Blotto, Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen

Blotto and Twinks #7

by Simon Brett

nan

Genres: Mystery

208 pages, Hardcover

Published July 18, 2017

About the author

Simon Brett is a prolific British writer of whodunnits.

He is the son of a Chartered Surveyor and was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first class honours degree in English.

He then joined the BBC as a trainee and worked for BBC Radio and London Weekend Television, where his work included 'Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and 'Frank Muir Goes Into ...'.

After his spells with the media he began devoting most of his time to writing from the late 1970s and is well known for his various series of crime novels.

He is married with three children and lives in Burpham, near Arundel, West Sussex, England. He is the current president of the Detection Club.

Reviews

[Steven Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another hair-raising adventure featuring the aristocratic brother and sister sleuthing duo!

The end of the cricket season spells gloom for Blotto, until he is invited to bat against the Hollywood cricket team out in sunny LA, where rain never stops play. And so begins the latest adventure for Blotto and his supremely gifted sister Twinks. Although their mother, the Dowager Duchess of Tawcester, keeps a strict rein on her two children, she knows America is full of wealthy young men, all of whom will fall in love with her daughter - and marriage to a Texan millionaire would solve the Tawcester financial problems once and for all.

So, accompanied by trusty chauffeur Corky Froggett, the intrepid siblings head out to California. On arrival in Hollywood they are invited to a glitzy party where they are introduced to a firmament of Hollywood stars, directors and gossip columnists, but the mood of the party suddenly curdles with the breaking news that beautiful starlet Mimsy La Pim - the (former) love of Blotto's life - has been kidnapped. And Blotto is determined to make it his personal mission to rescue her.

But in the world of old-fashioned cricket matches, gigantic Hollywood egos, film-making disasters and merciless crooks, it soon falls to Twinks to rescue her brother from the various messes he creates when attempting to rescue his damsel in distress. Will the siblings ever get back to Tawcester Towers - or will it be a case of death before wicket?

[Marj · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read several of the Blotto and Twinks books, and enjoyed them all. The main characters are exaggerations of stereotypes of the English aristocracy, and totally unbelievable.

Twinks is described as brilliant intellectually, and breathtakingly beautiful. Blotto, her brother, is good at cricket, driving his car, and riding his horse, but dumber than a box of rocks. He is also extremely brave (willing to take on multiple armed gangsters with only a cricket bat), and doesn't even realize he is in danger.

In spite of this, I have read several of the books and find them all entertaining (in a weird way). Probably says more about me than about the books themselves.

[Jan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have marked it as read but only because there isnt a shelf for "couldnt finish it"! I battled through about a quarter of it and gave up.

I couldnt get to grips with the strange writing style - almost a bit like Wodehouse but horribly exaggerated and self-consciously clever - but not in a good way!

I enjoy the Mrs Pargiter books, but will give this particular series a wide berth in future.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

This is easy to read but I cannot say I much enjoyed it. The books in the series are the same regardless of setting and the joke has now worn very thin.

I did not find this the least bit funny or clever.

[Rosemary Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want and easy read that make you giggle then this book fills that gap. I love Simon Brett I have read nearly all his books and have yet to read a bad one.

[Ruth Brumby · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seventh Blotto and Twinks story is almost a pastiche of itself. In the light of Brexit and the Harvey Weinstein affair, their attitudes seem less lightheartedly funny.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another crazy funny romp with the blundering Blotto and the absolutely perfect in every way Twinks.

[Andy Gore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A spoffing great read.

[Margaret Haigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books, they are so funny. Long live Simon Brett

[J Grimsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to the old standard of pleasurable silliness. I found No 5 in the series less enjoyable.