Odd Man Out

William Dougal #8

by Andrew Taylor

William Dougal's newly-found respectability suffers a rude setback when, in a squabble over his girlfriend, he accidentally kills a man and has to dispose of the body. His old rival Hanbury is on hand to help out--but at a price.

Genres: Mystery

192 pages, Hardcover

First published July 29, 1993

About the author

Andrew Taylor (b. 1951) is a British author of mysteries. Born in East Anglia, he attended university at Cambridge before getting an MA in library sciences from University College London. His first novel, Caroline Miniscule (1982), a modern-day treasure hunt starring history student William Dougal, began an eight-book series and won Taylor wide critical acclaim. He has written several other thriller series, most notably the eight Lydmouthbooks, which begin with An Air That Kills (1994).

His other novels include The Office of the Dead (2000) and The American Boy (2003), both of which won the Crime Writers’ Association of Britain’s Ellis Peters Historical Dagger award, making Taylor the only author to receive the prize twice. His Roth trilogy, which has been published in omnibus form as Requiem for an Angel (2002), was adapted by the UK’s ITV for its television show Fallen Angel. Taylor’s most recent novel is the historical thriller The Scent of Death (2013).

Reviews

[Keith Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having recently read The Ashes of London, I came to this novel by Andrew Taylor not really knowing what to expect. I had no idea he has written so many crime novels, including this one, the eighth and last in the series featuring William Dougal, a private investigator. Having enjoyed this as a stand alone novel, I would like to read more about Dougal, an interesting if slightly amoral character, who accidentally kills someone on page 5 and spends the rest of the novel trying to extricate himself from the resulting mayhem caused by the death which is only resolved on page 185, the last page of the book. In between the plot takes many twists and turns and the author really keeps you on your toes trying to keep up. The principal characters, Dougal, his boss Hanbury and Dougals love interest, Celia, clearly all have back stories and associations of which I was unaware, which perhaps detracted from my overall enjoyment but no matter. I have another Andrew Taylor novel The Scented Death lined up!

[Lia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did I miss heaps of nuance, or was I just not paying close enough attention? I actually didn't understand much of what went on in this book!

[Kirsty Darbyshire · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last in the William Dougal series; these eight books were written between 1982 and 1993 so I doubt there'll be any more of them. I had a hell of a time finding this one; second hand copies are selling for huge quantities of cash. Eventually I found my local library system had a very well thumbed copy lurking in an obscure branch.

The series goes out on a high note anyway; Dougal's definitely got more criminally minded over the years and I really liked the plot twists in this story. Even on the eight book the author can make me think I know what a certain character is doing when I realy ought to have learnt by now that nothing is what it seems.

I'm glad to see there's a new Lydmouth novel out soon.