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L’Autre Tournée
288 pages, Paperback
Published September 12, 2025
About the author
Andi Watson
147 books94 followersAndrew "Andi" Watson (born 1969) is a British cartoonist and illustrator best known for the graphic novels Breakfast After Noon, Slow News Day and his series Love Fights, published by Oni Press and Slave Labor Graphics.
Watson has also worked for more mainstream American comic publishers with some work at DC Comics, a twelve-issue limited series at Marvel Comics, with the majority at Dark Horse Comics, moving recently to Image Comics.
Watson has also worked for more mainstream American comic publishers with some work at DC Comics, a twelve-issue limited series at Marvel Comics, with the majority at Dark Horse Comics, moving recently to Image Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 12, 2026
Thank you to the publisher for granting me an E-ARC copy from NetGalley for an honest review.
In this book we follow our main character through a series of unfortunate misunderstandings and misidentifications that ultimately lead to imprisonment for murder.
My review is this: I fear I don’t get it.
In this book we follow our main character through a series of unfortunate misunderstandings and misidentifications that ultimately lead to imprisonment for murder.
My review is this: I fear I don’t get it.
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June 23, 2026Running in parallel to The Book Tour's beleaguered novelist, here we follow encyclopaedia salesman Mortimer through the same city, at the same time, getting accused of the same crimes, yet never quite intersecting with his fellow victim of endless misunderstandings and misidentifications. If the original is one of your all-time favourites (and I certainly know people who feel that way about some Andi Watson comics) then this revisit might do it for you, but for me the art seemed sketchier this time around, and the story less compelling through repetition. I know 'Kafkaesque' is often applied to bureaucracy which, by definition, will tend to put multiple people in the same bind – but in fiction, unless you're going the very different The Wire route of showing how and why systems and processes have become misaligned, I think maybe the malign gravity of it depends on a sense of a particular individual with the whole machinery of society aligned against him, rather than a procession of the poor sods.
(Netgalley ARC)
(Netgalley ARC)
March 1, 2026
J'avais bien aimé l'itération précédente de ce récit kafkaesque, mais l'auteur me paraît manquer d'imagination s'il se contente de reproduire à peu près la même situation déstabilisante, en choisissant cette fois-ci un vendeur d'encyclopédies comme protagoniste passif.
Et cette passivité, qui frôle parfois la simplicité d'esprit, irrite quelque peu. Presque autant que les dessins qui laissent parfois subsister un p'tit doute à propos de ce qui se passe sous nos yeux.
Et cette passivité, qui frôle parfois la simplicité d'esprit, irrite quelque peu. Presque autant que les dessins qui laissent parfois subsister un p'tit doute à propos de ce qui se passe sous nos yeux.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
My thanks to NetGalley and IDW Publishing - Top Shelf Productions for an advance copy of this graphic novel that tells the story of a man who just wants to sell encyclopedias, of so he thinks, for the train, the town and the people he finds himself surrounded by are making him doubt everything including his own life.
In the before times, before COVID and the weirdness that became the American dream, I helped a friend move cross-country, driving her belongings from New York to parts west. I had planned on staying out of a bit, the area my friend was moving to was a happening place, with a lot of things going on. However part of her move was to restart her life, and reminders of the past were well reminders. I left after a weekend, taking a train East, just cause it sounded fun. It was odd. The train played havoc with my mood, my thinking and even my psyche. A few times I would see a town that seemed again a happening place, and I wanted to get off and like my friend start anew. Little things began to bother me. Big things too. Some places seemed welcoming, big cities, seemed threatening. I felt confused in more ways than one. Just like the narrator of this tale, though how much was based on the train, and how much based on something else, well that is for the reader to decide. The Book Tour (Book 2): A Lack of Alibi is written and illustrate by Andi Watson about a man in a strange city, sure that he has to be there for his job, the odd situations he finds himself in, and the importance of postcards.
Mortimer is on a train, going to a city with an appointment to sell the encyclopedias that pays his wages. The train is on time, but he is semi-out of it, needing to be prodded by the conductor to get off, and to remember his luggage. Getting out of the station is a nightmare of closed stairwells and Mortimer enters the city to find it raining. A slip sends him careening into unconsciousness. Mortimer is discovered by a bookshop owner who has just had an author signing, and is hungry for dinner. Mortimer is bleeding from the head, his luggage destroyed, and sure that he is missing something, and that he can't buy a book for his wife, nor a postcard like he always does. The hotel is no better. A mix up in rooms gets him a series of strange looks, and more confusion. Which gets worse when he finds postcards, but can't buy stamps. Phone calls are made, but strange noises are heard, and maybe conversations are imaginary. Things continue to get worse, as the police become involved, and Mortimer begins to doubt everything around him.
The book is the second in a series one could say, though this book takes place maybe a few minutes after the first one. Bookstores are familiar from the first book, as are many characters. The same strange city, the same police, and even the same crimes. There is a sense of remove to the story, doubts about Mortimer fill the reader's mind. Who is he talking to on the phone, is he married, where are his encyclopedias. This adds to the story, the oddness, the sense that discovery is right around the corner, but is not. The art is good, sometimes sketchy, sometimes very filled in and complete. Faces of characters all seem perturbed, as if going we have done this before, why is this person being so difficult. There are a few moments where the story seems stretched, but I still enjoyed this tale, and really liked the art work.
A different kind of story, one that is not clear, but one that has a lot of atmosphere. I love the city the vague European-feeling, the phone booths, the books everywhere. As well as a story about a person going through something that is hard to classify. A mysterious tale about life and the oddness that is all around.
In the before times, before COVID and the weirdness that became the American dream, I helped a friend move cross-country, driving her belongings from New York to parts west. I had planned on staying out of a bit, the area my friend was moving to was a happening place, with a lot of things going on. However part of her move was to restart her life, and reminders of the past were well reminders. I left after a weekend, taking a train East, just cause it sounded fun. It was odd. The train played havoc with my mood, my thinking and even my psyche. A few times I would see a town that seemed again a happening place, and I wanted to get off and like my friend start anew. Little things began to bother me. Big things too. Some places seemed welcoming, big cities, seemed threatening. I felt confused in more ways than one. Just like the narrator of this tale, though how much was based on the train, and how much based on something else, well that is for the reader to decide. The Book Tour (Book 2): A Lack of Alibi is written and illustrate by Andi Watson about a man in a strange city, sure that he has to be there for his job, the odd situations he finds himself in, and the importance of postcards.
Mortimer is on a train, going to a city with an appointment to sell the encyclopedias that pays his wages. The train is on time, but he is semi-out of it, needing to be prodded by the conductor to get off, and to remember his luggage. Getting out of the station is a nightmare of closed stairwells and Mortimer enters the city to find it raining. A slip sends him careening into unconsciousness. Mortimer is discovered by a bookshop owner who has just had an author signing, and is hungry for dinner. Mortimer is bleeding from the head, his luggage destroyed, and sure that he is missing something, and that he can't buy a book for his wife, nor a postcard like he always does. The hotel is no better. A mix up in rooms gets him a series of strange looks, and more confusion. Which gets worse when he finds postcards, but can't buy stamps. Phone calls are made, but strange noises are heard, and maybe conversations are imaginary. Things continue to get worse, as the police become involved, and Mortimer begins to doubt everything around him.
The book is the second in a series one could say, though this book takes place maybe a few minutes after the first one. Bookstores are familiar from the first book, as are many characters. The same strange city, the same police, and even the same crimes. There is a sense of remove to the story, doubts about Mortimer fill the reader's mind. Who is he talking to on the phone, is he married, where are his encyclopedias. This adds to the story, the oddness, the sense that discovery is right around the corner, but is not. The art is good, sometimes sketchy, sometimes very filled in and complete. Faces of characters all seem perturbed, as if going we have done this before, why is this person being so difficult. There are a few moments where the story seems stretched, but I still enjoyed this tale, and really liked the art work.
A different kind of story, one that is not clear, but one that has a lot of atmosphere. I love the city the vague European-feeling, the phone booths, the books everywhere. As well as a story about a person going through something that is hard to classify. A mysterious tale about life and the oddness that is all around.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thanks to the author, Andi Watson, the publisher,Top Shelf, and Netgalley for a book to be released October 6, 2026.
Since I had only recently picked up the first volume in the series, The Book Tour in May 2026, and I saw this opportunity on Netgalley, I jumped at it. At a glance from other Goodreads reviewers who also read it early on Netgalley, most of us agree it is puzzling. Well, in some ways it is supposed to be puzzling, as it was in the first book, but why tell essentially the same story twice?
In the first book Fretwell is a writer on a nightmare book tour where thngs spin out of control and he locked up for a murder he didn't commit. The publisher rightly calls it Kafkaesque, and it is funny in a kind of Hitchcockian The Wrong Man manner. In feels like fever dream/nightmare. I liked the first one for the sheer absurdity of it.
In the second book the tone iand action is essentially the same as Mortimer, an Encyclopedia salesman with similar luck in book marketing is jailed for a crime he also did not commit. He's trying to get back home for his daughter's Sports Day and will not make it. It'a crazy nightmare all the way through, and it's essentially the same nightmare, so what's the point? Except Mortimer keeps finding Fretwell's book everywhere and intends to bring it home for his wife. In neitherbook do we meet the wife and daughter, or wives and daughters. So it's comic nightmare within a nightmare? Probably.
I confess I read it all the way through and also confess I did not see the point. At times I had to check and see if I had in fact already read and reviewed it! I will look to wiser readers for why this may be such a clever book, but I'm thus far not convinced it was necessary.
Since I had only recently picked up the first volume in the series, The Book Tour in May 2026, and I saw this opportunity on Netgalley, I jumped at it. At a glance from other Goodreads reviewers who also read it early on Netgalley, most of us agree it is puzzling. Well, in some ways it is supposed to be puzzling, as it was in the first book, but why tell essentially the same story twice?
In the first book Fretwell is a writer on a nightmare book tour where thngs spin out of control and he locked up for a murder he didn't commit. The publisher rightly calls it Kafkaesque, and it is funny in a kind of Hitchcockian The Wrong Man manner. In feels like fever dream/nightmare. I liked the first one for the sheer absurdity of it.
In the second book the tone iand action is essentially the same as Mortimer, an Encyclopedia salesman with similar luck in book marketing is jailed for a crime he also did not commit. He's trying to get back home for his daughter's Sports Day and will not make it. It'a crazy nightmare all the way through, and it's essentially the same nightmare, so what's the point? Except Mortimer keeps finding Fretwell's book everywhere and intends to bring it home for his wife. In neitherbook do we meet the wife and daughter, or wives and daughters. So it's comic nightmare within a nightmare? Probably.
I confess I read it all the way through and also confess I did not see the point. At times I had to check and see if I had in fact already read and reviewed it! I will look to wiser readers for why this may be such a clever book, but I'm thus far not convinced it was necessary.
August 22, 2026
***ARC from NetGalley***
Although this is the second book in the series, it is a standalone story. And it is a doozy.
Rodney Sebastian Mortimer, or is it Mr. Fretwell (?), is an encyclopedia salesman. His story opens with him frantically running through a subway system trying to make an appointment with a client. Instead he falls down the stairs and hits his head. What ensues is absolute chaos. (I spent the entire reading time worried about a closed head injury). Over the course of the story he never makes his appointment and is accused of multiple crimes.
The story is drawn from his perspective, so you believe his version of events. However, as the story evolves, the reader cannot be blamed for starting to suspect he is an unreliable narrator, if only because after some time he doesn't even seem to know his name. And the police are not helping.
Illustrated in black and white line art, the panels convey confusion, energy and anxiety. I would love to see a continuation of this story, of only to learn who or what Mortimer truly is. And if he knows himself.
Although this is the second book in the series, it is a standalone story. And it is a doozy.
Rodney Sebastian Mortimer, or is it Mr. Fretwell (?), is an encyclopedia salesman. His story opens with him frantically running through a subway system trying to make an appointment with a client. Instead he falls down the stairs and hits his head. What ensues is absolute chaos. (I spent the entire reading time worried about a closed head injury). Over the course of the story he never makes his appointment and is accused of multiple crimes.
The story is drawn from his perspective, so you believe his version of events. However, as the story evolves, the reader cannot be blamed for starting to suspect he is an unreliable narrator, if only because after some time he doesn't even seem to know his name. And the police are not helping.
Illustrated in black and white line art, the panels convey confusion, energy and anxiety. I would love to see a continuation of this story, of only to learn who or what Mortimer truly is. And if he knows himself.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is my first experience with this author’s works and it surprised me, though I did not know what to expect. The art is black on white background which contributes to the retro nostalgic mood and contains European architecture, bridges, and cobblestones. Mortimer is rushing to visit a client when he has a mishap and seems to lose his memory…or is it also absent-mindedness? He encounters one weird situation after another and finds himself a murder suspect without an alibi. The story feels slightly chaotic and haphazard as Mortimer zips here and there.
Quirky books are usually my wheelhouse. I liked this one but it left me wanting more. However, my curiosity was sufficiently piqued to ponder it after reading it. I would try more by this author. Perhaps the style would settle in with more exposure.
Quirky books are usually my wheelhouse. I liked this one but it left me wanting more. However, my curiosity was sufficiently piqued to ponder it after reading it. I would try more by this author. Perhaps the style would settle in with more exposure.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Book 208 of 365 ~ 2026
🌟🌟🌟💫
Such an odd duck of a book, just like the first. Honestly, the first round was intriguing, the second round, though still interesting, feels like it has lost its charm a little? Like I enjoyed it but not as much.
I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#book208of365 #amreading #thisbookfairyisreading #theSGtrekkiereads #netgalley
🌟🌟🌟💫
Such an odd duck of a book, just like the first. Honestly, the first round was intriguing, the second round, though still interesting, feels like it has lost its charm a little? Like I enjoyed it but not as much.
I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#book208of365 #amreading #thisbookfairyisreading #theSGtrekkiereads #netgalley
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
★★☆☆☆ (2/5) – A Confusing Detour That Never Quite Comes Together
I picked up this book expecting an engaging mystery with a touch of dark humor, but the story left me more frustrated than entertained. The book leans heavily into a Kafkaesque atmosphere of mistaken identity and bureaucratic confusion, but for me it crossed the line from clever to repetitive. That touch of promised Kafka's Metamorphosis level outcome was missing. The premise of a traveling encyclopedia salesman being mistaken for a criminal is intriguing, yet the plot spends so much time wandering through absurd situations that it rarely feels rewarding.
The artwork has a charming retro style and the deadpan humor occasionally lands well, but the characters never felt developed enough for me to care about their predicament. Instead of building suspense, many of the twists seemed designed merely to prolong the confusion.
While fans of surreal mysteries may appreciate its oddball approach, I found the story lacking emotional depth and a satisfying payoff. An interesting concept, but one that ultimately didn't hold my attention.
My NetGalley review
“There’s no evidence you didn’t do it.”
I picked up this book expecting an engaging mystery with a touch of dark humor, but the story left me more frustrated than entertained. The book leans heavily into a Kafkaesque atmosphere of mistaken identity and bureaucratic confusion, but for me it crossed the line from clever to repetitive. That touch of promised Kafka's Metamorphosis level outcome was missing. The premise of a traveling encyclopedia salesman being mistaken for a criminal is intriguing, yet the plot spends so much time wandering through absurd situations that it rarely feels rewarding.
The artwork has a charming retro style and the deadpan humor occasionally lands well, but the characters never felt developed enough for me to care about their predicament. Instead of building suspense, many of the twists seemed designed merely to prolong the confusion.
While fans of surreal mysteries may appreciate its oddball approach, I found the story lacking emotional depth and a satisfying payoff. An interesting concept, but one that ultimately didn't hold my attention.
My NetGalley review
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
All Mortimer needs to do to go home is make one measly sale of an encyclopedia. However, the problems that he seems to face is nobody will buy and everyone thinks Mortimer is someone he is not. Dry humor and wacky hijinks ensue.
I felt like I couldn’t really get into it. It wasn’t a favorite of mine unfortunately, but it could be yours!
#ThxNetGalley #AndiWatson #TheBookTourBook2ALackofAlibi
I felt like I couldn’t really get into it. It wasn’t a favorite of mine unfortunately, but it could be yours!
#ThxNetGalley #AndiWatson #TheBookTourBook2ALackofAlibi
July 2, 2026
Huhhh?
I thought I was getting it and then I wasn’t. The mystery and suspense kept me at the edge of my seat but then the ending wanted to be more clever than it needed to be and it just fell into a confused flatline.
I thought I was getting it and then I wasn’t. The mystery and suspense kept me at the edge of my seat but then the ending wanted to be more clever than it needed to be and it just fell into a confused flatline.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
i liked the 1st one better than this
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A charming follow-up revisiting the world of The Book Tour.
These are conceptually clever graphic novels, and I love that Watson found a new and equally zany direction to take his salesman’s story in for the second installment in the series.
Book Tour Gone Wrong is an excellent adventure to imagine, particularly with the cleverness in play here as to what “book tour” really means in this context. If you thought things couldn’t get worse for our intrepid and exasperated encyclopedia salesman, buckle up!
Generally I think the plot worked pretty well, though I don’t love Idiot Plot stuff, and we get a fair amount of that here. There’s a touch of repetitiveness to the content as well that wasn’t wonderful.
But the humor (before it becomes overused) is good, and I always enjoy the domino effect that occurs in these as far as what goes wrong for our hero.
I still don’t love the art in these, and I noticed that more in this one than I did in the first installment. The original is a better product overall, though this one is well worth a read if you’re into quirky graphic novels with nontraditional subject matter.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
These are conceptually clever graphic novels, and I love that Watson found a new and equally zany direction to take his salesman’s story in for the second installment in the series.
Book Tour Gone Wrong is an excellent adventure to imagine, particularly with the cleverness in play here as to what “book tour” really means in this context. If you thought things couldn’t get worse for our intrepid and exasperated encyclopedia salesman, buckle up!
Generally I think the plot worked pretty well, though I don’t love Idiot Plot stuff, and we get a fair amount of that here. There’s a touch of repetitiveness to the content as well that wasn’t wonderful.
But the humor (before it becomes overused) is good, and I always enjoy the domino effect that occurs in these as far as what goes wrong for our hero.
I still don’t love the art in these, and I noticed that more in this one than I did in the first installment. The original is a better product overall, though this one is well worth a read if you’re into quirky graphic novels with nontraditional subject matter.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I wasn't quite sure what t o expect when I picked this up, I was drawn to it by the lovely cover, and after reading, I'm still not sure!
I loved it though, I need to understand more about the story and so will go out my way to get the other part(s?)
It has beautiful graphics, an interesting story, and just enough anxiety to keep you gripped
I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.
I loved it though, I need to understand more about the story and so will go out my way to get the other part(s?)
It has beautiful graphics, an interesting story, and just enough anxiety to keep you gripped
I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
In The Book Tour we saw the miss adventures of G. H. Fretwell as he tries to promote his recent book in an unnamed European town. For the sequel, A Lack of Alibi, we are focused on the encyclopedia salesman Mortimer. He is desperate to make a few last sales so he can go back home in time for his child's field day. Unfortunately for both him and Fretwell, they are traveling in similar circles and often confused.
Like the first book, Mortimer has a set goal but circumstances continually complicate his task. The town is difficult to navigate and his bewilderment is met with scorn, sympathy or confusion. Not helping matters is a murderer on the loose.
Watson builds on the mystery and darkly comedic misunderstandings in highly detailed scenery with simple appearing cartoon characters. Volume two certainly rhymes with volume one, and helps solve some of the issues!
Recommended to readers of bewildered main characters, comedies of errors or mysteries.
I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
Like the first book, Mortimer has a set goal but circumstances continually complicate his task. The town is difficult to navigate and his bewilderment is met with scorn, sympathy or confusion. Not helping matters is a murderer on the loose.
Watson builds on the mystery and darkly comedic misunderstandings in highly detailed scenery with simple appearing cartoon characters. Volume two certainly rhymes with volume one, and helps solve some of the issues!
Recommended to readers of bewildered main characters, comedies of errors or mysteries.
I received a free digital version of this book via NetGalley thanks to the publisher.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Amazing read!! Love the storyline so muchhhh!! Now it explained a bit how people keep confusing Mr Mortimer and Mr Fretwell tho the book ends in cliffhanger. I need moreeeeee. I love how funny and quirky the book is!! I love the adorable artwork!!! Amazing book!!!
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Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in advance~
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Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in advance~
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Mr Mortimer is trying to go back home so he can attend his daughter’s sports day; however, it seems the universe is against him. From missing his appointment to being mistaken for a murderer, every unlikely event happens, that is, except making his sale. And why does everyone keep calling him every name except his own?
I enjoyed reading this! It is funny and lighthearted with a cute art style that leaves you wanting more. (And that cliffhanger was illegal!)
I enjoyed reading this! It is funny and lighthearted with a cute art style that leaves you wanting more. (And that cliffhanger was illegal!)
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Oh, my goodness! This graphic novel is quirky! But, oh, so, enjoyable.
The art is so amazing in a, well, quirky, minimalist way.
The story, well, that will depend on your sense of humor. If one more person gets his name wrong, I’m gonna have to have surgery for busting a gut. It reminded me of the Anne bit from “Arrested Development”.
You can’t help but love Mister McCallister. Such a great character. You just feel for him all the time. Charlie Brown wishes this guy could catch a break.
So, trust me. Just read it. I can’t explain it.
I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.
The art is so amazing in a, well, quirky, minimalist way.
The story, well, that will depend on your sense of humor. If one more person gets his name wrong, I’m gonna have to have surgery for busting a gut. It reminded me of the Anne bit from “Arrested Development”.
You can’t help but love Mister McCallister. Such a great character. You just feel for him all the time. Charlie Brown wishes this guy could catch a break.
So, trust me. Just read it. I can’t explain it.
I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews