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Housetrap Chronicles
Housetrap
In a world ruled by committees of wizards, and packed with every creature imaginable, in the sleazy backstreets of Central City you can always count on Randolph C. Aloysius to solve your problems. That is, assuming his trusty Girl Friday, Bertha, can track him down.
A sucker for a pair of legs, Randy takes the case of a long legged Elf trying to locate a missing boyfriend. Simple.
Of course, nothing is ever simple in Randy’s life, what with avoiding commitments to his long-suffering lady friend, an attempted murder, a real murder, stolen baubles, and another damsel in distress. What’s a private eye to do?
Simple really. Follow the clues off-world, avoid demons, vampires and other assorted miscreants, and hope to come home with enough coin left over to meet Bertha’s back wages.
A sucker for a pair of legs, Randy takes the case of a long legged Elf trying to locate a missing boyfriend. Simple.
Of course, nothing is ever simple in Randy’s life, what with avoiding commitments to his long-suffering lady friend, an attempted murder, a real murder, stolen baubles, and another damsel in distress. What’s a private eye to do?
Simple really. Follow the clues off-world, avoid demons, vampires and other assorted miscreants, and hope to come home with enough coin left over to meet Bertha’s back wages.
- GenresFantasy
119 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2012
14 people want to read
About the author
R.J. Hore
43 books50 followers2026 brings a new publisher (Shipwreck Publishing) and new novels! Perils of Paul, a fantasy adventure will be coming out this April (2026) and soon to follow Flight of Fancy, a sci fi romance.
Since August 2024, I have twenty books in paperback and eBook format. Twelve Novellas that are available as separate eBooks as well as collection of four volumes containing three each of the novellas, The Housetrap Chronicles Omnibus Volumes 1-4.
My newer stand-alone novels, Summer in Paradise, a paranormal thriller, and Dark Candle, an 18+ tale of sex, murder and hypnotic regression are available in paperback and eBook as well as We’re Not in Kansas and Alex in Wanderland.
I have fittingly three trilogies, The Queen’s trilogy which contains the Queen’s Pawn, the Queen’s Man and The Queen’s Game. The Daughter’s series contains Of Destiny’s Daughters, Hammers Across the Stars and Expeditions to Earth. And finally, The Dark Lady trilogy, beginning with The Dark Lady, Dark Days and Dark Knights.
You can often find me at local markets in Winnipeg and the surrounding area including Winnipeg's Keycon, check out my Instagram page to keep up with my latest adventures and where you might find me next!
You can also discover more on my website, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, I love to hear from fans of my work!
Since August 2024, I have twenty books in paperback and eBook format. Twelve Novellas that are available as separate eBooks as well as collection of four volumes containing three each of the novellas, The Housetrap Chronicles Omnibus Volumes 1-4.
My newer stand-alone novels, Summer in Paradise, a paranormal thriller, and Dark Candle, an 18+ tale of sex, murder and hypnotic regression are available in paperback and eBook as well as We’re Not in Kansas and Alex in Wanderland.
I have fittingly three trilogies, The Queen’s trilogy which contains the Queen’s Pawn, the Queen’s Man and The Queen’s Game. The Daughter’s series contains Of Destiny’s Daughters, Hammers Across the Stars and Expeditions to Earth. And finally, The Dark Lady trilogy, beginning with The Dark Lady, Dark Days and Dark Knights.
You can often find me at local markets in Winnipeg and the surrounding area including Winnipeg's Keycon, check out my Instagram page to keep up with my latest adventures and where you might find me next!
You can also discover more on my website, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, I love to hear from fans of my work!
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 26, 2019
Sometimes I find these little surprises on my Kindle. Call them gifts from carol.-past, or perhaps errant waves and electrons slipping through the ether. Or Amazon's own little advertising efforts. Well, whatever. A novella that felt very much like Glen Cook's Garrett P.I. series (first is Sweet Silver Blues), only with Even More Wisecracks! ™. I mean, if that isn't an advert, it should be.
A P.I., a slummy bar (run by a family of grizzlies), an elven dame looking for her errant boyfriend and a family heirloom. It's mostly what I'd expect, fully dabbling in the seedy P.I. noir tropes. The world sounds like a complete fantasy and sci-fi mash-up, with vampires, banshees, harpies and wizards sending ships to Mars. It's fun, albeit in that way that sugared-up, caffeinated-up fun movies can be, where suddenly it's just exhausting, and could we just go back to being normal please? There's a twist or two that I'm not quite sure sits with the tone. It's a fine line and I'm not quite sure Hore got it here. The ending actually made me feel a little let down, which is actually extremely appropriate for the over-sugared analogy, now that I think about it. I'd think--but I'm hardly sure--that I might have gotten this for a dollar, in which case, worth it. But the other ones seem to have a $2.99 price; probably not worth it.
Two and a half drinks, rounding up
A P.I., a slummy bar (run by a family of grizzlies), an elven dame looking for her errant boyfriend and a family heirloom. It's mostly what I'd expect, fully dabbling in the seedy P.I. noir tropes. The world sounds like a complete fantasy and sci-fi mash-up, with vampires, banshees, harpies and wizards sending ships to Mars. It's fun, albeit in that way that sugared-up, caffeinated-up fun movies can be, where suddenly it's just exhausting, and could we just go back to being normal please? There's a twist or two that I'm not quite sure sits with the tone. It's a fine line and I'm not quite sure Hore got it here. The ending actually made me feel a little let down, which is actually extremely appropriate for the over-sugared analogy, now that I think about it. I'd think--but I'm hardly sure--that I might have gotten this for a dollar, in which case, worth it. But the other ones seem to have a $2.99 price; probably not worth it.
Two and a half drinks, rounding up
February 8, 2018
https://koeur.wordpress.com/2018/02/0...
Publisher: Burst
Publishing Date: December 2012
ISBN:9781927454725
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.4/5
Publishers Description: In a world ruled by committees of wizards and packed with every creature imaginable, in the sleazy backstreets of Central City you can always count on Randolph C. Aloysius to solve your problems. That is, assuming his trusty Girl Friday, Bertha, can track him down.
Review: A fantasy detective novella with a fair amount of wit to keep you interested. The authors universe could do with a bit of expansion to build some depth into the characters and showcase his writing talent. Deceptively good world building brought this novel to the fore. Sadly, I can only rate novellas a max of three stars based on their compressed nature.
Publisher: Burst
Publishing Date: December 2012
ISBN:9781927454725
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.4/5
Publishers Description: In a world ruled by committees of wizards and packed with every creature imaginable, in the sleazy backstreets of Central City you can always count on Randolph C. Aloysius to solve your problems. That is, assuming his trusty Girl Friday, Bertha, can track him down.
Review: A fantasy detective novella with a fair amount of wit to keep you interested. The authors universe could do with a bit of expansion to build some depth into the characters and showcase his writing talent. Deceptively good world building brought this novel to the fore. Sadly, I can only rate novellas a max of three stars based on their compressed nature.
May 7, 2018
"Housetrap" could have been better and it could have been worse. It could also have used better editing too - there were quite a few errant commas and the occasional misused word.
As a YA novel, you expect a certain level of... straightforwardness. You might not get the same depth of character or complexity of world building as you might with adult fiction, but you should, in exchange, at least get a rollicking good story. There was something about "Housetrap" that was lacking for me. It seemed rushed. A little more care could have been taken over the details that would have fleshed it out more and made it come to life. Instead, you had a whole heap of magical beings crammed together, with outer space travel thrown in just because, when it really didn't add anything to the plot. It was a bit too much for such a short story. Simplifying would have allowed the mystery to thicken and the characters to breathe,
As it stands, this is just okay.
As a YA novel, you expect a certain level of... straightforwardness. You might not get the same depth of character or complexity of world building as you might with adult fiction, but you should, in exchange, at least get a rollicking good story. There was something about "Housetrap" that was lacking for me. It seemed rushed. A little more care could have been taken over the details that would have fleshed it out more and made it come to life. Instead, you had a whole heap of magical beings crammed together, with outer space travel thrown in just because, when it really didn't add anything to the plot. It was a bit too much for such a short story. Simplifying would have allowed the mystery to thicken and the characters to breathe,
As it stands, this is just okay.
February 2, 2020
IN 2020 my aim is to read only non-fiction and novellas. Novellas because I haven't read many, or any, actually, and their fast consumption will let me plod away at the non fic.
This was a good first choice; cute, witty and a bit of "I did not see that coming".
This was a good first choice; cute, witty and a bit of "I did not see that coming".
April 21, 2018
A very enjoyable, witty quick read full of some interesting and memorable characters that will make sure I read the other books in this series. Its just a shame it is only a novella!
Recommended to any Fantasy readers
Recommended to any Fantasy readers
August 8, 2023
A quick fun gumshoe detective - urban fantasy mashup. The world building was interesting, but it was too big for this small novella. Good excuse for me to read more in the series.
Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for the copy.
Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for the copy.
November 28, 2017
The world-building in Housetrap requires the reader to be capable of some suspension of belief to take in all the magic, fairy creatures, planetary travel, and some juxtaposition in the levels of available technology/magical creation limitations. Most fantasy readers will have the ability to sink into the world without any difficulty, and once there, Hore’s descriptions are consistent and connected in a way that world makes its own kind of sense. As an example, in one scene, Randolf is looking into his crystal ball and switching channels trying to find something to watch. It is explained that the wizards still hadn’t found a way to create audio and visuals within the same device. Now we know why a world that can send people to Mars doesn’t have something as simple as a television. It’s believable in that it is explained, and quite frankly, the real world still hasn’t found a cure for the common cold, though we are capable of splicing genes into organisms which causes them to produce human insulin.
Housetrap in an enjoyable quick read while, at the same time, being a great mental workout. R.J. Hore’s word choices and sentence structure are on a level with great literary works of fiction. While being fast-paced, the complexity of the writing style will increase the reading time and the amount of time spent lingering in pure awe at R. J. Hore’s mental capacity to contain that much knowledge and the talent to convey it in such an enjoyable way. I highly recommend this book to experienced readers of the fantasy genre.
Housetrap in an enjoyable quick read while, at the same time, being a great mental workout. R.J. Hore’s word choices and sentence structure are on a level with great literary works of fiction. While being fast-paced, the complexity of the writing style will increase the reading time and the amount of time spent lingering in pure awe at R. J. Hore’s mental capacity to contain that much knowledge and the talent to convey it in such an enjoyable way. I highly recommend this book to experienced readers of the fantasy genre.
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February 5, 2018A short book. Jumps straight into the action and stays there throughout. A good quick read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews