or his publisher (you'll have to take my word on this) I'd be pleased to recommend this book to anyone who likes humorous detective fiction. I think it's probably his best book since his debut, and possibly the best of the lot. I'll be interested to read his new series, too, but I hope very much that he won't desert Ethelred, even though at the end of the story, our hero's life is taking a very different turn. The fact that Allison & Busby are planning to reprint the earlier Ethelreds encourages me to keep my fingers crossed that Ethelred will return to solve a new puzzle before too long.

The Herring in the Library

L.C.Tyler’s The Herring-Seller’s Apprentice attracted a good deal of well-deserved attention, introducing as it did two very entertaining characters, unsuccessful crime writer Ethelred Tressider and his long-suffering agent Elsie Thirkettle, in a story which paid agreeable homage to the Golden Age mystery. Tyler’s fourth novel, and his third featuring Ethelred and Elsie, has just been published, and I’ve certainly enjoyed reading it.

You can tell from the pleasing title of The Herring in the Library that again we are in Golden Age territory. Here, Ethelred’s old friend Sir Robert Muntham is found dead in the library of Muntham Court, after a dinner attended by Ethelred, Elsie, and a host of people who had reason to wish Sir Robert harm.

The present day narrative is accompanied by extracts from one of Ethelred’s historical mysteries, featuring Chaucer’s sidekick Master Thomas, investigating a crime which has curious parallels with the case of Sir Robert. Tyler manages, therefore, to poke fun at two different kinds of detective story in the course of one novel.

There are plenty of jokes, as well as a witty finale, and I can imagine the author’s delight in having Sir Robert’s comely widow saying to Ethelred, ‘I’ve always found crime writers irresistibly attractive. Most women do.’ Alas, it’s a reminder that this is a work of inventive fiction! I am a Len Tyler fan, and his work is one of my favourite discoveries of the last few years. This is another very agreeable read.

Jonathan and Ten Little Herrings

This is a blog about crime writing, and I don’t usually feature my family in it – they have more than enough to put up without my intruding on their privacy. But today I’m making a bit of an exception, because it’s been a special twenty four hours in the life of my webmaster and the designer of this blog, Jonathan. He’s done very well in his A Levels, so he can now accept the offer of a place at Oxford – he’ll be reading Law at my old college, Balliol, as from October. I'm truly delighted for him.

Jonathan is, like me, a big fan of the writing of L.C.Tyler, one of my favourite discoveries of the past few years. Len’s latest, Ten Little Herrings, follows up The Herring-Seller’s Apprentice. The only snag is that due to a variety of commitments, I haven’t got round to reading it yet - but Jonathan has, and therefore he has contributed this guest review, his first:

‘We rejoin the enigmatic Ethelred and his irrepressible agent Elsie Thirkettle in a faded hotel in a French backwater some months after the events of The Herring Seller’s Apprentice. With his credit cards cancelled and worrying about his Sussex boiler, it seems Ethelred has no alternative to return with Elsie to England. That is, until murder intervenes.

The hotel becomes the backdrop for a traditional detective setup as the guests all fall under suspicion. Elsie begins her own amateur investigation and soon discovers that few of the guests are the simple philatelists they claim. Her zeal and fondness of chocolate cause her to clash with the police, while Ethelred is resolutely unhelpful. Meanwhile, the proceedings are clouded by the recent emergence of two rare stamps, rumours of a notorious necklace, and an intrigue of Ethelred’s own.

Events are concluded with a stereotypical gathering in the dining room, where Elsie produces her controversial discoveries. As with the entire story, this scene combines traditional detective fiction with memorable wit and a modern twist. Ten Little Herrings is a light-hearted and thoroughly entertaining sequel.’

Euromonkeys and Criminal Tendencies

For the first evening of Crimefest, it was off to the pub, for a meal, plenty of wine, and a crime quiz. I met Len Tyler for the first time – he wrote that excellent novel The Herring-Seller’s Apprentice – and it was also good to have a chat with fellow blogger Rafe McGregor. I wangled my way into a good quiz team – the Euromonkeys! – and when we came out on top, we were given a bag of books and DVDs of our own to share around. Lots of fun, and there are even pictures of the Euromonkeys on Karen Meek’s Eurocrime blog…

Among the varied events of Friday and Saturday, I was impressed by the fluency and charm of one of the guests of honour, Hakan Nesser, about whom I’ll post more in a future blog. Suffice to say that he does not conform at all to the stereotype of the gloomy Scandinavian crime novelist. Along with a group including Barry Forshaw, Ann Cleeves (whose interview of Hakan skilfully brought out his personality, as well as much information), and Elizabeth Saccente, who was short-listed for the CWA Debut Dagger, I was on Hakan’s table for the Gala Dinner on Saturday evening, which followed immediately after a party for all Crimefest delegates given by publishers Constable & Robinson.

A highlight twenty-four hours earlier was another publishers’ party, held by Crème de la Crime to celebrate the publication of the anthology Criminal Tendencies, which I’ve talked about on this blog in the past. A raffle was held for a special signed copy, and my pact with Beelzebub resulted in my number coming up when Mark Billingham made the draw. Much credit goes to Lynn Patrick of Crème for the money she has raised for breast cancer charities.

I was glad to meet up again with Caroline Schiach, a new writer who won a competition to contribute to Criminal Tendencies. There were quite a few people at the convention who, like her and Elizabeth, are working hard on their debut novel, and it is good to see that the crime genre attracts continuing enthusiasm and commitment from those who are keen to become involved. They deserve every encouragement – it’s not always easy for them in the current market, but maybe their number includes the next Ruth Rendell and the next Reginald Hill.

The Herring Seller's Apprentice

It’s a long time since I’ve been amused by a detective story as much as I have been by L.C. Tyler’s debut novel, The Herring Seller’s Apprentice. It was published as part of the Macmillan New Writing programme, and I found it really good fun.

The story is told – for the most part – by Ethelred Tressider, a gloriously unsuccessful writer of detective stories featuring an uninspiring cop by the name of Fairfax. Ethelred’s marriage, to the faithless Geraldine, has long since collapsed, but the police come calling one day to say that she has gone missing – and a body has been found.

Events quickly gather momentum. Ethelred identifies the body, and is assisted (or hindered) in his quest to find out what happened to Geraldine by his literary agent, Elsie Thirkettle, who claims to enjoy neither the company of writers nor literature of any sort.

This is a clever story, and even though I spotted the main plot twist at an early stage, this did not detract from the pleasure that Tyler’s witty and intelligent writing gave me. I can thoroughly recommend this book.