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Eva Wylie #1
Was sie nicht umbringt
Sie ist ein Brecher, eine Catcherin, die von ganz unten kommt, wo das ganze Elend, das Thatcherismus und Postthatcherismus angerichtet haben, voll eingeschlagen ist. Dort tummeln sich Straßenratten, müssen Huren unter miesesten Bedingungen arbeiten, Gewalt ist eine Umgangsform, auch unter Frauen. Liza Codys England ist planetenfern von dem ihrer gepflegt morden-lassenden Kolleginnen (allerlei Geschlechts). Cody hat mit der Stimme der hässlichen Catcherin eine neue Erzählsprache entwickelt: widerborstig und sentimental, düster und komisch und immer auf dem Punkt.
254 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
1 person is currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
Liza Cody
90 books33 followersLiza Cody (real name Liza Nassim) is an English crime fiction writer.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
July 14, 2025
4.5 stars
short review for busy readers:
A great off-beat mystery with a highly unique, female wrestler fmc. Won the CWA Silver Dagger. Engaging and enjoyable narrative voice. Highly realistic about crime and poverty in southern England in the 90s.
in detail:
I'd read Liza Cody's Lady Bag years ago and enjoyed it very much, so I decided to try her mysteries.
I wasn't disappointed!
If there's one thing Cody shines at, it's bringing working class and homeless Britain to life. She has an ear for the speech patterns and a knowledge of the mentality, self-delusions, excuses and the devastation poverty + addiction can wreak on the lives of family and community.
On her website, Lisa Cody says she wanted to write a character who was NOT a role model, because she was tired of the way female leads in detective novels seemed to be a collection of entirely positive traits (pretty, smart, capable, strong, etc).
In this book, our hero is Eva, a big ugly woman with the single-minded determination to become a pro wrestling star -- as the villain! Unfortunately, she's of limited intelligence, has frequent anger blackouts, no volume control on her voice, and insults and hrumphs her way through life, handing out barbs before they're handed to her.
Two things people always say to her is "why are you always in a bad mood?" and "please stop shouting!" She doesn't realise she's doing either. Vastly self unaware, she won't admit to her own grey morality and petty criminality, using the excuses you very often hear from those who steal due to poverty. (The way Cody shows us how unaware Eva is, is stylistically highly skilled.)
Despite all that, Eva's a captivating and highly enjoyable character. Simply because she refuses to fit our frame for how people, esp women, are expected to be.
The atmosphere of the junkyard trailer Eva lives in (she's security), the gym where she trains, the fights she attends, and the people she comes into contact with all create a highly believable background to the often startling action in the novel.
Even though this is a mystery, Eva isn't a detective. She's basically a bystander who gets pulled into a gang war she knows very little about and is forced to navigate with only her brawn and street smarts.
And then there's her lost sister she's been trying to find since she was adopted and disappeared at age 12...
"Bucket Nut" is an excellent opener for the Eva Wylie Trilogy and deserved winner of the CWA's Silver Dagger. Highly recommended for mystery readers and fans of London fiction.
short review for busy readers:
A great off-beat mystery with a highly unique, female wrestler fmc. Won the CWA Silver Dagger. Engaging and enjoyable narrative voice. Highly realistic about crime and poverty in southern England in the 90s.
in detail:
I'd read Liza Cody's Lady Bag years ago and enjoyed it very much, so I decided to try her mysteries.
I wasn't disappointed!
If there's one thing Cody shines at, it's bringing working class and homeless Britain to life. She has an ear for the speech patterns and a knowledge of the mentality, self-delusions, excuses and the devastation poverty + addiction can wreak on the lives of family and community.
On her website, Lisa Cody says she wanted to write a character who was NOT a role model, because she was tired of the way female leads in detective novels seemed to be a collection of entirely positive traits (pretty, smart, capable, strong, etc).
In this book, our hero is Eva, a big ugly woman with the single-minded determination to become a pro wrestling star -- as the villain! Unfortunately, she's of limited intelligence, has frequent anger blackouts, no volume control on her voice, and insults and hrumphs her way through life, handing out barbs before they're handed to her.
Two things people always say to her is "why are you always in a bad mood?" and "please stop shouting!" She doesn't realise she's doing either. Vastly self unaware, she won't admit to her own grey morality and petty criminality, using the excuses you very often hear from those who steal due to poverty. (The way Cody shows us how unaware Eva is, is stylistically highly skilled.)
Despite all that, Eva's a captivating and highly enjoyable character. Simply because she refuses to fit our frame for how people, esp women, are expected to be.
The atmosphere of the junkyard trailer Eva lives in (she's security), the gym where she trains, the fights she attends, and the people she comes into contact with all create a highly believable background to the often startling action in the novel.
Even though this is a mystery, Eva isn't a detective. She's basically a bystander who gets pulled into a gang war she knows very little about and is forced to navigate with only her brawn and street smarts.
And then there's her lost sister she's been trying to find since she was adopted and disappeared at age 12...
"Bucket Nut" is an excellent opener for the Eva Wylie Trilogy and deserved winner of the CWA's Silver Dagger. Highly recommended for mystery readers and fans of London fiction.
April 2, 2016
I'd never heard of Liza Cody until I read Maureen Corrigan's book, Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books. On her recommendation, I ordered a copy of this rather old novel, the first in a series featuring an unlikely heroine. Eva Wiley is a young, aspiring professional wrestler who wants to become a star baddie like Klondyke Kate, who was something of a sensation in the 1980s in England. Eva is homely, big, very strong, and more than a little damaged. Besides making the big time as a wrestling villain, her only goal is finding her long-lost sister, from whom she was separated by children's services years ago. She lives in a trailer without electricity in a scrapyard and works on the side as muscle for a Chinese gangster.
Despite her rough personality, Eva is a terribly likable protagonist. For those who've read the Burke series by Andrew Vachss, she is what Burke would have been before he got "schooled" by the Prof and found his family of choice. She's emotional and angry and impulsive and kind and reclusive and complex. Cody does an impressive job of depicting the mental and emotional processes of a woman whose life has taught her to trust no one and who yet longs for connection and direction. The London underworld she inhabits is very much a character in the book, as well.
For fans of Cody, expecting a variation on her Anna Lee character, this is something different. Lee was definitely a step forward in crime fiction, arriving on the scene as a strong, competent female detective at a time when such characters were rare (before V.I. Warshawski, even!) and she does play a small role in this novel, but Eva is of a different type. She's a wild card whereas Lee is disciplined and pulled-together. Just the same, if you don't expect her to be Lee, she'll reward you richly.
I can't wait to read the other Eva Wiley books. This is a character who grows, even the space of a single novel. I'm eager to dive into the next.
Despite her rough personality, Eva is a terribly likable protagonist. For those who've read the Burke series by Andrew Vachss, she is what Burke would have been before he got "schooled" by the Prof and found his family of choice. She's emotional and angry and impulsive and kind and reclusive and complex. Cody does an impressive job of depicting the mental and emotional processes of a woman whose life has taught her to trust no one and who yet longs for connection and direction. The London underworld she inhabits is very much a character in the book, as well.
For fans of Cody, expecting a variation on her Anna Lee character, this is something different. Lee was definitely a step forward in crime fiction, arriving on the scene as a strong, competent female detective at a time when such characters were rare (before V.I. Warshawski, even!) and she does play a small role in this novel, but Eva is of a different type. She's a wild card whereas Lee is disciplined and pulled-together. Just the same, if you don't expect her to be Lee, she'll reward you richly.
I can't wait to read the other Eva Wiley books. This is a character who grows, even the space of a single novel. I'm eager to dive into the next.
January 20, 2021
I'm normally not a fan of unreliable narrator books, but the narrator of this one, Eva Wylie, is such a great character with such a distinctive voice that she won me over completely.
I tracked this book down because Sara Paretsky very enthusiastically endorsed it during a Zoom book talk, and now that I've read it I can see why. Eva is a big, strong, homely young woman who wants little more out of life than to be a pro wrestler named the London Lass-sassin. The book begins with her in the ring, playing the villain and being loudly reviled by the crowd. One little man starts calling her "bucket nut," which is apparently an insult (Cody never explains it but the context is pretty plain). She winds up winning her match, mostly because she's angry that her opponent forgot Eva has a toothache.
But wrestling doesn't make much money, so Eva also works as a security guard at a junkyard where she lives in a battered trailer, and where she's aided by a couple of vicious dogs. She also runs a few errands for a crime boss. And she also occasionally picks pockets and steals cars. The first time I read about Eva pinching someone's vehicle it stopped me in my tracks. But she's not doing it for fun or even profit -- it's her way of getting around London without spending money.
Eva is angry and uneducated but she's not lying down and taking the slings of arrows of life as a victim. She's determined to be a good wrestler, and to get her teeth fixed, and to track down her missing sister Simone. But then she does someone a favor -- big mistake.
One of the older wrestlers asks her to lend a hand working security at a nightclub. Eva goes there, meets a sculptor who wants her to model for him (she gives him the brush-off) and has a brief encounter with a blonde backup singer who says she hates men. Then, suddenly, there's tear gas everywhere and the cops bust in. Eva wisely heads for the exit -- but as she's leaving the scene (with a few more wallets), she discovers the blonde singer passed out outside. So she makes her second mistake and hoists the comatose woman over her shoulder, steals another car and takes her home.
I don't want to give too much away here, because the zig-zag plot keeps a reader off-balance and unsure what to expect, just as Eva's likely to say anything at any time. There's some terrific writing in here, as Eva encounters and overcomes all kinds of hardships, dodging death and getting back at the people who did her wrong. She even has a great, climactic fight scene toward the end that's a real highlight of the book.
Eva's not as smart as she thinks she is, but she's determined and ready for a fight at any time. And I looooove to hear her talk -- bucket nut or not.
I tracked this book down because Sara Paretsky very enthusiastically endorsed it during a Zoom book talk, and now that I've read it I can see why. Eva is a big, strong, homely young woman who wants little more out of life than to be a pro wrestler named the London Lass-sassin. The book begins with her in the ring, playing the villain and being loudly reviled by the crowd. One little man starts calling her "bucket nut," which is apparently an insult (Cody never explains it but the context is pretty plain). She winds up winning her match, mostly because she's angry that her opponent forgot Eva has a toothache.
But wrestling doesn't make much money, so Eva also works as a security guard at a junkyard where she lives in a battered trailer, and where she's aided by a couple of vicious dogs. She also runs a few errands for a crime boss. And she also occasionally picks pockets and steals cars. The first time I read about Eva pinching someone's vehicle it stopped me in my tracks. But she's not doing it for fun or even profit -- it's her way of getting around London without spending money.
Eva is angry and uneducated but she's not lying down and taking the slings of arrows of life as a victim. She's determined to be a good wrestler, and to get her teeth fixed, and to track down her missing sister Simone. But then she does someone a favor -- big mistake.
One of the older wrestlers asks her to lend a hand working security at a nightclub. Eva goes there, meets a sculptor who wants her to model for him (she gives him the brush-off) and has a brief encounter with a blonde backup singer who says she hates men. Then, suddenly, there's tear gas everywhere and the cops bust in. Eva wisely heads for the exit -- but as she's leaving the scene (with a few more wallets), she discovers the blonde singer passed out outside. So she makes her second mistake and hoists the comatose woman over her shoulder, steals another car and takes her home.
I don't want to give too much away here, because the zig-zag plot keeps a reader off-balance and unsure what to expect, just as Eva's likely to say anything at any time. There's some terrific writing in here, as Eva encounters and overcomes all kinds of hardships, dodging death and getting back at the people who did her wrong. She even has a great, climactic fight scene toward the end that's a real highlight of the book.
Eva's not as smart as she thinks she is, but she's determined and ready for a fight at any time. And I looooove to hear her talk -- bucket nut or not.
March 8, 2015
Part comedy, part tragedy, this book follows one Eva Wylie, a big ugly brute of a woman trying to make a name for herself as a baddie in professional wresting. She wrestles under the name of the London Lassassin, but her (anti-)fans call her Bucket Nut.
She lives for their boos and their insults, but she's living a marginal life. After a childhood spent in foster homes and years living homeless, she's only now beginning to put her life together, with a job watching over a junkyard, petty theft, and running errands for a local gangster.
Then everything goes to hell and Eva finds herself caught in a war between rival gangs.
The real appeal here is Eva's voice, which comes across as loud and brutish even on the page. It's not often readers get a crime novel where the POV character is as clumsy and comically clueless as this one. Everything has to be explained to her, because she's always looking elsewhere when important clues pop up.
There are two more in this series but I don't think I'll continue reading it. I enjoyed this one, and I liked the way it ended. I'm satisfied.
She lives for their boos and their insults, but she's living a marginal life. After a childhood spent in foster homes and years living homeless, she's only now beginning to put her life together, with a job watching over a junkyard, petty theft, and running errands for a local gangster.
Then everything goes to hell and Eva finds herself caught in a war between rival gangs.
The real appeal here is Eva's voice, which comes across as loud and brutish even on the page. It's not often readers get a crime novel where the POV character is as clumsy and comically clueless as this one. Everything has to be explained to her, because she's always looking elsewhere when important clues pop up.
There are two more in this series but I don't think I'll continue reading it. I enjoyed this one, and I liked the way it ended. I'm satisfied.
January 25, 2014
I enjoyed the Anna Lee series, but wasn't at all sure what to expect with this unusual new heroine Eva Wylie. She is a big and brutish, low end wrestler who lives in a "static holiday van" (what they call a mobile home in the UK) in the middle of a salvage wrecking yard. She is one tough cookie who knows how to take care of herself, both inside and outside of the wrestling ring.
Want to read
February 15, 2020Synopsis: part of a trilogy. Eva is big, smart, and tough. She works as a pro wrestler. She wants to find her lost sister. Problems develop.
February 27, 2020
I found this one on a list of unusual crime novels. It definitely fits the bill.
I think this book is kind of tricksy. It’s billed as a crime novel, and it is. Eva, the protagonist, works for folks in the London underground and there is a crime at the center of the story. But really, this is a character study about a low class English woman who just wants to wrestle and live her life the best way she can. It’s as much about the sport of women’s minor league wrestling as it is the shady stuff Eva does.
The enjoyment one takes from this book will come down to how one feels about Eva. Everything is told from her perspective. Author Liza Cody does a great job of giving her a distinct voice. She’s an unreliable narrator with an opinion on everything. You see the bowels of London through her eyes. At times, I laughed with her, pitied her, felt anger towards her, was annoyed by her or completely turned off altogether. Parts of it work and others do not; Cody can get carried away in certain unfocused scenes. But the parts that do work are fun.
While this book definitely plays for laughs, there are some moments where you will cringe or feel terrible, especially near the end, where Eva’s unreliable nature comes back to haunt the reader in a big way. You might like Eva at the beginning, you probably won’t on the last page. But it was great to read her story. This is indeed an unusual crime novel. It’s also a good one.
I think this book is kind of tricksy. It’s billed as a crime novel, and it is. Eva, the protagonist, works for folks in the London underground and there is a crime at the center of the story. But really, this is a character study about a low class English woman who just wants to wrestle and live her life the best way she can. It’s as much about the sport of women’s minor league wrestling as it is the shady stuff Eva does.
The enjoyment one takes from this book will come down to how one feels about Eva. Everything is told from her perspective. Author Liza Cody does a great job of giving her a distinct voice. She’s an unreliable narrator with an opinion on everything. You see the bowels of London through her eyes. At times, I laughed with her, pitied her, felt anger towards her, was annoyed by her or completely turned off altogether. Parts of it work and others do not; Cody can get carried away in certain unfocused scenes. But the parts that do work are fun.
While this book definitely plays for laughs, there are some moments where you will cringe or feel terrible, especially near the end, where Eva’s unreliable nature comes back to haunt the reader in a big way. You might like Eva at the beginning, you probably won’t on the last page. But it was great to read her story. This is indeed an unusual crime novel. It’s also a good one.
September 11, 2017
I quite enjoyed this book. Eva is wrestler, getting her living from day to day with a variety of jobs that eventually ends her up in the middle of a underworld gang fight. She's a lonely character, not that she'd ever admit it, but she keeps everyone at arm's length; it's sad and compelling. I wouldn't really call this a mystery or a crime novel as I thought going into it, but the character and her struggles will keep me coming back for the rest of the series.
October 1, 2019
This book was a real feel good read. I put off reading it for a while due to the cover and thinking it's all about wrestling. However how wrong was I to do that. I read it in one sitting and squirmed at the abuse this overweight lady took and boy did she give it back with finesse. She's a lady who's got a heart of gold but don't get on the wrong side of her lol. Very entertaining read indeed. Shall read again at a later date. Ordered book number 2 and looking forward to it.
November 13, 2016
Read this a long time ago. I was startled and put-off at first by the character, the world she lives in, her semi-articulateness, just about everything. By the end I liked as much or more than any suspense/crime novel I've ever read. I always meant to read more by this author but haven't yet. High recommendation for this one.
April 14, 2023
I so love this book. It is one of my top 10 all time books, really! Such a unique character and such specific language. It made me sad that Cody wrote only a few Eva Wylies. Highly recommend for those who are looking for a mystery that is strong on character and setting.
dnf
May 19, 2020I don't know whether to be happy or offended that my dad said the main character reminded him of me. Either way, I was curious, but this book didn't really grip me.
Read
September 17, 2022Unusual.
July 30, 2025
I can think of no cheeky play on words to express how much I truly loved Bucket Nut. Excited to check out Eva's next adventures.. that's real wrasslin'!
August 7, 2025
A book for anyone who loves mean women :)
September 17, 2025
this is kind of like naked gun for lesbians. if u think about it
October 24, 2011
I got really cross reading this book.
Really cross.
With myself.
It was first published in 1992 and I've only just got round to reading it - what a waste of a lot of years.
Worse still, the review I saw of it at the Drowning Machine was posted about a year ago - no excuses then (but thanks, Naomi, for the tip).
The tale is of a lady wrestler, Eva Wylie. She's had a tough life and she's a tough lady.
We meet her as she deals with her wimp of an opponent, once again playing out the villain in the pantomime ring.
She lives in a static van. I read the book in a static van in Grange, though it was a little more comfortable than Eva's scrapyard home - it would be hard for it not to be and the electricity remained connected.
The plot builds beautifully.
Eva is keen to get money. She wants to fix her teeth and to gather enough cash to help her appear to be a worthy human being when she eventually tracks down her sister.
To get said cash, she works for Mr Cheng, part muscle/part delivery girl. They pay, she asks no questions.
In an act of bad-fortune, she ends up doing a bouncer's shift at a club which is about to be attacked by Mr Cheng's turf-war enemies. Worse than that, she unwittingly helps out one of those enemies and adopts her like one might a bird with a broken wing.
It's kind of nice for her to have someone to live with other than her guard-dog mates, Ramses and Linekar.
I don't think I'm going to write more on the plot. Suffice it to say things get easily complicated and the solutions are never close to hand.
What I loved so much about the book was the depth of every character.
All of Eva's surrounding cast are brilliantly sketched. It's like she's a method actor who's been inside all of them to find out what makes them tick. I felt concern for the author at times due to the depth of her empathy.
That concern was stretched to the limits with Eva herself. She's big, tough and hard. She has a heart that's half-gold, half Mercury. She's as forgiving as anyone can be, yet she's an avenging angel. Cody expresses things through Eva (or maybe it's the other way around) that wouldn't be out of place in books of philosophy, social-science, language, poetry or joke books. In another age I think Cody might have been a revolutionary, a suffragette, a saboteur. In 1992 she was a bloody marvel.
While I read, I also felt a debt to her. Felt as if the book had been influencing my own writing over the past years. That might seem impossible given I've never read a novel by her before, but if Ray Banks, Allan Guthrie or Charlie Williams read this book (as I'm sure they did), the path of that influence makes sense.
It's such a big, powerful book this, a bit like Eva herself.
An absolute gem.
Really cross.
With myself.
It was first published in 1992 and I've only just got round to reading it - what a waste of a lot of years.
Worse still, the review I saw of it at the Drowning Machine was posted about a year ago - no excuses then (but thanks, Naomi, for the tip).
The tale is of a lady wrestler, Eva Wylie. She's had a tough life and she's a tough lady.
We meet her as she deals with her wimp of an opponent, once again playing out the villain in the pantomime ring.
She lives in a static van. I read the book in a static van in Grange, though it was a little more comfortable than Eva's scrapyard home - it would be hard for it not to be and the electricity remained connected.
The plot builds beautifully.
Eva is keen to get money. She wants to fix her teeth and to gather enough cash to help her appear to be a worthy human being when she eventually tracks down her sister.
To get said cash, she works for Mr Cheng, part muscle/part delivery girl. They pay, she asks no questions.
In an act of bad-fortune, she ends up doing a bouncer's shift at a club which is about to be attacked by Mr Cheng's turf-war enemies. Worse than that, she unwittingly helps out one of those enemies and adopts her like one might a bird with a broken wing.
It's kind of nice for her to have someone to live with other than her guard-dog mates, Ramses and Linekar.
I don't think I'm going to write more on the plot. Suffice it to say things get easily complicated and the solutions are never close to hand.
What I loved so much about the book was the depth of every character.
All of Eva's surrounding cast are brilliantly sketched. It's like she's a method actor who's been inside all of them to find out what makes them tick. I felt concern for the author at times due to the depth of her empathy.
That concern was stretched to the limits with Eva herself. She's big, tough and hard. She has a heart that's half-gold, half Mercury. She's as forgiving as anyone can be, yet she's an avenging angel. Cody expresses things through Eva (or maybe it's the other way around) that wouldn't be out of place in books of philosophy, social-science, language, poetry or joke books. In another age I think Cody might have been a revolutionary, a suffragette, a saboteur. In 1992 she was a bloody marvel.
While I read, I also felt a debt to her. Felt as if the book had been influencing my own writing over the past years. That might seem impossible given I've never read a novel by her before, but if Ray Banks, Allan Guthrie or Charlie Williams read this book (as I'm sure they did), the path of that influence makes sense.
It's such a big, powerful book this, a bit like Eva herself.
An absolute gem.
August 28, 2019
Heel goed geschreven, dat is zeldzaam voor een thriller.
_____________
My review for the R.I.P. Challenge #5:
In 1996 I borrowed Knollekop (Bucket Nut) by Liza Cody from the library, and loved it so much that when I came across it at the annual Centraal Boekhuis book fair the next year, I picked up a copy.
This was unusual, because I tend to regard thrillers and mysteries as junk food: tasting good (hopefully) while it lasts, but containing nothing but empty calories and therefore leaving you ultimately unsatisfied.
But then, the protagonist is an unusual character: a female wrestler with a night job as a security guard (with two vicious watchdogs), and supplementing her income by doing shady jobs for various figures, the most important of whom is a Chinese mobster.
I loved Eva Wylie straightaway and I fell in love with her all over again this time around. The story is told from her point of view. In her own words she is big, ugly and mean, but we can tell that underneath her tough exterior she is more vulnerable than she'd have us believe.
The actual plot, which involves Eva doing one job too many and getting caught in the crossfire between two rivalling gangs, isn't all that important. What I loved about the book is Eva's voice, her wry humour and outlook on life, the search for her sister, and the fascinating look into the world of show wrestling.
At the time I also read the sequel Monkey Wrench, but found that one a little over the top. I see that there is a third book called Musclebound and a series featuring a female private detective, but the only title my library has nowadays is Monkey Wrench, and neither Waterstone's nor ABC stock her books. Liza Cody seems to have more or less dropped off the radar, which is a shame, in my opinion.
_____________
My review for the R.I.P. Challenge #5:
In 1996 I borrowed Knollekop (Bucket Nut) by Liza Cody from the library, and loved it so much that when I came across it at the annual Centraal Boekhuis book fair the next year, I picked up a copy.
This was unusual, because I tend to regard thrillers and mysteries as junk food: tasting good (hopefully) while it lasts, but containing nothing but empty calories and therefore leaving you ultimately unsatisfied.
But then, the protagonist is an unusual character: a female wrestler with a night job as a security guard (with two vicious watchdogs), and supplementing her income by doing shady jobs for various figures, the most important of whom is a Chinese mobster.
I loved Eva Wylie straightaway and I fell in love with her all over again this time around. The story is told from her point of view. In her own words she is big, ugly and mean, but we can tell that underneath her tough exterior she is more vulnerable than she'd have us believe.
The actual plot, which involves Eva doing one job too many and getting caught in the crossfire between two rivalling gangs, isn't all that important. What I loved about the book is Eva's voice, her wry humour and outlook on life, the search for her sister, and the fascinating look into the world of show wrestling.
At the time I also read the sequel Monkey Wrench, but found that one a little over the top. I see that there is a third book called Musclebound and a series featuring a female private detective, but the only title my library has nowadays is Monkey Wrench, and neither Waterstone's nor ABC stock her books. Liza Cody seems to have more or less dropped off the radar, which is a shame, in my opinion.
July 1, 2010
I picked this one up on the recommendation from my friend Louise. I was kind of expecting something wonky, along the lines of Janet Evanovich or some-such. Boy, was I wrong! This was actually a rather gritty book. And I'm not sure why it is classified as a mystery. There was no real whodunnit going on, and what I would consider the main question in the book was in no way resolved by the end. Indeed, the main conflict of the book never felt resolved to my satisfaction either. At the same time, the main character and her narrative voice were refreshingly different and really caught my attention. I wasn't sure at any given moment whether I should cheer her on, pity her, or slap her upside the head. She really is a great character and I enjoyed reading her story (or, at least, this first part of it).
January 22, 2011
I laughed from start to finish. Wonderfully realized character. More rude English words than I know. Makes me wish my daughter were still married to her English husband, so I could ask him what they meant. He would know.
A female wrestler, serious about being the best wrestler/performer she can be, goes from one crisis to another, thanks to a blend of craftiness and simplicity, cynicism and soft-heartedness. The juxtapositions ring true, and make Eva funny but not comical. I never felt I was laughing--or was expected to laugh AT HER. A quirky book. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy about a pair of junkyard dogs. Cody's PI, Anna Lee, makes a cameo appearance.
This is the first Liza Cody book I've read. It won't be the last.
A female wrestler, serious about being the best wrestler/performer she can be, goes from one crisis to another, thanks to a blend of craftiness and simplicity, cynicism and soft-heartedness. The juxtapositions ring true, and make Eva funny but not comical. I never felt I was laughing--or was expected to laugh AT HER. A quirky book. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy about a pair of junkyard dogs. Cody's PI, Anna Lee, makes a cameo appearance.
This is the first Liza Cody book I've read. It won't be the last.
August 13, 2016
To say I really liked it might be overstating the case. My heart bled for this woman. Part of me wanted to be her and the other part wanted to rescue her, although I knew she would hate for it. The mere fact that I have a visceral reaction to this book every time I see the cover would case me to rate it a 4.
July 20, 2010
A fun, light read although it took me a little while to get the hang of the London slang. Now I will have to look around for another by this author, which I hope I can find since the books were written in the 1990s her works may no longer be in print.
June 3, 2014
Read it in one sitting, very engaging. Sort of a tragi-comedy wrapped in a mystery novel. The mystery though, isn't finding out who "did it," it's wondering what the Bucket Nut will do next. Well done.
August 2, 2009
British woman wrestler from wrong side of the tracks...funny, unusual main character, and well written. Can't wait to read the next book in the series.
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December 7, 2010(Holiday reading so my comments are a bit minimal)
Eva Wylie's is one of the star characters of crime fiction. A real original creation and an excellent book.
December 24, 2012
I may have read this before, but it was fun. Bit difficult if you're not familiar with London slang, but I do like Cody.
August 10, 2015
This book wasn't what I expected. In fact, this book is what Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling wished it was.
I loved this book!! Only the 90s can create such an amazing thing.
I loved this book!! Only the 90s can create such an amazing thing.
February 2, 2014
The best lady wrestler detective ever.
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