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Blotto and Twinks #1
Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King's Daughter
It's that glorious period between the two world wars, and the exiled king of Mitteleuropa is visiting the ancestral home of the Duke of Tawcester. When the ex-king's daughter is kidnapped, noblesse obliges the Duke's handsome, brave, and rather stupid son (known to all as Blotto) to drive off to the rescue. Luckily, he's aided by his brilliant sister, Twinks. Plus, he's got a really swell car.
211 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
60 people are currently reading
402 people want to read
About the author
Simon Brett
329 books532 followersSimon Brett is a prolific British writer of whodunnits.
He is the son of a Chartered Surveyor and was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first class honours degree in English.
He then joined the BBC as a trainee and worked for BBC Radio and London Weekend Television, where his work included 'Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and 'Frank Muir Goes Into ...'.
After his spells with the media he began devoting most of his time to writing from the late 1970s and is well known for his various series of crime novels.
He is married with three children and lives in Burpham, near Arundel, West Sussex, England. He is the current president of the Detection Club.
He is the son of a Chartered Surveyor and was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first class honours degree in English.
He then joined the BBC as a trainee and worked for BBC Radio and London Weekend Television, where his work included 'Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and 'Frank Muir Goes Into ...'.
After his spells with the media he began devoting most of his time to writing from the late 1970s and is well known for his various series of crime novels.
He is married with three children and lives in Burpham, near Arundel, West Sussex, England. He is the current president of the Detection Club.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 162 reviews
March 19, 2025
This book is basically imitation-Wodehouse (with a touch of Dornford Yates, I think), but even sillier and more exaggerated than the real thing. Perhaps it was intended as parody. The trouble with trying to parody a comedy is that you run the risk of being mistaken for a bad imitator.
Its saving grace is that, parody or not, it’s quite amusing in its own right, and could make an amiable time-passer for a journey, unless you have a low tolerance of silliness.
However, the story is deliberately silly and the characters are deliberate caricatures; which seems rather a shame, because the author could surely do better if he wanted to. I have the odd feeling that inside those caricatures are real characters struggling to get out, but the author is determined not to permit any escape.
I’m not a devotee of heavy literature, but this is such light reading that it almost floats away.
There is one slightly sour note: the main caricatures seem superficially likeable and well-meaning, but they’re made to say such outrageous things that I suspect the author despises them. Mr Brett, if you despise your own characters, then why waste your time writing about them? For heaven’s sake, invent characters for whom you can feel real affection, and write about them instead.
I didn’t buy this book, incidentally: my mother sent it to me after reading it herself, with the idea that I might find it amusing.
Its saving grace is that, parody or not, it’s quite amusing in its own right, and could make an amiable time-passer for a journey, unless you have a low tolerance of silliness.
However, the story is deliberately silly and the characters are deliberate caricatures; which seems rather a shame, because the author could surely do better if he wanted to. I have the odd feeling that inside those caricatures are real characters struggling to get out, but the author is determined not to permit any escape.
I’m not a devotee of heavy literature, but this is such light reading that it almost floats away.
There is one slightly sour note: the main caricatures seem superficially likeable and well-meaning, but they’re made to say such outrageous things that I suspect the author despises them. Mr Brett, if you despise your own characters, then why waste your time writing about them? For heaven’s sake, invent characters for whom you can feel real affection, and write about them instead.
I didn’t buy this book, incidentally: my mother sent it to me after reading it herself, with the idea that I might find it amusing.
March 4, 2023
Simon Brett is a master at the mystery novel and in this, the first of a series, he adds comedy. for instance, one of the heros, Blotto - the Right Honourable Devereux Lyminster - says late on when he has nearly sorted out all the problems, 'And if you lot all played cricket, you wouldn't feel so foreign'!
An exiled King, Sigismund, and his daughter, Princess Ethelinde, are domiciled at Tawcester (pronounced Taster) Towers while back in their country of Mitteleuropia the usurper, Vlatislav, rules. Vlatislav's men kidnap Ethelinde and take her back to Mitteleuropia.
Thus begins a chase across Europe with Blotto and his sister Twinks, Lady Honoraria Lyminster, in disguise as a Mitteleuropian translator, in hot pursuit in their Lagonda. A series of hair-raising escapades take place before Blotto and Twinks triumph with Blotto, who overcomes a desperate love approach, tells his sister she is the 'lark's larynx' and sums the episode up with 'Tickey-tockey, well done on the whole rombooley.'
And with those words you have the feel for the whole novel, which keeps moving and is good fun.
An exiled King, Sigismund, and his daughter, Princess Ethelinde, are domiciled at Tawcester (pronounced Taster) Towers while back in their country of Mitteleuropia the usurper, Vlatislav, rules. Vlatislav's men kidnap Ethelinde and take her back to Mitteleuropia.
Thus begins a chase across Europe with Blotto and his sister Twinks, Lady Honoraria Lyminster, in disguise as a Mitteleuropian translator, in hot pursuit in their Lagonda. A series of hair-raising escapades take place before Blotto and Twinks triumph with Blotto, who overcomes a desperate love approach, tells his sister she is the 'lark's larynx' and sums the episode up with 'Tickey-tockey, well done on the whole rombooley.'
And with those words you have the feel for the whole novel, which keeps moving and is good fun.
November 11, 2016
Billed as appealing to fans of Wodehouse but this first in a series falls far short of Wodehouse's wit and sparkle. To me the humor felt superficial and forced as well as rather trite. I grew tired of reading this about half-way through but as it was mercifully short I slogged to the end. Forgettable.
October 21, 2011
eh. This was a disappointment. I don't really mind the derring-do overdoneness, or the heavy hand with the period slang, or the xenophobic noblesse oblige-but not all together layered with a trowel on every page. The main requirement for a "send-up" of a style is subtlety. I was hoping for something along the lines of the early Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters-and did not find it. It is just over 200 pages, so I finished it-50 more pages and it would be on the life is too short shelf.
July 2, 2020
The Ex-King of Mitteleuropa and his entourage has come to stay at the country estate of the duke of Tawcester (pronounced Taster) for rest, relaxation, and to experience the English hunt. The group includes the Ex-King's trusted confidante Captain Schtoltz, twin body guards Bogdan and Zoltan Grittelhoff, various courtly hangers-on, the Ex-Queen, and the beautiful Ex-Princess Ethelinde. The Duchess of Tawcester is pleased to host the exiled royals--it gives her a whole group of new people to be condescending to. But she is less than delighted when her butler Grimshaw informs her that one of her guests has died in the library. She uses her social standing to put pressure on the Chief Constable to sweep the matter under the rug, but she doesn't reckon with her headstrong (and very brainy) daughter, Twinks (aka Lady Honoria Lyminster).
Twinks is jolly good at detecting and she enlists the aide of her less intellectually endowed brother Blotto (aka the Right Honorable Devereaux Lyminster) to provide any brawn needed in the adventure. From a few flakes of cigar ash, a whiff of cologne, white paint on a button, and a piece of wool, she easily pieces together the events that led to Captain Schtoltz's death. She's even sure who the culprit is. But Blotto (who was slightly blotto after drinking several Mitteleuropian toasts with his guests) manages to fall asleep in a cozy, out-of-the-way corner only to awaken to the sound of a whispered conversation. He may not be swiftest horse in the hunt, but he does pick up the gist of the conversation--namely that a plot is afoot to kidnap the lovely Ethelinde.
Despite the best-laid plans of Twinks, the evil-doer manages to get away with the plot and the Duchess herself sends Blotto, his chauffeur Corky Froggett, and a mysterious Mitteleuropian interpreter Klaus Schiffleich off to Mitteleuropa to restore the family honor...oh and rescue the Princess as well. A few surprises are in store for our happy band of rescuers and Blotto just might find himself king of a foreign country and married to the Princess if he's not careful. Where's Twinks when he needs her?
My take: First of all just let me say, if I had had to read one more "Toad-in-the-Hole!" exclamation or "Twinks, me old muffin" or "Rodents!" (as an expletive, apparently) from Blotto I may have thrown this book out the window. I'm all for a good parody (with a definite stress on good), but there is, as you may know, such a thing as too much of a good thing. Brett really stretches the limit on muchness. Absolutely everything about this is just a shade too much. Too much period slang. Too many repetitions of the same period slang. Too much English self-centrism (as Blotto says, "If only you lot all played cricket, you wouldn't feel so foreign"). Too many WAY over the top caricatures. This could have been a delightfully fun send up of the Golden Age mystery--if only Brett had wielded his pen with a less heavy hand. A disappointing read--I felt like I could have liked these characters a lot, I had been given a chance to do so. One bright spot (thus earning all the stars given) was the exciting ending. I do like a nice wrap-up.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
Twinks is jolly good at detecting and she enlists the aide of her less intellectually endowed brother Blotto (aka the Right Honorable Devereaux Lyminster) to provide any brawn needed in the adventure. From a few flakes of cigar ash, a whiff of cologne, white paint on a button, and a piece of wool, she easily pieces together the events that led to Captain Schtoltz's death. She's even sure who the culprit is. But Blotto (who was slightly blotto after drinking several Mitteleuropian toasts with his guests) manages to fall asleep in a cozy, out-of-the-way corner only to awaken to the sound of a whispered conversation. He may not be swiftest horse in the hunt, but he does pick up the gist of the conversation--namely that a plot is afoot to kidnap the lovely Ethelinde.
Despite the best-laid plans of Twinks, the evil-doer manages to get away with the plot and the Duchess herself sends Blotto, his chauffeur Corky Froggett, and a mysterious Mitteleuropian interpreter Klaus Schiffleich off to Mitteleuropa to restore the family honor...oh and rescue the Princess as well. A few surprises are in store for our happy band of rescuers and Blotto just might find himself king of a foreign country and married to the Princess if he's not careful. Where's Twinks when he needs her?
My take: First of all just let me say, if I had had to read one more "Toad-in-the-Hole!" exclamation or "Twinks, me old muffin" or "Rodents!" (as an expletive, apparently) from Blotto I may have thrown this book out the window. I'm all for a good parody (with a definite stress on good), but there is, as you may know, such a thing as too much of a good thing. Brett really stretches the limit on muchness. Absolutely everything about this is just a shade too much. Too much period slang. Too many repetitions of the same period slang. Too much English self-centrism (as Blotto says, "If only you lot all played cricket, you wouldn't feel so foreign"). Too many WAY over the top caricatures. This could have been a delightfully fun send up of the Golden Age mystery--if only Brett had wielded his pen with a less heavy hand. A disappointing read--I felt like I could have liked these characters a lot, I had been given a chance to do so. One bright spot (thus earning all the stars given) was the exciting ending. I do like a nice wrap-up.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.
September 30, 2013
The first - although for me second read - of the Blotto, Twinks and the... series.
This book is set around a murder of a foreign officer at Tawcester Towers who is with the entourage of the ex-king of Mittleeuropa.
This dastardly act sees Blotto give chase in the Lagonda and journey across Europe to find adventures in Mitteleuropa, as he tries to save family honour by rescuing an ex-princess who has been kidnapped by a usurping King.
And just where is his sister Twinks in all this?
Perfectly enjoyable high jinks by the aristocratic brother and sister whodunnit team with lovable characters, flowery and eccentric dialogue and class and other generalisations aplenty.
This book is set around a murder of a foreign officer at Tawcester Towers who is with the entourage of the ex-king of Mittleeuropa.
This dastardly act sees Blotto give chase in the Lagonda and journey across Europe to find adventures in Mitteleuropa, as he tries to save family honour by rescuing an ex-princess who has been kidnapped by a usurping King.
And just where is his sister Twinks in all this?
Perfectly enjoyable high jinks by the aristocratic brother and sister whodunnit team with lovable characters, flowery and eccentric dialogue and class and other generalisations aplenty.
June 27, 2012
While the concept is amusing, and this story has its moments, the joke gets a little stale after a while. Brett creates a fun old-fashioned British Aristocrat mystery that is unfortunately too heavy on caricatures- the beautiful, but secretly clever heiress, her handsome and good-natured but ridiculously vacuous brother, the evil foreigners, the dependable but sadly lower class butler, etc. The mystery/adventure plot was slight and barely carried this farce into the three star realm for me.
Basically, it was amusing enough for a lark, but not worth continued reading in the series.
Basically, it was amusing enough for a lark, but not worth continued reading in the series.
February 12, 2014
Cross Downton Abbey and the Pink Panther and you get Blotto and Twinks. Lots of fun and I actually laughed out loud.
July 16, 2024
As a lover of theatre in London’s West End, there have been so many fun evenings spent watching a door-slamming, closet-hiding, mistaken identity plays that have left my sides aching from laughter. The Brits really know how to create the hilarious and implausible plots and flawed characters. And to, it began with this first of the Blotto and Twinks books. It is a pretty good farce. The language, as in, “me old trouser button,” as one of a dozen terms of endearment, made me laugh aloud. The German corruptions of that language, as in Korpzenschloss (a castle with a many-layered dungeon facility), were equally hilarious. Nonetheless, the plot of ex-rulers and kidnapping was a tad tiresome. Still, should a playwright ever decide to put this on stage, I would happily purchase an orchestra seat ticket, my old gumdrop!
December 28, 2012
Dreadful. A very pale imitation of Rhys Bowen's "royal spyness" series...which themselves are what I consider "bubblegum" reading. Brett is so full of himself and writes in a condescending manner, imparting information he clearly thinks his readers would not know...thank goodness I got this from the local library as I would have been very cross if I had paid cold hard cash for it!
February 24, 2011
Though I love Jeeves and Wooster, I realized pretty quickly that this whodunit in the P.G. Wodehouse style was not for me. It felt too forced and the actual plot outlandish, but not in an amusing way. Just not my cuppa.
July 9, 2019
Imagine P.D. Wodehouse penning a 30s British golden age mystery-slash-political thriller and you'll come close to this very witty and entertaining tale. Handsome yet dim Blotto and beautiful, brainy Twinks are an irresistible pair combine their talents to solve a murder and then go off to save a kidnapped princess. It's all as light as meringue, silly and absurd, but Brett manages to sustain the conceit throughout (almost--it tends to bog down at the end). As Blotto would say, "Tickey-tockey!"
August 26, 2020
Delightfully ridiculous!!
May 31, 2022
This is not deep, but it's zany and funny and entertaining. A palate cleanser with an absolutely ridiculous plot and some funny characters.
January 25, 2025
Wodehouse parody completely uninterested in either the charms or the foibles of country house literature. Some occasional enjoyable flashes when it switches to being a prisoner of zenda parody but even then……
June 13, 2020
A light hearted spoof of amateur British arisocrats a solving murder. Plenty of amusing comments about the customs of the times and the roles of the classes. A little bit of a twist in that the amateur sleuths are a very dim-witted but good-hearted Lord and his brainy sister, so she winds up doing the thinking while he does the legwork.
November 9, 2023
Not up to Simon Brett's usual standard
Read
March 25, 2019Didn’t really care for it so probably wouldn’t read another. Maybe a 2 at best.
June 21, 2020
This is a smashing DNF for me.
I almost threw in the towel on page 8, but persisted until 10, skimmed a little 14 and 18, then gave up. I think this was intended as a Monty Python version of Wodehouse+Christie, but it felt as though they had been thrown in a blender, then strained. It's as if the author made a sort of funny joke one day, and a few people laughed, so he decided to turn it into a book -- it's just not strong enough to sustain itself.
A few choice nuggets from a few paragraphs:
'She was eyeing you all evening like a cat over a goldfish bowl. She certainly thinks you're the crystallized ginger.'
'Don't be a Grade A poodle, Twinks. Why would a breath-sapper of a girl like that be interested in a prize chump like me?'
'Because you're dashed attractive -- and a good bloke with it.'
'Oh, biscuits...'
'What a brainbox you are.' 'Me old muffin' 'me old gumdrop'...
Everyone is named Loofah or Sloggo et.al
The book is literally clogged with so much of this, that it's impossible to read in peace, because of all the distractions.
I almost threw in the towel on page 8, but persisted until 10, skimmed a little 14 and 18, then gave up. I think this was intended as a Monty Python version of Wodehouse+Christie, but it felt as though they had been thrown in a blender, then strained. It's as if the author made a sort of funny joke one day, and a few people laughed, so he decided to turn it into a book -- it's just not strong enough to sustain itself.
A few choice nuggets from a few paragraphs:
'She was eyeing you all evening like a cat over a goldfish bowl. She certainly thinks you're the crystallized ginger.'
'Don't be a Grade A poodle, Twinks. Why would a breath-sapper of a girl like that be interested in a prize chump like me?'
'Because you're dashed attractive -- and a good bloke with it.'
'Oh, biscuits...'
'What a brainbox you are.' 'Me old muffin' 'me old gumdrop'...
Everyone is named Loofah or Sloggo et.al
The book is literally clogged with so much of this, that it's impossible to read in peace, because of all the distractions.
August 3, 2011
A great fun, silly piece of summer fluff is how to describe this book. Blotto and Twinks are brother and sister sleuths. Blooto has the brawn, Twinks the brains (and good looks, a dangerous combination in a woman!)and they have the good luck to stumble onto a dead body in the family library. With family honor at stake and a completely inept police department, it's up to the brother and sister team to save the Ex-Kings daughter after she is kidnapped and unmask the murder. A fun read with a few well placed digs at the values of the ruling class.
July 20, 2011
A tongue-in-cheek mystery about Bright Young Things. Though penned by a contemporary writer, this book has many qualities present in those books from the Golden Age of mysteries, including the funny nicknames, lingo and slightly absurd situations.
Enjoyable read, though I don't think I'd want to make a steady diet of this type of writing. While most was fun to read, it sometimes got tired and on my nerves. But I also had quite a few chuckles along the way as well.
Enjoyable read, though I don't think I'd want to make a steady diet of this type of writing. While most was fun to read, it sometimes got tired and on my nerves. But I also had quite a few chuckles along the way as well.
April 22, 2016
An unfunny parody that, I suppose, calls itself skewering both the aristocracy and classic British mysteries. Unfortunately, it tries too hard. A bunch of flat, stereotyped characters and not much else.
July 14, 2015
Sometimes you just need a silly book. From the reviews it looks like people either liked it or hated it. It may depend on your sense of humour but I thought this was done very well.
August 24, 2018
A send-up of classic house-party cozy mysteries and P.G. Wodehouse, but with none of the latter's charm or affectionate humor. Too heavy-handed for me. DNF.
June 30, 2021
I have been quite fond of Simon Brett’s earlier books, especially the Mrs. Pargeter series. So I was intrigued by his Blotto & Twinks series, which looked to be a little different in style – and it was – a lot. The first book in the series, Blotto, Twinks, and the Ex-Kings Daughter, is a light-hearted romp through an English country-house mystery, but make no mistake, Brett has his tongue quite firmly in his cheek all the time. From the first scene, where Blotto’s mother, the Dowager Duchess of Tawcester, replies “Not now, Blotto. We have guests”, when he tells her about the dead body in the library, to the (almost) final scene where Blotto’s sister Twink’s spot-on coaching helps him escape the adoring Princess without causing a war (“One last kiss – and then we part forever!”), Ex-Kings Daughter is a delightful spoof of the genre, the characters, and the dialogue.
Somewhere underneath the fun, though, there is a murder mystery - see “dead body in library” above. But as is often the case with send-ups, the plot serves the characters, rather than the other way around, and there is a wonderful cast of them. From Tawcester, readers meet Blotto, the classically handsome but dreadfully dim spare heir to the Dukedom; Twinks, his sharp as a tack sister; the Dowager Duchess (aka “Mater”), who is upset that a horse-riding accident has kept her from hunting this season; Grimshaw, the butler, who keeps the staff in line; Harvey, the maid who keeps Grimshaw in line; and many more. And from Mitteleuropia, we have the ex-King and his entourage, including, of course, Ex-Princess Ethelinde, the daughter of the title. Brett puts these all together, adds a dash of diplomacy, a neighboring Crown Prince, and a coup or two, and comes up with a book which I had to read by myself, so as not to annoy my husband by laughing out loud too much.
Although this series is a new direction for Brett, I loved it, and I hope the series continues to many titles. (As an aside, I do think the series has been done a disservice by frequent comparisons to PG Wodehouse. This is not meant to be a PG Wodehouse murder mystery – it’s meant to be a parody of what a murder mystery written by PG Wodehouse might look like…) In any case, I don’t give many five-star reviews, but Ex-King’s Daughter gets one, and my thanks to Felony & Mayhem Press and Edelweiss for the review copy!
Somewhere underneath the fun, though, there is a murder mystery - see “dead body in library” above. But as is often the case with send-ups, the plot serves the characters, rather than the other way around, and there is a wonderful cast of them. From Tawcester, readers meet Blotto, the classically handsome but dreadfully dim spare heir to the Dukedom; Twinks, his sharp as a tack sister; the Dowager Duchess (aka “Mater”), who is upset that a horse-riding accident has kept her from hunting this season; Grimshaw, the butler, who keeps the staff in line; Harvey, the maid who keeps Grimshaw in line; and many more. And from Mitteleuropia, we have the ex-King and his entourage, including, of course, Ex-Princess Ethelinde, the daughter of the title. Brett puts these all together, adds a dash of diplomacy, a neighboring Crown Prince, and a coup or two, and comes up with a book which I had to read by myself, so as not to annoy my husband by laughing out loud too much.
Although this series is a new direction for Brett, I loved it, and I hope the series continues to many titles. (As an aside, I do think the series has been done a disservice by frequent comparisons to PG Wodehouse. This is not meant to be a PG Wodehouse murder mystery – it’s meant to be a parody of what a murder mystery written by PG Wodehouse might look like…) In any case, I don’t give many five-star reviews, but Ex-King’s Daughter gets one, and my thanks to Felony & Mayhem Press and Edelweiss for the review copy!
January 7, 2019
"It's that glorious period between the two world wars, and the exiled king of Mitteleuropia is celebrating with a visit to Tawcester Towers, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Tawcester. When the ex-king's daughter is kidnapped, noblesse obliges Blotto, the Duke's brave and handsome son to drive off to the rescue. Sadly, he is rather staggeringly stupid -- with a nickname like 'Blotto,' what could one expect? -- but his sister, Twinks, got all the family brains, and she is inclined to be helpful. And in more good news for the purloined princess, Blotto's devoted valet is coming along for the ride. Plus, they've got a really swell car."
~~back cover
This was the funniest thing I've read in ages! Well, why wouldn't I?
"Grimshaw [the butler] enlisted the help of Harvey, who was one of the housemaids at Tawcester Towers. (Tawcester, is should be emphasized at this point, despite being spelled 'Taw-ces-ter' is pronounced 'Taster'. Everybody knows that.) That Harvey was considerably above the age of most housemaids, and that she had remained in employment after certain ethical lapses which might have ended other careers, reflected the fact that she had an agreement with the butler. The precise nature of this 'agreement' was something that the family and staff at Tawcester Towers were far too polite to investigate.
...
"The important point was that, from long experience of needing to, Grimshaw knew that he could trust Harvey's discretion. And he knew that dead bodies could threaten considerable inconvenience to the smooth running of a country house weekend. Below stairs, Tawcester Towers had hardly yet rcovered from the shock of discovering Lord Tawcester himself, seated in front of his study fire with a face the colour of the vintage port which proved to be his final indulgence. And his lordship's demise had happened a full five years before."
It only gets better from there!
~~back cover
This was the funniest thing I've read in ages! Well, why wouldn't I?
"Grimshaw [the butler] enlisted the help of Harvey, who was one of the housemaids at Tawcester Towers. (Tawcester, is should be emphasized at this point, despite being spelled 'Taw-ces-ter' is pronounced 'Taster'. Everybody knows that.) That Harvey was considerably above the age of most housemaids, and that she had remained in employment after certain ethical lapses which might have ended other careers, reflected the fact that she had an agreement with the butler. The precise nature of this 'agreement' was something that the family and staff at Tawcester Towers were far too polite to investigate.
...
"The important point was that, from long experience of needing to, Grimshaw knew that he could trust Harvey's discretion. And he knew that dead bodies could threaten considerable inconvenience to the smooth running of a country house weekend. Below stairs, Tawcester Towers had hardly yet rcovered from the shock of discovering Lord Tawcester himself, seated in front of his study fire with a face the colour of the vintage port which proved to be his final indulgence. And his lordship's demise had happened a full five years before."
It only gets better from there!
July 11, 2020
Jsou lidé, kteří mají k humoru stejný postoj, jako psi k veterináři. A díky téhle knize začínám jejich pohled na svět chápat. Měla mě varovat už česká rozjuchaná obálka, ale Simona Bretta mám zafixovaného jako autora kriminálek s neúspěšným hercem Charlesem Parisem, kde je sice taky obsažený humor, ale spíš jako bonus, hlavní tam je kriminální zápletka. Tady už jsou vraždy a převraty jen k tomu, aby drželi jednotlivé fórky pohromadě.
I když je tam vidět inspirace Wodehousem (a to nejen tím, že je v hlavní roli britská aristokracie na začátku dvacátého století), tak to srovnáníé knize moc neprospívá. Jednak byl Bertie Wooster proti hlavnímu hrdinovi téhle ságy génius (a přiznám se, že mě moc nebaví věci, kde se humor těží z třeskuté idiocie postav), a jednak P.G.W. měl lepší popisy, hravější styl... a navíc přece jen nějaký základní děj (pravda, ve všech románech skoro ten samý, ale stejně). Tady mi to přišlo jako vtipová manufaktura, pásová výroba vtipů, bez ohledu na kvalitu, smysl či děj.
Občas jsou tam zábavné nápady – třeba policejní šéf, který se už ani nenamáhá vyšetřovat vraždu, protože se stejně vždycky objeví nějaký detektiv amatér, který to udělá za něj. Nebo další přepálená klišé z klasických detektivek. Funguje (i když se rychle okouká) i pohled aristokratického hrdiny na okolní svět. Když stejně všichni potřebují na důležité věci angličtinu, proč se v ostatních státech neučí anglicky od plenek a ztrácejí čas nějakými jiným jazyky?
Ano, občas Brett zabodoval, ale nějak mám radši, když pod tím humorem něco je, když ho něco spojuje. Nějaký pohled na svět, názor, příběh... tahle kniha má ideovou hodnotu lechtání v podpaždí. Plus některé věci jsou s přibývajícími stránkami spíš otravně – přezdívky, kterými se častují sourozenci, ustavičné chyby v řečech podivných Středoevropanů.
I když je tam vidět inspirace Wodehousem (a to nejen tím, že je v hlavní roli britská aristokracie na začátku dvacátého století), tak to srovnáníé knize moc neprospívá. Jednak byl Bertie Wooster proti hlavnímu hrdinovi téhle ságy génius (a přiznám se, že mě moc nebaví věci, kde se humor těží z třeskuté idiocie postav), a jednak P.G.W. měl lepší popisy, hravější styl... a navíc přece jen nějaký základní děj (pravda, ve všech románech skoro ten samý, ale stejně). Tady mi to přišlo jako vtipová manufaktura, pásová výroba vtipů, bez ohledu na kvalitu, smysl či děj.
Občas jsou tam zábavné nápady – třeba policejní šéf, který se už ani nenamáhá vyšetřovat vraždu, protože se stejně vždycky objeví nějaký detektiv amatér, který to udělá za něj. Nebo další přepálená klišé z klasických detektivek. Funguje (i když se rychle okouká) i pohled aristokratického hrdiny na okolní svět. Když stejně všichni potřebují na důležité věci angličtinu, proč se v ostatních státech neučí anglicky od plenek a ztrácejí čas nějakými jiným jazyky?
Ano, občas Brett zabodoval, ale nějak mám radši, když pod tím humorem něco je, když ho něco spojuje. Nějaký pohled na svět, názor, příběh... tahle kniha má ideovou hodnotu lechtání v podpaždí. Plus některé věci jsou s přibývajícími stránkami spíš otravně – přezdívky, kterými se častují sourozenci, ustavičné chyby v řečech podivných Středoevropanů.
March 5, 2021
PG Woodhouse style comic writing + a mystery plot + low flying puns *should* = pure reading bliss. Unfortunately this is no Woodhouse. There’s a subtlety and deft to truly great comic writing, both of which are abundantly lacking in this first installment of the Blotto and Twinks mystery series. I wish the characters were twice as clever, half as silly, and had 10 times the vocabulary. Author Simon Brett is clearly talented. His narration and his descriptions setting up the atmosphere, as well as his social observations on the etiquette and class divides of the day are well done. However, the bulk of the plot is left to the dialogue between Blotto and his sister Twinks, leaving much to be desired. Every exchange has at least one mention of Twinks being a Brainbox and Blotto being an “old gumdrop” and there’s lots of pointless exclamatory phrases like “Tickey-tockey” or “Toad-in-the-hole” that get old before they are ever new. Their dialogue is like a sad player piano stuck on the same refrain.
There’s also no mystery in this mystery! If anything this is an adventure novel, which is not a bad thing, it should just be advertised as such. It’s evident very early on in the book who committed the major crime, and then it becomes a mad dash around Europe to track them down. There’s castles and evil Brothers and plots to overthrow the government, lots of politics and intrigue and double crossing. But it’s all very vapid somehow and surface level. You never actually feel anything for the characters because they’re drawn so flimsy. That might have been ok if it was a farce, but in that case it just wasn’t funny enough. I was really excited to like this newly discovered series, but unfortunately in the end it was a bit of a letdown.
There’s also no mystery in this mystery! If anything this is an adventure novel, which is not a bad thing, it should just be advertised as such. It’s evident very early on in the book who committed the major crime, and then it becomes a mad dash around Europe to track them down. There’s castles and evil Brothers and plots to overthrow the government, lots of politics and intrigue and double crossing. But it’s all very vapid somehow and surface level. You never actually feel anything for the characters because they’re drawn so flimsy. That might have been ok if it was a farce, but in that case it just wasn’t funny enough. I was really excited to like this newly discovered series, but unfortunately in the end it was a bit of a letdown.
November 11, 2021
Brett, Simon. Blotto, Twinks, and the Ex-King’s Daughter. Blotto and Twinks No. 1. Constable, 2009.
Simon Brett has a wry wit that only the English seem to produce. He is a denizen of the BBC and writer of several better-than-average series of mystery novels. In addition, science fiction fans like me owe him a debt of gratitude for producing the pilot episode of the radio series based on Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The Blotto and Twinks series, which has grown to 10 novels, sends up the English cozy mystery and nostalgia for the early twentieth-century English aristocracy along with it. Blotto and Twinks are the 20-something children of a ducal family. Blotto is the dimwitted heir whose only real interests are cricket and fox hunting, which had only been made illegal in England five years before the first Blotto and Twinks book, Blotto, Twinks, and the Ex-King’s Daughter, was published. He is only fluent when he has memorized a speech provided by his sister. The Duchess wants him to marry, but his tongue-tied innocence makes him relatively safe from having to tie the knot. His sister, Honoria, a.k.a. Twinks, is pretty, bright, and eager to solve crimes before the dimwitted police mess up the crime scene. It is all as silly as a Monty Python episode, and its plot would be right at home in one. Is it fun? You bet. 4 stars.
Simon Brett has a wry wit that only the English seem to produce. He is a denizen of the BBC and writer of several better-than-average series of mystery novels. In addition, science fiction fans like me owe him a debt of gratitude for producing the pilot episode of the radio series based on Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The Blotto and Twinks series, which has grown to 10 novels, sends up the English cozy mystery and nostalgia for the early twentieth-century English aristocracy along with it. Blotto and Twinks are the 20-something children of a ducal family. Blotto is the dimwitted heir whose only real interests are cricket and fox hunting, which had only been made illegal in England five years before the first Blotto and Twinks book, Blotto, Twinks, and the Ex-King’s Daughter, was published. He is only fluent when he has memorized a speech provided by his sister. The Duchess wants him to marry, but his tongue-tied innocence makes him relatively safe from having to tie the knot. His sister, Honoria, a.k.a. Twinks, is pretty, bright, and eager to solve crimes before the dimwitted police mess up the crime scene. It is all as silly as a Monty Python episode, and its plot would be right at home in one. Is it fun? You bet. 4 stars.
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November 26, 2021I admit, I gave up on this one fairly quickly. It gets off to a promising start (first line: “It’s frightfully awkward, Mater, but I’m afraid there’s a dead body in the library”). But after 4-5 chapters and a quick peek at the ending, the twee-ness got to be a bit much.
The scene is an upper-class British country house sometime in the 1930s,, all of whose denizens and guests seem to have silly nicknames. Our protagonist, Blotto (nothing to do with his drinking habits), is the dim younger son of the Tawcester (“Taster”) family; Twinks is his much brighter sister, who does the crime solving; and the ex-king’s daughter is the object of Blotto’s affections, whose father brings the victim into the house (presumably, he finds his own way to the library).
There’s also a clever valet and some fun junketing about the countryside in a really swell car. I suppose if you take this a few chapters at a time, with breaks to reconnect with intelligent life in the universe, it can be a fun read.
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