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Gobbelino London, PI #1
Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries
“What’ve we got?”
“Tigers. Snakes. Alligators. Tears in the skin of the universe.” Susan shrugged. “I think I saw a kraken in the sink, too.”
Find a missing book. That was the job the woman in the Doc Martens gave us.
Easy money, right?
Only now it seems she’s actually an ancient, powerful sorcerer, and the book is a Book of Power that doesn’t want to be found.
It wants to tear reality apart at the seams, and it’ll use anyone it can to do it.
So now we’ve got one spectacularly displeased sorcerer, a hungry, still-missing book, a dentist with bad hygiene, and a neighbourhood having some reality issues to deal with.
Plus about a day before the book turns our world – and us – inside out.
We’ve totally got this.
I hope.
This is the first book in the Gobbelino London, PI urban fantasy series, centred around the adventures of a mercenary feline PI and his human sidekick. It contains snarky cats and other gods, many bad jokes and terrible puns, plus a large serving of mythological and real creatures behaving badly. It will appeal to anyone who likes their fantasy funny, modern, and filled with friendship rather than romance - and also to those who suspect their cat may be living a great and secret life when they're not looking.
A Scourge of Pleasantries contains some violence, particularly toward furniture, but none of it is graphic. It contains no sex and only mild language. It does, however, contain blasphemy.
“Tigers. Snakes. Alligators. Tears in the skin of the universe.” Susan shrugged. “I think I saw a kraken in the sink, too.”
Find a missing book. That was the job the woman in the Doc Martens gave us.
Easy money, right?
Only now it seems she’s actually an ancient, powerful sorcerer, and the book is a Book of Power that doesn’t want to be found.
It wants to tear reality apart at the seams, and it’ll use anyone it can to do it.
So now we’ve got one spectacularly displeased sorcerer, a hungry, still-missing book, a dentist with bad hygiene, and a neighbourhood having some reality issues to deal with.
Plus about a day before the book turns our world – and us – inside out.
We’ve totally got this.
I hope.
This is the first book in the Gobbelino London, PI urban fantasy series, centred around the adventures of a mercenary feline PI and his human sidekick. It contains snarky cats and other gods, many bad jokes and terrible puns, plus a large serving of mythological and real creatures behaving badly. It will appeal to anyone who likes their fantasy funny, modern, and filled with friendship rather than romance - and also to those who suspect their cat may be living a great and secret life when they're not looking.
A Scourge of Pleasantries contains some violence, particularly toward furniture, but none of it is graphic. It contains no sex and only mild language. It does, however, contain blasphemy.
324 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 24, 2020
459 people are currently reading
1292 people want to read
About the author
Kim M. Watt
42 books326 followersHello lovely people!
I’m Kim (as you may have guessed, given that you're on the author page for Kim). I write funny fantasies and off-beat cosy (or cozy, depending where you're from) mysteries set in a world not so dissimilar to ours - and in fact sharing many locations.
And in this not-dissimilar world you'll find mystery-solving dragons with a strong affection for barbecues and scones, and snarky feline PIs with human sidekicks. You'll run across baking-obsessed reapers running petting cafes stocked with baby ghouls, Apocalyptic riders on Vespas, and women of a certain age Getting Things Done. There may even be the odd born-again troll redefining troll-ness for the modern age about the place.
You'll find myth and reality clashing in small and spectacular ways, and discover the healing magic of tea and a really good lemon drizzle cake.
But, most of all, there will be friendship, and loyalty, and people of all species looking out for one another. Because these, above all things, are magic.
And you can find me rambling on about all this (and more) over on my website, or join me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for bad puns and many, many cat memes. Many.
Come join me!
I’m Kim (as you may have guessed, given that you're on the author page for Kim). I write funny fantasies and off-beat cosy (or cozy, depending where you're from) mysteries set in a world not so dissimilar to ours - and in fact sharing many locations.
And in this not-dissimilar world you'll find mystery-solving dragons with a strong affection for barbecues and scones, and snarky feline PIs with human sidekicks. You'll run across baking-obsessed reapers running petting cafes stocked with baby ghouls, Apocalyptic riders on Vespas, and women of a certain age Getting Things Done. There may even be the odd born-again troll redefining troll-ness for the modern age about the place.
You'll find myth and reality clashing in small and spectacular ways, and discover the healing magic of tea and a really good lemon drizzle cake.
But, most of all, there will be friendship, and loyalty, and people of all species looking out for one another. Because these, above all things, are magic.
And you can find me rambling on about all this (and more) over on my website, or join me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for bad puns and many, many cat memes. Many.
Come join me!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
July 21, 2023
Gobbelino the Cat 🐈
A very nice book about a very clever cat named Gobbelino and his human, Callum.
Gobs and Callum are P.I.s. Yes, they work together. They are a team. It helps a lot that Gobbelino can talk…to Callum.
They are hired by a woman wearing too much cologne for Gobs to smell what she is up to.
She wants them to get her book back from her ex-husband. They find the book, but before they can return it, it gets stolen.
Then things get strange.
Five fantastic stars. 💫💫💫💫💫
A very nice book about a very clever cat named Gobbelino and his human, Callum.
Gobs and Callum are P.I.s. Yes, they work together. They are a team. It helps a lot that Gobbelino can talk…to Callum.
They are hired by a woman wearing too much cologne for Gobs to smell what she is up to.
She wants them to get her book back from her ex-husband. They find the book, but before they can return it, it gets stolen.
Then things get strange.
Five fantastic stars. 💫💫💫💫💫
May 30, 2023
A scourge of tolerability, really. The premise is mildly encouraging: the straight-laced, down-on-his-luck, broke-as-, private investigator paired with a cat (apparently, all cats can talk but this one is willing to break the rules). A beautiful woman comes to them with a request to retrieve a book and the shenanigans are on.
This feels very first novel. Despite being first person from the cat perspective, the vast majority of the time, the voice felt solidly millennial dude (no judgement implied; just that I doubt cats sound the same). Mostly, though, it just felt okay.
"If anyone had asked how business was going, I could have summed it up like this: currently, a very large man with a very bald head was waving a very heavy tyre iron around our office in a very threatening manner. And our office being too small to swing the proverbial cat (and trust me, that'd better be proverbial. Cats do not take kindly to such treatment), he had already cracked the back of the rickety chair on his side of the desk, smashed on of our three remaining overhead fluorescent lights, and had come alarmingly close to my ears where I crouched on top of the rusty old filing cabinet."
The style has a humous approach that keeps it entertaining. The first escapade is more slapstick but eventually it gets more surreal. I liked the hints of depth for the characters, particularly when Gob talked about walking the in-between. I would have liked to dive into Callum's backstory, but I'm guessing that will be a later book. This story develops potential connections, both friendly and otherwise, for both Callum and Gob that feel genuine.
“Dude, my kitty senses are on fire,” I said."
For me, the general writing and the unfulfilled cat premise probably isn't enough to return me to the series, but you never know. Curiosity might strike.
Two and a half stars, rounding up for the humor.
This feels very first novel. Despite being first person from the cat perspective, the vast majority of the time, the voice felt solidly millennial dude (no judgement implied; just that I doubt cats sound the same). Mostly, though, it just felt okay.
"If anyone had asked how business was going, I could have summed it up like this: currently, a very large man with a very bald head was waving a very heavy tyre iron around our office in a very threatening manner. And our office being too small to swing the proverbial cat (and trust me, that'd better be proverbial. Cats do not take kindly to such treatment), he had already cracked the back of the rickety chair on his side of the desk, smashed on of our three remaining overhead fluorescent lights, and had come alarmingly close to my ears where I crouched on top of the rusty old filing cabinet."
The style has a humous approach that keeps it entertaining. The first escapade is more slapstick but eventually it gets more surreal. I liked the hints of depth for the characters, particularly when Gob talked about walking the in-between. I would have liked to dive into Callum's backstory, but I'm guessing that will be a later book. This story develops potential connections, both friendly and otherwise, for both Callum and Gob that feel genuine.
“Dude, my kitty senses are on fire,” I said."
For me, the general writing and the unfulfilled cat premise probably isn't enough to return me to the series, but you never know. Curiosity might strike.
Two and a half stars, rounding up for the humor.
October 14, 2024
“Well, never look a Trojan horse in the foot, or whatever.”An unwillingly hilarious, snarky as fish feline detective + his puny human sidekick with a patchy history with the law and a shiny new conscience + feral books + pastel rats + horribly benevolent old ladies + ever-fuming, slightly disheveled dentists + not dying much + hahahahahaha + krakens in sinks + undersized panthers + buildings with a dubious grip on reality = well this was despicably cozy indeed. And also slightly very funny. And somewhat very entertaining. I'm pretty sure Mr. Poe would approve.
Looks like a resounding yes to me! Ha! Knew it!
· Book 2: Gobbelino London & a Contagion of Zombies ★★★★
· Book 3: Gobbelino London & a Complication of Unicorns ★★★★
· Book 4: Gobbelino London & a Melee of Mages ★★★★
· Book 5: Gobbelino London & a Worry of Weres ★★★★
February 26, 2023
Gobbelino (the cat) and Callum (the human) are a private investigation team short on funding in a version of today's Yorkshire and London, U.K.
"“This is how we work, I’m afraid, Ms …?” “Ms Jones will do,” she said.
Callum didn’t question it. Lots of people don’t use their real names when they come in. No skin off our chins. Or tongues, whatever. We’re interested in who the customer pays us to be interested in, not the customer themselves. So she could call herself the High Ruler of the Purple Ascot Ponies and we’d still take the case."
(see above for rationale)
"you’d like us to confirm he has it?”
“I want you to get it back.”
“Um.” Callum bounced the end of the pen on the notepad. “Request he give it back, you mean?”
“No. I don’t want you to talk to him. In fact, I explicitly forbid you from making contact with him. I want you to steal it back.” Callum and I exchanged glances, and I arched my eyebrow whiskers slightly. She explicitly forbade us? A) weird, and b) no one forbids a cat anything. It just doesn’t work. That’s like a law of the universe."
I like to think of cats as intelligent, rather than small carnivores waiting to pick over my dead flesh. Gobbelino quite adequately fulfills this aspiration. We get the world according to Gobbelino and it is a nicely differentiated perspective.
"Callum didn’t join me – he went across the hall and invited Mrs Smith out for a slap-up dinner down the local Chinese. I’d have gone, but I don’t like it there. They get really huffy about me coming in, and act like I’m going to shed on the buffet. To be fair, I probably would do exactly that if Callum would just look the other way for long enough, but that’s only because they were anti-cat first. Cute of him to take our dotty but devoted neighbour out, I know, but you’d think he’d have a human closer to his own age he could splash the cash on. He seemed pretty disinterested in most people, though. Fair enough. Each to their own, and more shrimp money for me. Plus, you never know how a new human’s going throw out the delicate balance of a partnership."
There are many animal-human detective partnerships out there. (Chet and Bernie are a personal favorite.) But this one has an additional paranormal vibe. "We get everywhere. And that’s because we can shift. Shifting’s like teleportation, but it’s magic, so it’s real, not some sci-fi mumbo jumbo. We just step out of this world into the space behind it, the space between all worlds, the Inbetween, and step back again somewhere else." Also our cat can speak and not only his buddy Callum can hear him.
Gobbelino’s talents are not limited to his stealth cat talents; he also has visions: "In my dreams, the musky perfume crept around me like a fog, yellow and poisonous, and someone walked just out of sight, their boot heels hard and dull on the tattered ground. As much as I ran, I couldn’t catch them. And behind me the world crumbled to darkness." He can see into the “other world,” and he can talk with creatures in this one: "The rats saw everything, and they talked about everything. Whatever one of them saw, the others would know about within twenty minutes or so. They were the true information network, and if you wanted to know what went on in other buildings, you just had to ask. You got a lot for the price of the odd sausage, and a little respect. I never understood why some cats – and humans – were so down on rats. They were good friends to have."
From that point:"Things get squiffy.”
First, there is the book, a magical tome. Second, there is the Watch----sort of an interdimensional enforcement agency.
"We needed to get this figured out before the Watch came sniffing around. If they got a whiff of magical doings and started looking into it properly it wouldn’t be long before it all came back on us.”
Most humans are not either perceptive and/or interested. Or as the cat would put it: "They’d probably consider aliens, but not magic.”"
So things go from bad to worse but our heroes don’t give up: "It was so much easier to find your motivation when magical things just tried to kill you."
There is a lot of time taken to set this up, but the result is worthwhile.
3.5*
"“This is how we work, I’m afraid, Ms …?” “Ms Jones will do,” she said.
Callum didn’t question it. Lots of people don’t use their real names when they come in. No skin off our chins. Or tongues, whatever. We’re interested in who the customer pays us to be interested in, not the customer themselves. So she could call herself the High Ruler of the Purple Ascot Ponies and we’d still take the case."
(see above for rationale)
"you’d like us to confirm he has it?”
“I want you to get it back.”
“Um.” Callum bounced the end of the pen on the notepad. “Request he give it back, you mean?”
“No. I don’t want you to talk to him. In fact, I explicitly forbid you from making contact with him. I want you to steal it back.” Callum and I exchanged glances, and I arched my eyebrow whiskers slightly. She explicitly forbade us? A) weird, and b) no one forbids a cat anything. It just doesn’t work. That’s like a law of the universe."
I like to think of cats as intelligent, rather than small carnivores waiting to pick over my dead flesh. Gobbelino quite adequately fulfills this aspiration. We get the world according to Gobbelino and it is a nicely differentiated perspective.
"Callum didn’t join me – he went across the hall and invited Mrs Smith out for a slap-up dinner down the local Chinese. I’d have gone, but I don’t like it there. They get really huffy about me coming in, and act like I’m going to shed on the buffet. To be fair, I probably would do exactly that if Callum would just look the other way for long enough, but that’s only because they were anti-cat first. Cute of him to take our dotty but devoted neighbour out, I know, but you’d think he’d have a human closer to his own age he could splash the cash on. He seemed pretty disinterested in most people, though. Fair enough. Each to their own, and more shrimp money for me. Plus, you never know how a new human’s going throw out the delicate balance of a partnership."
There are many animal-human detective partnerships out there. (Chet and Bernie are a personal favorite.) But this one has an additional paranormal vibe. "We get everywhere. And that’s because we can shift. Shifting’s like teleportation, but it’s magic, so it’s real, not some sci-fi mumbo jumbo. We just step out of this world into the space behind it, the space between all worlds, the Inbetween, and step back again somewhere else." Also our cat can speak and not only his buddy Callum can hear him.
Gobbelino’s talents are not limited to his stealth cat talents; he also has visions: "In my dreams, the musky perfume crept around me like a fog, yellow and poisonous, and someone walked just out of sight, their boot heels hard and dull on the tattered ground. As much as I ran, I couldn’t catch them. And behind me the world crumbled to darkness." He can see into the “other world,” and he can talk with creatures in this one: "The rats saw everything, and they talked about everything. Whatever one of them saw, the others would know about within twenty minutes or so. They were the true information network, and if you wanted to know what went on in other buildings, you just had to ask. You got a lot for the price of the odd sausage, and a little respect. I never understood why some cats – and humans – were so down on rats. They were good friends to have."
From that point:"Things get squiffy.”
First, there is the book, a magical tome. Second, there is the Watch----sort of an interdimensional enforcement agency.
"We needed to get this figured out before the Watch came sniffing around. If they got a whiff of magical doings and started looking into it properly it wouldn’t be long before it all came back on us.”
Most humans are not either perceptive and/or interested. Or as the cat would put it: "They’d probably consider aliens, but not magic.”"
So things go from bad to worse but our heroes don’t give up: "It was so much easier to find your motivation when magical things just tried to kill you."
There is a lot of time taken to set this up, but the result is worthwhile.
3.5*
March 2, 2025
Re-read 2025. Second time around, and it still had me laughing!
-----------------------------------
This book was a blast! I enjoyed the heck out of it.
The story is narrated by Gobbelino the cat. He is half-partner in a detective agency with his human, Callum. The two of them have the funniest conversations! The events take place in England, only an England with some magical elements to it. The two are hired to find a powerful creepy tome by a powerful creepy lady, and mayhem ensues.
Having the cat tell the story is the best part! If my cats could speak English rather than "felinese" as I call it, they would have this exact smug and condescending tone. The author must be a fellow Cat Lady 🐱
When Gobbelino is trying to talk Callum into some shady doings, Callum refuses on the grounds that it isn't right. In true immoral fashion, Gobbelino grumbles to himself about Callum, that "His ethics really get in the way of us living our best lives." And an example to back up my Cat Lady theory about the author is this sentence:
"I wandered the cat-paths that run between memory and meditation, my eyes half-closed against the dim day."
The next time one of my cats is in that Zen pose I'll probably recall this scene.
I fully intend to read the rest of this series!
-----------------------------------
This book was a blast! I enjoyed the heck out of it.
The story is narrated by Gobbelino the cat. He is half-partner in a detective agency with his human, Callum. The two of them have the funniest conversations! The events take place in England, only an England with some magical elements to it. The two are hired to find a powerful creepy tome by a powerful creepy lady, and mayhem ensues.
Having the cat tell the story is the best part! If my cats could speak English rather than "felinese" as I call it, they would have this exact smug and condescending tone. The author must be a fellow Cat Lady 🐱
When Gobbelino is trying to talk Callum into some shady doings, Callum refuses on the grounds that it isn't right. In true immoral fashion, Gobbelino grumbles to himself about Callum, that "His ethics really get in the way of us living our best lives." And an example to back up my Cat Lady theory about the author is this sentence:
"I wandered the cat-paths that run between memory and meditation, my eyes half-closed against the dim day."
The next time one of my cats is in that Zen pose I'll probably recall this scene.
I fully intend to read the rest of this series!
February 6, 2023
Cats, as you've no doubt noticed, get everywhere, especially where we're not meant to. We take pride in it. Hanging out in library stacks or stalking hotel hallways or snoozing in your bath, even if you don't have a cat. Especially if you don't have a cat. It's a thing.
Crime fighting duos are a popular thing - feline/human teamups slightly less so. But Gobbelino London is here to prove that a cat can only make things better; they are just generally superior, so it follows that they'd improve a private detective agency.
I really enjoyed this (and small surprise when it was a review from Sarah that brought it onto my radar - she knows her UF), and the voice of the narrator was particularly fantastic. Gobbelino may be a feline narrator, but the storyline is far from cutesy - this magic is the kind with teeth. At the same time, he is a cat, one with a natural preference for comfort and luxury, and a sky-high self confidence that never falters.
This gave me Rivers of London vibes, almost, though the setting is more northern. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I'll be continuing the series for sure.
Crime fighting duos are a popular thing - feline/human teamups slightly less so. But Gobbelino London is here to prove that a cat can only make things better; they are just generally superior, so it follows that they'd improve a private detective agency.
I really enjoyed this (and small surprise when it was a review from Sarah that brought it onto my radar - she knows her UF), and the voice of the narrator was particularly fantastic. Gobbelino may be a feline narrator, but the storyline is far from cutesy - this magic is the kind with teeth. At the same time, he is a cat, one with a natural preference for comfort and luxury, and a sky-high self confidence that never falters.
This gave me Rivers of London vibes, almost, though the setting is more northern. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I'll be continuing the series for sure.
September 26, 2021
Funny, smart and some excellent reality-bending weirdness. Plus: snarky cat for a narrator! What else could you possibly want?
June 16, 2023
Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries is the first in the Gobbelino London, PI series by Kim M. Watt. The story is told entirely from Gobbelino's point of view. Gobbelino is a cat detective who, as we learn as the story progresses, is attempting to keep a lower profile so he doesn't have any other run in's with this world's magical police, the Watch. Still, a cat's got to eat. Gobbelino along with his human, Callum, run a private investigative agency as a way to make ends meet. Cases have been sparse lately so when a mysterious woman wearing Doc Martens and too much perfume offers them a paying job, the detective duo really aren't in a position to turn the work away. The job: recover a stolen book from the woman's ex-husband.
I really enjoyed having the story told from the cat's perspective. I like how the author didn't make it easy for Gobs, being realistic about the difficulties his size and lack of thumbs provides. And the advantages a cat has too. The snarky humor was right up my alley as I found myself chuckling many times as I read. Gobbelino has a poor grasp of human idioms. Callum is a good partner for Gobs, being a genuinely nice guy and has the thumbs that a cat lacks. Callum has a history I hope we learn more of as the series progresses. They make a great duo.
I don't want to go into too much detail about the shenanigans that ensue shortly after our crack pair of investigators take the case so I'll keep it brief. The book features a snarky feline humor, a dubious client, a dentist, a feral book, pastel rats, reality bending buildings, a horribly pleasant old lady and a kraken in a sink. This book was right up my alley. I look forward to continuing the series.
I really enjoyed having the story told from the cat's perspective. I like how the author didn't make it easy for Gobs, being realistic about the difficulties his size and lack of thumbs provides. And the advantages a cat has too. The snarky humor was right up my alley as I found myself chuckling many times as I read. Gobbelino has a poor grasp of human idioms. Callum is a good partner for Gobs, being a genuinely nice guy and has the thumbs that a cat lacks. Callum has a history I hope we learn more of as the series progresses. They make a great duo.
I don't want to go into too much detail about the shenanigans that ensue shortly after our crack pair of investigators take the case so I'll keep it brief. The book features a snarky feline humor, a dubious client, a dentist, a feral book, pastel rats, reality bending buildings, a horribly pleasant old lady and a kraken in a sink. This book was right up my alley. I look forward to continuing the series.
January 16, 2025
“Sometimes I think that the capacity of humans to cope with disaster is directly proportional to the availability of tea. That, or whisky. It depends on the individual.”
The bigger the disaster, the more tea is needed and there are a lot of cups of tea consumed or broken in this book.
Gobbelino and his human Callum are PI's, dealing with cases involving humas and/or Folk. That's the main line in this book, but it's more than just that. Callum saved Gobbelino from the Inbetween and I think he's grateful for that, although he maybe doesn't show it not enough. Their bond together is great and they bicker a lot sometimes. But that makes their friendship interesting. Callum is all about ethics and doing the right thing, while Gobbelino, well, he's a cat and an opportunist, but with a very soft heart. Their new case is about retreiving a magic book who has gone feral on it's owners and landed in the hands of a very nice old lady who wants to make things very nice. But, the book has other plans with the magic it gets...
This book was very entertaining and humorous to read and peppered with enough suspense. It was fast paced and all the characters were worked out very good. You could imagine how the appartement of Ms. Smith looked like, you could smell the parfum of Ms. Jones and you got scared of the Inbetween.
This book made me hungry for more books in the series.
The bigger the disaster, the more tea is needed and there are a lot of cups of tea consumed or broken in this book.
Gobbelino and his human Callum are PI's, dealing with cases involving humas and/or Folk. That's the main line in this book, but it's more than just that. Callum saved Gobbelino from the Inbetween and I think he's grateful for that, although he maybe doesn't show it not enough. Their bond together is great and they bicker a lot sometimes. But that makes their friendship interesting. Callum is all about ethics and doing the right thing, while Gobbelino, well, he's a cat and an opportunist, but with a very soft heart. Their new case is about retreiving a magic book who has gone feral on it's owners and landed in the hands of a very nice old lady who wants to make things very nice. But, the book has other plans with the magic it gets...
This book was very entertaining and humorous to read and peppered with enough suspense. It was fast paced and all the characters were worked out very good. You could imagine how the appartement of Ms. Smith looked like, you could smell the parfum of Ms. Jones and you got scared of the Inbetween.
This book made me hungry for more books in the series.
April 16, 2021
Entertaining little book, a bit of a cleanser between reading heavier stuff. This is the first in a series, and I'll be reading the others. Well-written, well-edited, liked the characters, and I'm a sucker for books narrated by animals.
March 14, 2025
2.5 stars.Started out fine - cute cat POV and love the British setting - but the enjoyment factor diminished as it became long winded, clunky, and repetitive.
December 27, 2023
Fairness before I judge: I think I left this too long. It seems this book has an audio and/or written book deal in the works and I'm go glad for it!! But it did mean my own personal reading experience took 6 months when it should have taken 2 weeks.
CONTENT WARNING:
Things to love:
-Cat MC. OMG. Gobbelino is phenomenal. All cat owners secretly think cats have domesticated us, and this honors that truth.
-Fun relationships. You'll just love everyone we meet (aside from the clients) in this little neglected corner of the world.
-The dark side of great news. You know the monkey-paw side effects of "I wish for a better world?" This is that.
Things that hindered my enjoyment:
-Protracted story. This is a story where they're after a maguffin. The stakes and the maguffin do not change. From my perspective, and I'm willing to accept that part of this is the unwilling break I took in reading it, this was way too long for the amount of plot available.
-Authorial quirks. In 300 pages, I shouldn't be able to see quirks. It's not a long book! But 4 or so different characters said "That's fair" and used similar jokes to each other. For me, this is a cardinal sin in writing. They can't all sound like the author, otherwise, what is a character? If they're all sock puppets following the puppeteer's script the age allowance is 6-10. I am... very many years beyond that.
-UF vs. any other type of writing. UF is a genre where the supernatural mingles with the mundane in urban settings. I didn't understand the supernatural, the rules to it, the things it fed on or anything else. It was such a straightline it could have been someone's cow was missing or earth stopped spinning or any number of other mundane and/or illogical things that could be solved without thumbs.
In short, I feel this should have been a novelette. Would I have felt differently if I'd read it more contemporaneously? Perhaps! 2 stars for my personal enjoyment and 1 star for the fact I couldn't enjoy it as intended because of supply chain malarkey. I have no intention of continuing, however, so I can't say I viewed this book fondly, only without any malice.
CONTENT WARNING:
Things to love:
-Cat MC. OMG. Gobbelino is phenomenal. All cat owners secretly think cats have domesticated us, and this honors that truth.
-Fun relationships. You'll just love everyone we meet (aside from the clients) in this little neglected corner of the world.
-The dark side of great news. You know the monkey-paw side effects of "I wish for a better world?" This is that.
Things that hindered my enjoyment:
-Protracted story. This is a story where they're after a maguffin. The stakes and the maguffin do not change. From my perspective, and I'm willing to accept that part of this is the unwilling break I took in reading it, this was way too long for the amount of plot available.
-Authorial quirks. In 300 pages, I shouldn't be able to see quirks. It's not a long book! But 4 or so different characters said "That's fair" and used similar jokes to each other. For me, this is a cardinal sin in writing. They can't all sound like the author, otherwise, what is a character? If they're all sock puppets following the puppeteer's script the age allowance is 6-10. I am... very many years beyond that.
-UF vs. any other type of writing. UF is a genre where the supernatural mingles with the mundane in urban settings. I didn't understand the supernatural, the rules to it, the things it fed on or anything else. It was such a straightline it could have been someone's cow was missing or earth stopped spinning or any number of other mundane and/or illogical things that could be solved without thumbs.
In short, I feel this should have been a novelette. Would I have felt differently if I'd read it more contemporaneously? Perhaps! 2 stars for my personal enjoyment and 1 star for the fact I couldn't enjoy it as intended because of supply chain malarkey. I have no intention of continuing, however, so I can't say I viewed this book fondly, only without any malice.
February 13, 2024
What happens if you're a Private Detective and your partner is a talking cat? Well, this is the book to read to find out and it is well worth the read. It has everything. Almost literally everything. It is a madcap dash to the finish line to make sure they get paid, and secondarily stay alive, from start to finish.
A very nice change of pace book.
A very nice change of pace book.
January 6, 2023
Tongue and cheek fun! Kim M. Watt has her pulse on people and their idiosyncrasies. It helps if you are a cat lover. Mystical, magical and whimsical. If you ever want a light read to wash away more serious endeavors this is your book. In fact, I will pour into the next of this series to continue the romp.
Private Investigators (PI), the cat and his human. Gobbelino, aka, Gobs, has his whiskers in the in between world of reality and all things that go bump in the night.
Private Investigators (PI), the cat and his human. Gobbelino, aka, Gobs, has his whiskers in the in between world of reality and all things that go bump in the night.
November 1, 2023
Leeds, UK & Gobbelino London (feline PI) & his human sidekick, Callum, are hired by a mysterious client to find a missing book that belongs to her. Gobbelino is a little apprehensive as there is something about the woman that is off but he can't quite put his paw on what. As the hunt begins, it soon becomes clear that Gobbelino's sixth sense was right & this is much more than just a missing book.
I loved this. What a change from the usual morose human detectives, instead we have a snarky feline & his human sidekick. Gobbelino is instantly lovable even though he is unfailingly sarcastic & a bit of a curmudgeon - although he's quick to act the innocent kitty if needs be! Believe me, if you have ever owned a cat, you will recognise your feline friend here. I actually laughed out loud in several places. I am definitely going to read the rest of the series.
I loved this. What a change from the usual morose human detectives, instead we have a snarky feline & his human sidekick. Gobbelino is instantly lovable even though he is unfailingly sarcastic & a bit of a curmudgeon - although he's quick to act the innocent kitty if needs be! Believe me, if you have ever owned a cat, you will recognise your feline friend here. I actually laughed out loud in several places. I am definitely going to read the rest of the series.
October 25, 2024
3.5 Stars
‘Gobbelino London And A Scourge Of Pleasantries‘ is a light fast read about a talking cat, Gobbelino London, and his human partner who work as PIs in Leeds (although most of their customers don't know Gobbleino is part of the team - not everyone can accept the idea of a talking cat, nevernind a mercenary, slightly snarky, smarter-than-his-human-partner talking cat).
The book opens the way all good gumshoe novels should, with a beautiful woman walking into the PI's office with a deceptively simple request for which she's offering a suspiciously large amount of money. Gobbelino knows there's something off about her, though he can't sniff out what because the woman is drenched in perfume. Gobbelino can't resist the cash so they take the job and put themselves, their neighbours and perhaps the whole world at risk.
The plot moves like a cat scaling a wall, fast and with complete confidence while appearing to defy the laws of physics. The pace goes from fast to frenetic without a pause for breath. The world-building, which was more detailed than I'd expected, happens on the run and the reader is expected to keep up. There was ongoing mayhem, a little snark, lots of cat humour and a strong dash of supernatural soul-eating threat and that's before we get to tentacles emerging from another dimension.
This story happens in the same universe as the DI Adams and the Beaufort Scales stories so part of the fun for me was getting Gobbelino's slightly cynical, scarred by experience, quintessentially feline view on the world. I liked the changing political culture of The Watch and how scary the Inbetween and the things that live there were. They gave a stimulating sharp edge to the cosy feel of the story.
One of the things that made me smile was that the root cause of the world being driven to the edge of destruction was someone's desire to be nice. I always knew that unbridled optimism and limitless goodwill were dangerous.
I thought the actions scenes, which mostly take place in an environment where time and space are distorted, were very well done. Most of all, of course, I liked the humour which pulses through the story.
I'll be back for more of Gobbelino's brushes with the bizarre (there are seven books in the series) starting with 'Gobbelino London And A Contagion Of Zombies' - how could I resist a title like that?
‘Gobbelino London And A Scourge Of Pleasantries‘ is a light fast read about a talking cat, Gobbelino London, and his human partner who work as PIs in Leeds (although most of their customers don't know Gobbleino is part of the team - not everyone can accept the idea of a talking cat, nevernind a mercenary, slightly snarky, smarter-than-his-human-partner talking cat).
The book opens the way all good gumshoe novels should, with a beautiful woman walking into the PI's office with a deceptively simple request for which she's offering a suspiciously large amount of money. Gobbelino knows there's something off about her, though he can't sniff out what because the woman is drenched in perfume. Gobbelino can't resist the cash so they take the job and put themselves, their neighbours and perhaps the whole world at risk.
The plot moves like a cat scaling a wall, fast and with complete confidence while appearing to defy the laws of physics. The pace goes from fast to frenetic without a pause for breath. The world-building, which was more detailed than I'd expected, happens on the run and the reader is expected to keep up. There was ongoing mayhem, a little snark, lots of cat humour and a strong dash of supernatural soul-eating threat and that's before we get to tentacles emerging from another dimension.
This story happens in the same universe as the DI Adams and the Beaufort Scales stories so part of the fun for me was getting Gobbelino's slightly cynical, scarred by experience, quintessentially feline view on the world. I liked the changing political culture of The Watch and how scary the Inbetween and the things that live there were. They gave a stimulating sharp edge to the cosy feel of the story.
One of the things that made me smile was that the root cause of the world being driven to the edge of destruction was someone's desire to be nice. I always knew that unbridled optimism and limitless goodwill were dangerous.
I thought the actions scenes, which mostly take place in an environment where time and space are distorted, were very well done. Most of all, of course, I liked the humour which pulses through the story.
I'll be back for more of Gobbelino's brushes with the bizarre (there are seven books in the series) starting with 'Gobbelino London And A Contagion Of Zombies' - how could I resist a title like that?
February 17, 2020
I doesn't get much better than a snarky cat PI and a human sidekick. Gobbelino London and a Scourge of Pleasantries is a book I will read over again. If you love cats you'll love them more and if you don't, pick it up and learn of their magical ways. I found myself chuckling, flat out laughing and biting my nails all at the same time. I couldn't put it down and I can't wait for the next adventure! I did get an ACR but will be buying it in paperback to go with my other books. It's a must for any fantasy lover.
April 30, 2021
I can't resist books with animal characters, I really can't. I barely got through a one paragraph description before I had this book in my hot little hands.
Gobbelino is the narrator who is also a cat. His human partner is Callum, and they have a detective agency. They get a new case: find a stolen book, and get it back. Simple. Right?
Wrong! The case turns out to be a lot more complicated. To say chaos ensues would be a big understatement, because the book doesn't want to be returned. If you know anything about mysterious books, then you already know that Gobbelino and Callum end up neck deep in trouble.
Gobbelino is a fantastic character. He's smart, funny, and morally gray - his schemes are so entertaining, whether they work out or not. Callum is the moral backbone, much to Gob's disgust. Both have a checkered past, and finding out how they got to where they are was interesting. Not that all the answers to their past were revealed in this book - I'm looking forward to more as the series goes on.
There are also a number of delightful, vivid characters, from their next door neighbor, Mrs. Smith, to Ms. Jones, their client. The animal characters were so much fun! I loved them all.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the humor, and the universe. There were a few Lovecraftian elements, that worked for me.
Highly recommended, especially if you like cats.
Gobbelino is the narrator who is also a cat. His human partner is Callum, and they have a detective agency. They get a new case: find a stolen book, and get it back. Simple. Right?
Wrong! The case turns out to be a lot more complicated. To say chaos ensues would be a big understatement, because the book doesn't want to be returned. If you know anything about mysterious books, then you already know that Gobbelino and Callum end up neck deep in trouble.
Gobbelino is a fantastic character. He's smart, funny, and morally gray - his schemes are so entertaining, whether they work out or not. Callum is the moral backbone, much to Gob's disgust. Both have a checkered past, and finding out how they got to where they are was interesting. Not that all the answers to their past were revealed in this book - I'm looking forward to more as the series goes on.
There are also a number of delightful, vivid characters, from their next door neighbor, Mrs. Smith, to Ms. Jones, their client. The animal characters were so much fun! I loved them all.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the humor, and the universe. There were a few Lovecraftian elements, that worked for me.
Highly recommended, especially if you like cats.
February 17, 2020
Wow, just wow! If you've read the Beaufort Scales series you're in for a new treat. If you haven't just stop right here and go read them! Seriously! They are some of the best books ever :) Then buy this book and read it right now.
I'll be anxiously waiting for the next book in the series just as I am for the next Beaufort Scales.
Gobbelino has had a rough time in life, that is until he met Callum London his PI partner, but it doesn't stop him from diving right in heroically to help save the day. He tries to act tough and he's a bit sarcastic and opportunistic, but hey, cat!! It sounds like Callum has also had his hard times but he's turned into someone I'd like to know with a moral compass pointing straight north.
And they love each other, you can tell. Although being typical guys they don't talk about it.
The "Inbetween" explains SO much about cats by the way.
Okay, enough of that. If you feel like the world would be a better place with a little magic, this is the world for you
Don't miss out on this book and the Beaufort Scales books!!!
I received an arc of this book but I was already poised with my finger on the "Buy it now button" as soon as I heard of it, so that didn't affect my opinion at all.
I'll be anxiously waiting for the next book in the series just as I am for the next Beaufort Scales.
Gobbelino has had a rough time in life, that is until he met Callum London his PI partner, but it doesn't stop him from diving right in heroically to help save the day. He tries to act tough and he's a bit sarcastic and opportunistic, but hey, cat!! It sounds like Callum has also had his hard times but he's turned into someone I'd like to know with a moral compass pointing straight north.
And they love each other, you can tell. Although being typical guys they don't talk about it.
The "Inbetween" explains SO much about cats by the way.
Okay, enough of that. If you feel like the world would be a better place with a little magic, this is the world for you
Don't miss out on this book and the Beaufort Scales books!!!
I received an arc of this book but I was already poised with my finger on the "Buy it now button" as soon as I heard of it, so that didn't affect my opinion at all.
June 3, 2021
Yay, another book from Kim M. Watt! I love her Beaufort Scales series, and now she's given us a new character to go on adventures with in the form of a snarky black cat P.I.
Gobbelino and his partner Callum are hired to find a book. Sounds like a a nice simple job, but turns out (of course!) to be anything but.
Sorcerers, talking cats, irate dentists and a book with a mind of its own, all add up to a rollicking good read!
(Addendum. Just read it again, aloud to my husband and he loves it too!)
Gobbelino and his partner Callum are hired to find a book. Sounds like a a nice simple job, but turns out (of course!) to be anything but.
Sorcerers, talking cats, irate dentists and a book with a mind of its own, all add up to a rollicking good read!
(Addendum. Just read it again, aloud to my husband and he loves it too!)
March 29, 2021
The book is uneven. When the author gets into his stride she’s got quite a good turn of phrase as she describes Lovecraftian nightmares and problems with reality. Where she stutters is with the interaction between the main characters who are never really fleshed out.
The dialogue is clunky at times and some of the action felt like it had been transcribed from a D&D session where the GM had been winging it.
She also can’t decide whether she’s writing a bit of English whimsy with quirky types or a gumshoe noir and ends up falling between the two stools.
The dialogue is clunky at times and some of the action felt like it had been transcribed from a D&D session where the GM had been winging it.
She also can’t decide whether she’s writing a bit of English whimsy with quirky types or a gumshoe noir and ends up falling between the two stools.
June 13, 2022
Like a lot of people probably did, I picked up this series for the cat, but I wasn't disappointed.
Gobbelino London, or Gobs (but only Callum can call him that) is our lovely, snarky, cat narrator. He's in the PI business with his human partner Callum, and they get given a fairly easy sounding job: retrieve a book and give it back to the owner. But what failed to be mention was that the book is a book of power which wants to tear reality apart, and the owner is an ancient sorcerer who is very annoyed that someone stole her book.
Admittedly, I only read this book so fast because I was on a 7-hour flight, but it wouldn't have taken me long to finish regardless. There's just something about it thats fun, easy and entertaining to read. The fantasy is in that perfect spot where you could see it being part of reality, and, lets be honest, everyone who has owned a cat wonders what secret life they're living.
The characters were entertaining in and of themselves; even the side ones. The book will have you smiling if not laughing in multiple places as you get things from the distinct perceptive of Gobs. I found it rather entertaining him being referred to as a "miniature panther", being a black cat.
It also lives up to its promise of no romance! Refreshing for urban-fantasy. The closest it gets is Gobs making fun of Callum when he can't talk to a girl without saying something stupid.
Gobbelino London, or Gobs (but only Callum can call him that) is our lovely, snarky, cat narrator. He's in the PI business with his human partner Callum, and they get given a fairly easy sounding job: retrieve a book and give it back to the owner. But what failed to be mention was that the book is a book of power which wants to tear reality apart, and the owner is an ancient sorcerer who is very annoyed that someone stole her book.
Admittedly, I only read this book so fast because I was on a 7-hour flight, but it wouldn't have taken me long to finish regardless. There's just something about it thats fun, easy and entertaining to read. The fantasy is in that perfect spot where you could see it being part of reality, and, lets be honest, everyone who has owned a cat wonders what secret life they're living.
The characters were entertaining in and of themselves; even the side ones. The book will have you smiling if not laughing in multiple places as you get things from the distinct perceptive of Gobs. I found it rather entertaining him being referred to as a "miniature panther", being a black cat.
It also lives up to its promise of no romance! Refreshing for urban-fantasy. The closest it gets is Gobs making fun of Callum when he can't talk to a girl without saying something stupid.
June 29, 2025
I enjoyed this. It was weird, but that's my jam so that was fine.
This story had a talking cat narrator, magical, a possibly world-dominating magical book, a dweeb but likable human side-kick to the cat, and various and sundry good, bad and somewhere in-between supporting characters who kept the story interesting and moving along.
There was also plenty of sarcastic himour in this story which I am always a big fan of.
Overall I found this a fun, exciting and well-paced paranormal story with interesting characters. A fun read.
This story had a talking cat narrator, magical, a possibly world-dominating magical book, a dweeb but likable human side-kick to the cat, and various and sundry good, bad and somewhere in-between supporting characters who kept the story interesting and moving along.
There was also plenty of sarcastic himour in this story which I am always a big fan of.
Overall I found this a fun, exciting and well-paced paranormal story with interesting characters. A fun read.
November 25, 2023
Cats can talk and can travel between realities but are still smart aleks and looking out for number one. Gobbelino and his human sidekick, Callum, are hired to steal the Harry Potter Book of Monsters for a flowered Doc Martin wearing witch from her frumpy dentist ex with poor oral hygiene. The sentient book gets into the wrong hands and with unintentional Inception skills of the book holder, reality crumbled but the world as talking cats know it was saved with the help of Queen sewer rats.
January 16, 2024
I really enjoyed this light, fun fantasy mystery. Gobbelino is a perfect cat narrator - such a great voice! I listened to the audiobook, and the audiobook narrator also did a great job.
May 19, 2024
3.5 Stars Quite enjoyable
January 30, 2021
This was fun and with an imagination, humour and edge that lifted it above run of the mill. This is an urban fantasy set in Leeds (though honestly, it could have been in a grubby backstreet in any major city) about a pair of PIs, one human who has a little affinity with magic - just enough to hear and see the uncanny, such as being able to understand what his PI partner is saying - the partner being a black cat. This is first person, told from the viewpoint of Gobbelino the cat.
I particularly liked how a cat could be useful for scouting for information - wandering into a building to nose around and it's just a nosy cat.
The magic in this goes big - ancient creature, a powerful, greedy magic book, dimension between worlds with dangerous, strange fanged things. The magic also goes funny and explores what different sort of people would really wish for.
I will be reading the sequel.
I particularly liked how a cat could be useful for scouting for information - wandering into a building to nose around and it's just a nosy cat.
The magic in this goes big - ancient creature, a powerful, greedy magic book, dimension between worlds with dangerous, strange fanged things. The magic also goes funny and explores what different sort of people would really wish for.
I will be reading the sequel.
August 11, 2021
What a fun, enjoyable and original story. Gobbelino the cat has such a cat personality and sense of humour it's easy to imagine having similar conversations with my cat. Likeable characters, good world building, and a fast moving plot made this a very enjoyable, light read. Magical silliness in the best sense!
Looking forward to the next book in the series.
Looking forward to the next book in the series.
May 10, 2022
This is one of those hidden gems: an urban fantasy/paranormal mystery that's neither obnoxiously boyish (y'know, our male narrators goes on about how clever he is, doesn't bother telling us things about the world he inhabits that'd mean we could play guess the plot) nor one of those heated, panting paranormal-romance-in-disguise-es ("oh, the hot cop's muscles filled out his shirt so well even as he cuffed me for breaking and entering I couldn't help but swoon!"). It reads like a very good pilot episode, though not in that disappointingly vague written for TV way.
It takes every paranormal PI trope and runs with them. It is pure unadulterated, slightly snarky (but not acidly so), mildly humorous (in a cat-loving British way) good old fashioned fun. Also: set in Leeds. Yorkshire ftw.
Our PI in question is the cat Gobbelino and his sort-of trusty sidekick Callum. Did you know cats can talk and are slightly magical? Well, they can and they are. Humans are just very good at not noticing these things because They Don't Exist. Gobs makes a very good, if mercenary, PI because who suspects the cat? That is until a strange woman comes to ask Callum to hunt down her ex and a weird old book he took from her. Simples. Except it's no ordinary client, and no ordinary book. It'll take an extraordinary PI and his collection of odd contacts to find the book and stop it from, y'know, destroying the world or whatever before the paranormal Powers That Be start getting involved. No pressure.
Down and out PIs in ratty offices? Sarcastic, mercenary narrator? Two characters with mysterious pasts hinted at but not revealed quite yet? A whiff of potential love in the air? Oh yeah, it has all the cliches and then some, but cooked up in such a witty and wonderful way that even a cynic like me could enjoy it. Throw in cat and Brit jokes, and dang, I was sold. A couple of internationalisms here and there (dentists have surgeries, not offices as a general rule, and aren't Doctors unless they also have a different kind of qualification; hey, even we who lived UK-wards get confused!) couldn't put off the nitpicker in my because it honestly was such a fun read full of weird imaginings and witty ideas. G and his stoic human Callum are wonderful foils for each other, and the rest of the cast are as mad as a box of monkeys in the best possible way.
It's like someone took the bones of a modern snarky Paranormal PI novel and blended it up with the slightly ridiculous metaphysical meanderings of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently, threw in a dose of Doctor Who back when it was good and mixed like crazy.
Basically, if my book budget ever allows given it's looking to be quite a series, I can't wait to read more.
If you've ever thought that neighbourhood cat was up to something, what with it's magical ability to appear out of nowhere and that look it gives that says it's having more than just Cat Thoughts, then this is the urban fantasy for you.
It takes every paranormal PI trope and runs with them. It is pure unadulterated, slightly snarky (but not acidly so), mildly humorous (in a cat-loving British way) good old fashioned fun. Also: set in Leeds. Yorkshire ftw.
Our PI in question is the cat Gobbelino and his sort-of trusty sidekick Callum. Did you know cats can talk and are slightly magical? Well, they can and they are. Humans are just very good at not noticing these things because They Don't Exist. Gobs makes a very good, if mercenary, PI because who suspects the cat? That is until a strange woman comes to ask Callum to hunt down her ex and a weird old book he took from her. Simples. Except it's no ordinary client, and no ordinary book. It'll take an extraordinary PI and his collection of odd contacts to find the book and stop it from, y'know, destroying the world or whatever before the paranormal Powers That Be start getting involved. No pressure.
Down and out PIs in ratty offices? Sarcastic, mercenary narrator? Two characters with mysterious pasts hinted at but not revealed quite yet? A whiff of potential love in the air? Oh yeah, it has all the cliches and then some, but cooked up in such a witty and wonderful way that even a cynic like me could enjoy it. Throw in cat and Brit jokes, and dang, I was sold. A couple of internationalisms here and there (dentists have surgeries, not offices as a general rule, and aren't Doctors unless they also have a different kind of qualification; hey, even we who lived UK-wards get confused!) couldn't put off the nitpicker in my because it honestly was such a fun read full of weird imaginings and witty ideas. G and his stoic human Callum are wonderful foils for each other, and the rest of the cast are as mad as a box of monkeys in the best possible way.
It's like someone took the bones of a modern snarky Paranormal PI novel and blended it up with the slightly ridiculous metaphysical meanderings of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently, threw in a dose of Doctor Who back when it was good and mixed like crazy.
Basically, if my book budget ever allows given it's looking to be quite a series, I can't wait to read more.
If you've ever thought that neighbourhood cat was up to something, what with it's magical ability to appear out of nowhere and that look it gives that says it's having more than just Cat Thoughts, then this is the urban fantasy for you.
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