Win a Special Limited Edition Hardback copy. Details below.
When the Little Didney Animal Rescue Centre is threatened with closure, the fate of the animals rests entirely on a quiz team from the local pub. The Farmhouse Five, the collective leftovers rejected by the other teams.
Can these five quiz team refugees beat 2,000 other teams in a massive quiz chase across the South West of England? The prize is a 1,000 acre estate left in the will of an eccentric millionaire, but the challenge is huge. Not only have the Farmhouse Five never once won their local pub quiz, but now, somebody else isn’t playing fair.
While the Farmhouse Five race against the clock to solve the clues, time is also running out for the animals.
Can a ragtag team of misfits really take on some of the best quiz brains in the country?
Can they manage to keep all of their teammates out of trouble long enough to complete the challenge at all?
And can you solve the enigmatic entry clue?
Your chance to win a Special Limited Edition Hardback copy of The Farmhouse Five Go Quizzing. In support of a local Animal Rescue Centre, the author is offering a prize of ten copies of the book. The winners will be chosen at random from all those who successfully solve the entry clue to the Great Wessex Chase as given in the text of the book. Once you have solved the clue, just go to luddington.com/competition and enter the name of the location. e.g. Exeter Cathedral (not GPS or what3words) Good Luck!
Another 5 stars for Mr Luddington. Although, I nearly knocked off a star for the puzzle at the start of the book. I can’t bloody solve it and it’s driving me mad!
I love Mr Luddington’s books and always delighted when his newsletter announces a new one. A comical and lighthearted feel-good tale. Wonderful!
I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
I love David Luddington books they are laugh out loud funny involving interesting characters and situations. I highly recommend this book.
A local landowner has died, leaving a large estate which he has decided in his will to give to the winners of a quizzing competition.
2000 teams can enter and one of those teams is the Farmhouse five. The team regularly join in the quizzes at their local pub in little Didney, usually with mixed results. The team consists of Matt who has just retired as a detective sergeant from the police, Janet who is an eccentric elderly lady and Eddie who “acquires” and redistributes various sundry goods. Two members of the team are away but they are joined by Dylan who is amazing with numbers but who has strange fixations and is decidedly odd. Also an IT specialist called Robyn.
Dylan manages to figure out the initial question set for “the great Wessex chase” and enters them for the competition. However because the rules state that the whole team who initially enter must compete in each stage of the competition, they must stick together. They are competing to try to win the land for the local dog rescue centre who have to vacate their premesis and as land in Cornwall is more expensive than London they have little hope of finding anywhere else to go unless the team can win the chase.
So the team along with 2000 others go haring across the south of England to try and win the prize, but cheats abound. Can the Farmhouse five win the land, who is the Green Ninja who seems to be everywhere and can Matt keep them all out of jail while trying to solve the clues.
This is a laugh out loud book involving various dogs, crooks, Captains of Industry, Land owners, Nerds, eco warriors, eccentrics and decent people, I loved every minute of it and can’t wait for the next instalment from Little Didney.
First up, I have read and enjoyed every single one of David Luddington's books. I am a fan.
Secondly, I was lucky enough to receive a free advance copy of this book and this review is my objective and honest opinion. It really is.
So the book. It contains some real nutters as characters. Or an eclectic mix of personalities, you choose.
An ex-policeman, an eco warrior, a mad woman, a ducker and diver and a guy on the spectrum (who isn't to some degree eh). They are all so brilliantly written, and develop and intertwine as the story progresses. Anyone that can quote the movie Deliverance "Only without the banjos. And the axe murderers" is always getting a thumbs up from me.
And the comeback to the wheeler dealer who denies all links to exploding extension leads, is a commercial possibility “You ought to try offering those to the Taliban. They’d love them.” Brilliant and irreverent.
And if you like your humour sharp, you should enjoy “It all seems very Spanish. I went there once. Lovely dancers, but I wasn’t so keen on the food. Far too many legs and eyes for my liking.”
It made me smile throughout and laugh way more than any other book I've read this year (38 to date). My only disappointment was finishing it, knowing I probably won't read anything this good in the rest of 2024.
There are so many other snippets I'd like to include, but I'm at genuine risk of breaching copyright. In other words, buy a copy and enjoy yourself.
Roll on the next Mr Luddington book, I cannot wait.
Started of great, but by the middle of the book, the fun(ny) quirks of the team members were getting somewhat annoying. Also, the 'baddies' antics were getting rather slapstick instead of funny. But what turned me off completely is that the author is obviously a eco-warrior fan and I do not read books to have the author's views rammed down my throat. Discussion is alright but this is not the right medium for that. I wound up disliking the main characters and not caring whether or not they won the competition or not. I may give the author another try but only if the blurb does not suggest another eco rant is coming.
I have listened to the Audio version of this book. This is the first David Luddington book I have listened to and I am hooked. Great characters and an interesting and novel plot, told in a brisk and humorous way. An eclectic mixture of characters thrown together after 2 regulars at the local pub don't turn up and the other 3 join forces to solve one of the biggest quizzes with the largest of prizes, they work well together and solve the mystery. Highly Recommended. The narration is excellent too. I have already added more of Mr Luddingtons books to my TBR list.
I read Schrodinger's Cottage, loved the humour and searched up more by this author. David Luddington is a funny funny guy! I bought the audio book version of this and I have added it to my list of books that I will listen to again and again.
Do yourself a favour and pick this up!
I have no idea of the competition timeframe but I'm going back to find the clue and have a go!
David Luddington has done it again. I've read most of his preceding books and, although this one isn't my favorite, it is very good. My favorite is Schroedinger's Cottage. Luddington's speciality is a cast of quirky characters and this story doesn't disappoint. I'm especially drawn to reading about Dylan, a sort of mathematical marvel. The intricate plot is exceptional.
David Luddington never disappoints! Another book that makes one wish you were part of the cast. Reading this was skin to spending a warm summer week in an idyllic West country village. I want to live in that location with friends like Robyn and Janet.
I have to confess to being a disciple of David Luddington's books - British comedy at its absolute best. His storylines are fantastic and his characters are memorable. It takes a lot to make me laugh out loud when reading a book alone, but I can't think of a single one of his that has failed to do so and this one is no exception. Absolutely brilliant.
Yet another superb book from David Luddington. Once I started reading I just couldn't put it down. A brilliant plot well written and thoroughly enjoyable.
The laughs on every page can make reading this in awkward in public. An unforced plot, quirky characters and an unexpected ending. I will be rereading this several times.
David is now holding baton of being the successor to Leslie Thomas & Tom Sharpe as the premier writer of comedy, which is decidedly British. Now on to the next one.
How I wish there were more books like this! Laugh out loud funny, with great loveable characters. This book would make a fantastic film. One of David Luddington's best!
Only Connect Varied group of likeable characters band together in a good cause. Quiet strand ofanti-capitalist satire pervades the gentle, feelgood humour with a bite