Bored to Death in the Baltics

by Steve Sheppard

Four months have passed since the events in A Very Important Teapot...

When a bomb explodes in front of Dawson on a sunny Saturday morning in June, he is lucky to escape with his life, certainly luckier than the man he is following.

However, he finds it quite depressing to be drugged and transported by ship to the eastern Baltic as it isn’t how he’d planned to spend his weekend

Who is the man assassinated by the bomb?

Who has kidnapped Dawson, and will Lucy Smith find him in time?

What is happening deep underground in rural Estonia and leafy Surrey?

Is there a double agent within MI6?

Who are the tantalising Sesks twins really working for?

Can Dawson and Lucy distinguish Wright from Rong?

And can Dawson avoid being bored to death?

251 pages, Paperback

Published September 14, 2021

Reviews

[Joyce Ammerlaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bored to Death in the Baltics is the second book of Steve Sheppard, continuing Dawson’s (our hapless hero) story. Usually, sequel’s are not as good as the first book and disappoint me. With Bored to Death in the Baltics this is not the case. I absolutely loved this book, just like I loved A Very Important Teapot. Steve Sheppard never fails to make me laugh.

[Mark Blackburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bored to Death is a delightful pacy spy romp from leafy English suburbia to rocky Baltic coasts. The author's wit shines through - principally but not exclusively through the words of the protagonist Saul Dawson, who is at times more Mr Bean than Mr Bond - in a good way. I say 'protagonist', but Steve Sheppard writes from several points of view at different stages, and in fact it is the female lead spy Lucy Smith who has the first person narrative. This might sound confusing, as might the occasionally overlapping time scales, but it all works, and at times even helps us with the complicated (but not overly so) plot.

Lucy is not the only strong female character, there are several, and it's nice to see women getting a crack of the whip in this kind of story - almost literally on occasion.

Bored to Death would make an excellent holiday (or any other) read, as long as your destination isn't the Baltics! It has a satisfying ending, and sets us up nicely for a potential sequel with a gang who could quite easily have been the product of Mick Herron's Slough House!

[Brendan James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comedy and thriller don’t always make the best bedfellows, but in this case, the author manages to fuse both into a fast-paced page-turner that is genuinely funny and gripping. So despite the title’s first three words, there is nothing remotely dull about this book! The suspense is skilfully maintained throughout, and the comedy moments abound, helped along by a beautifully drawn cast of comic heroes and villains. The plot twists and turns just heighten the fun of the ride. A highly entertaining read which I thoroughly enjoyed and would definitely recommend. Five stars from me!

[Sylvia Vetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I love about Steve Sheppard’s comic hero Dawson is that he could be that regular guy at the bar. That is where the humour comes in. He leaves the Cricketers and somehow ends up in the Baltics mixed up in geopolitical power games to be rescued by Lucy. It’s great that his female characters are not be messed with. Need a break? Well this could be it.

[Linda Rushby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another romp with gorgeous Lucy and hapless Dawson. Took a while to get into it, and to sort out all the new characters, but the fundamental premise is brilliant and far from boring. Disrupted slightly because I planned to finish reading it on the train to a weekend in Devon and forgot to pack the book - sadly I relate more with Dawson than with Lucy!

[Phill Hastings-Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyable crime farce, with a great pace, plot turns and frequent one-liners. Accomplished follow up to Sheppard's first book, bringing the charm of the characters from the first book. Hard to put down and every read had me chuckling at the gags.

[Rosie Sheppard · Rating 5 out of 5]

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT BOOK!!!!!!! Recommend to all who want an entertaining comedy-spy thriller. Laughed out loud at some of the puns. 10/10 stars (if there were 10 on Goodreads).

[Justine Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steve Sheppard has written this satisfying sequel to a A Very Important Teapot and all I can say is his sense of humour is just like mine. I found it the most hilarious feyueau-farce of a spy book and spent time chuckling over the crazy plot. I loved the Estonian twins, the Doberman with divided loyalties, and the whole joke about Mr Wright and Miss Rong. This is the ideal book to read in order to de-stress at night, despite the high body count and the number of kidnaps. I thoroughly recommend it to thriller readers who that don't take themselves too seriously.

[Onia Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Steve Sheppard’s Bored to Death in the Baltics and I highly recommend it. Bored, I certainly wasn’t. Witty, raucous, clever and intriguing.
A very funny, and a little hapless, James Bond lead, with lots of strong women characters - I love the twins. A great story and twisting plot, right from page one to the end.

[Graham Brown]

The follow up to 'A Very Important Teapot' which does not disappoint. A cracking pace from start to finish with very witty lighthearted dialogue and none of that tiresome padding / filler adopted by some other authors. Lovely use of farce with semi-implausible scrapes and inept guards adding to the fun. Good to see the girls getting the hapless Dawson out of a mess or three.

A relaxing, fun read. Roll on no.3. No pressure Steve!

[Rob Sheppard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This adventure cracks along at a terrific pace. If you liked Dawson and Lucy in ''A Very Important Teapot', you'll love them in this! Is there no tight spot they can't get out of? No. Is there a nasty villain they can't get the better of? No. Is there any chance that their adventures in the Baltics will fail to amuse and entertain? No! If you like your reads to be chock full of explosions, murders, mayhem and lots of twisty turns, this is the book for you! Get it! Read it! Tell all your friends and family about it! But don't lend it to them because they can get it HERE! Thoroughly recommended. Hurry while stocks last!

[Julie Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Bored' is anything but boring - Steve Sheppard's sequel to 'A Very Important Teapot' is even more assured and funny than its predecessor. Hapless hero Dawson is thrust, once again, into a plot he doesn't quite understand and it falls to the 'hot blonde' Lucy to track him down. Some much-loved characters return ( from Oz ) and there is wordplay and peril a-plenty. It made me, quite literally, laugh aloud. I think I see a third book galloping over the horizon and, on this form, very welcome it would be too!

[Getvoldsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect timing to release a page turning, entertaining holiday read just as we are allowed to take holidays again.
Dawson, Lucy and other familiar characters return in this highly amusing and intriguing sequel to The Very Important Teapot that will keep you guessing on the outcome right until the very end.

Read it now before someone turn it into a film

[Yasmeen Doogue-Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

He's the master of the game: funny, page-turning and rollicking good times.

[Derek Nudd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not giving too much away when I say this sequel to A Very Important Teapot starts with a bang. Literally. We then follow Dawson, Lucy and an ever-expanding cast of characters including a bent copper (No! How implausible!) and a few we have met before through a giddying series of plot twists leavened with Sheppard's characteristic dry wit. I suggest reading this at a fair pace, as it would otherwise be easy to lose track.
Another cracker from Sheppard then. Just one thought: watch your back, Lucy. Any author who builds a character up this much may need to kill her sooner or later.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dawson strikes again!
This is the sequel to "A Very Important Teapot", and I just love it! It's equally as hilarious and well-written. This time, the story follows Dawson in his new spy life, following a mysterious man... The story has so many cheeky plot twists, laugh-out-loud moments and loveable new characters - this story is yet another wonderful book from Steve Sheppard! It's like a James-Bond-meets-Rowan-Atkinson book- its superb. Laughed the whole way through.
I definitely recommend it to people who love comedy and spy thrillers! Lucy's character is definitely my favourite still, I just can't get enough of her!

[Claret Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has everything: a laugh aloud comedy with the jokes that just keep coming
And also a thrilling adventure
In an exotic and little-known location (at least to me)
and a touching love story between the feisty female kinda spy and our adorkable hero.

The plot is appropriately convoluted. The bad guys are scary. The stakes are high.

So this a book that you can read, and then recommend to your friends, buy for your difficult in-law when it's his birthday or read aloud on a long car trip.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read A Very Important Teapot (which I gave 5 stars) and actually think that this one is
better. The plot is more “reasonable” that is, more persuasive which gives a sense that
actually this could really happen. It’s a credit to the author that he has managed to make a
comedy also seem like a realistic threat. Thank goodness for Dawson and Lucy who save the
day. Highly recommended.

[Lindsay Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again on an adventure with Lucy and Dawson. Never short of twists and turns. Who can you trust? Who are the bad guys, really? And don’t forget that despite the action and drama, you’re also laughing the whole way.

[Rebeka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner from Steve Sheppard. It’s got even more jokes and I love how Dawson and Lucy are a couple now.