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The Man Who Murdered His Stag
The criminally ingenious and hilarious new adventure that's perfect for fans of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club.
An utterly gripping and hilarious crime thriller.
__________________
Way back in 2003, Tom Marshall was everything those who truly love life hope never to become. He was a man of guarded existence and compulsive risk management. Naturally, Tom’s mundanity had come at a price: utter boredom. Until a weekend with seven strangers on a narrowboat.
Tom finds himself in the accidental possession of a very precious object; an object so valuable that unscrupulous characters within the criminal fraternity, and London’s Metropolitan Police Service, are willing to kill for it.
Tom’s new, and highly unwelcome, existence now depends not on risk management and staying guarded, but on staying alive. That and just what to do with the very precious object.
An utterly gripping and hilarious crime thriller.
__________________
Way back in 2003, Tom Marshall was everything those who truly love life hope never to become. He was a man of guarded existence and compulsive risk management. Naturally, Tom’s mundanity had come at a price: utter boredom. Until a weekend with seven strangers on a narrowboat.
Tom finds himself in the accidental possession of a very precious object; an object so valuable that unscrupulous characters within the criminal fraternity, and London’s Metropolitan Police Service, are willing to kill for it.
Tom’s new, and highly unwelcome, existence now depends not on risk management and staying guarded, but on staying alive. That and just what to do with the very precious object.
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Published July 4, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 10, 2022
I was unsure if this was going to be a good read or not when I started this book and almost didn't continue.
If you want a lighthearted story that you don't need to think too much about then this is better than most. It is fast moving and kept my interest right to the end as I wanted to see how Tom and the crew extricated themselves from it all.
The story is implausible as is the ending but that doesn't matter as it's most enjoyable. As they say....it is what it is.
If you want a lighthearted story that you don't need to think too much about then this is better than most. It is fast moving and kept my interest right to the end as I wanted to see how Tom and the crew extricated themselves from it all.
The story is implausible as is the ending but that doesn't matter as it's most enjoyable. As they say....it is what it is.
August 1, 2022
Staggering
Great fun from start to finish thought enjoyable romp around with murder and mayhem following the unlikely characters. Definitely worth a read.
Great fun from start to finish thought enjoyable romp around with murder and mayhem following the unlikely characters. Definitely worth a read.
November 11, 2023
lighthearted read
Slow to start but the subtle humour was delightful. Whatever happened to Bill? Was he invited to Venice for the wedding?
Slow to start but the subtle humour was delightful. Whatever happened to Bill? Was he invited to Venice for the wedding?
December 29, 2022
I found this book to be delightful. Not only did the story have varied and believable characters, the ending was fulfilling. The ability of the author to keep you invested with imagination of reality and an aspect of luck was unsurpassed. Don't miss this one!
September 11, 2022
Unbelievable
Very entertaining story, fast moving and made me laugh a lot. I actually believe that what goes around comes around and justice prevailed.
Very entertaining story, fast moving and made me laugh a lot. I actually believe that what goes around comes around and justice prevailed.
March 25, 2023
Fantastique.......
It really is a fantastic book. I !oved it and laughed throughout. Its a great story with terrific characters. I was sad when it came to an end.
It really is a fantastic book. I !oved it and laughed throughout. Its a great story with terrific characters. I was sad when it came to an end.
November 7, 2022
This is an odd book because it's about 2 murders, a stag do with 7 complete strangers on a barge and a pink diamond which was stolen from the danish royal family. And it was a comedy! Well it certainly made me laugh!
I looked at the blurb and thought this could be either great or a total flop. It was great. Tom is getting married and his fiancee is holding her hen weekend in Prague and persuades him that he needs to hold a stag do. He doesn't really have any friends other than the people he works with, so he hires a barge on the norfolk broads and sends out email invites to the 7 guys he works with. One by one they all cancel until there is just Tom left. Whilst quite drunk he types on social media wanted 7 guys to come and spend his stag do with him on a boat for a modest fee. To his surprise he gets 7 replies back from guys willing to meet up with total strangers and have a good time.
Am not sure this was the good time they were all looking for!! One of the men who answers is a newly released prisoner who stole the famous richest diamond in the world (?) called the pink lady. There are many baddies eagerly awaiting his release from prison to lead them to the diamond and finish him off. The police are also tailing him. The guys all meet up at the boat yard and go for a meal at the local waterside inn. A very bad looking man in ninja clothing (ie all black) is watching them. Back onboard the prisoner whose name escapes me at the moment (long covid, sigh) tells the others what he did and shows them the diamond which is in his backpack, which incidentally is exactly the same as Tom's. I think you know what's coming.
To cut a long story short the guy takes a gun out of his backpack and shows them that he has protection (not quite of the kind you think then) and he is hit on the back of the head by one of the others who thinks he is going to shoot Tom. Then. The ninja baddie boards the boat and going to shoot all of them unless they give him the pink lady. One of the others picks up the gun which is on the floor and shoots the very bad baddie. Realising what they have done they decide to roll them up in the carpets on the barge and find a place to bury them. They do. They decide to get far away and then leisurely take the boat back.
Here begins the hilarious part, (I can see this as a film), they are trying to out race the police who are also looking for the stolen pink lady and several baddies who were after the prisoner, all whilst going at a sedate 4mph on the broads. Here follows hiding the boat, or trying to, then one of them deliberately sets fire to it, they find every exit from the broads leading to London road blocked. They walk miles, steal another boat to cross a lake, find an abandoned transit van and steal it, end up at a demonstration in a field against nuclear power I think it was, and then hitch a ride to London in a chicken wagon. They are by now filthy dirty and very smelly, they try to buy clothing in a store but Tom's card is declined, the police are after him, well he was the guy who hired the boat. They end up running away with the clothes and the police really are after them now. They are trying to get to a diamond jeweller the one guy on this trip who's also been to prison, knows who can help them dispose of it.
It just gets funnier as you read it! And you have to read it really! It does start off a bit slow but it picks up the pace the further you go into it. Well worth the slow start!!
I looked at the blurb and thought this could be either great or a total flop. It was great. Tom is getting married and his fiancee is holding her hen weekend in Prague and persuades him that he needs to hold a stag do. He doesn't really have any friends other than the people he works with, so he hires a barge on the norfolk broads and sends out email invites to the 7 guys he works with. One by one they all cancel until there is just Tom left. Whilst quite drunk he types on social media wanted 7 guys to come and spend his stag do with him on a boat for a modest fee. To his surprise he gets 7 replies back from guys willing to meet up with total strangers and have a good time.
Am not sure this was the good time they were all looking for!! One of the men who answers is a newly released prisoner who stole the famous richest diamond in the world (?) called the pink lady. There are many baddies eagerly awaiting his release from prison to lead them to the diamond and finish him off. The police are also tailing him. The guys all meet up at the boat yard and go for a meal at the local waterside inn. A very bad looking man in ninja clothing (ie all black) is watching them. Back onboard the prisoner whose name escapes me at the moment (long covid, sigh) tells the others what he did and shows them the diamond which is in his backpack, which incidentally is exactly the same as Tom's. I think you know what's coming.
To cut a long story short the guy takes a gun out of his backpack and shows them that he has protection (not quite of the kind you think then) and he is hit on the back of the head by one of the others who thinks he is going to shoot Tom. Then. The ninja baddie boards the boat and going to shoot all of them unless they give him the pink lady. One of the others picks up the gun which is on the floor and shoots the very bad baddie. Realising what they have done they decide to roll them up in the carpets on the barge and find a place to bury them. They do. They decide to get far away and then leisurely take the boat back.
Here begins the hilarious part, (I can see this as a film), they are trying to out race the police who are also looking for the stolen pink lady and several baddies who were after the prisoner, all whilst going at a sedate 4mph on the broads. Here follows hiding the boat, or trying to, then one of them deliberately sets fire to it, they find every exit from the broads leading to London road blocked. They walk miles, steal another boat to cross a lake, find an abandoned transit van and steal it, end up at a demonstration in a field against nuclear power I think it was, and then hitch a ride to London in a chicken wagon. They are by now filthy dirty and very smelly, they try to buy clothing in a store but Tom's card is declined, the police are after him, well he was the guy who hired the boat. They end up running away with the clothes and the police really are after them now. They are trying to get to a diamond jeweller the one guy on this trip who's also been to prison, knows who can help them dispose of it.
It just gets funnier as you read it! And you have to read it really! It does start off a bit slow but it picks up the pace the further you go into it. Well worth the slow start!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2025
"The Man Who Murdered His Stag," written by Stefan Le Roy is a brilliant glittering gem of a novel. When I finished reading, it was as though I'd just seen a sterling sleeper murder mystery thriller on Acorn or Britbox. Only for now it's a book.
If I were a film producer, a streaming platform executive producer or a limited streaming series show runner and I'd hadn't, I would rush to purchase and read it.
It has that very English self-confidence and slight swagger of some London inhabitants (more the villains actually) balanced off by the modest humility and humanity of the heroes. But there is also a keen, clever (and very funny at times) intelligence at work in this book.
It's British to the core but often they are the best, like the classic 1971 gangster thriller "Get Carter," starring Michael Caine. The story unfolds through an ordinary domestic situation wherein the protagonist has a bit of self-doubt concerning the best practices required to be a good prospective husband.
You find out a whole lot about London, it's geography and social sensibilities. Also, there are lots of very descriptive words labeling persons with unpleasant qualities or tendencies.
The stakes are high and there are lots of twists and turns especially in the highly suspenseful denouement. And the novel's palette is peppered with rich, memorable characters that you either care very much about or despise.
This book is a solid entertainer but also is a showcase of charm, practicality and wisdom with its references to Tolkien and Tillich.
Highly recommended if you are looking for a great read with humor yet thoughtful and wise in its way.
And so British!
If I were a film producer, a streaming platform executive producer or a limited streaming series show runner and I'd hadn't, I would rush to purchase and read it.
It has that very English self-confidence and slight swagger of some London inhabitants (more the villains actually) balanced off by the modest humility and humanity of the heroes. But there is also a keen, clever (and very funny at times) intelligence at work in this book.
It's British to the core but often they are the best, like the classic 1971 gangster thriller "Get Carter," starring Michael Caine. The story unfolds through an ordinary domestic situation wherein the protagonist has a bit of self-doubt concerning the best practices required to be a good prospective husband.
You find out a whole lot about London, it's geography and social sensibilities. Also, there are lots of very descriptive words labeling persons with unpleasant qualities or tendencies.
The stakes are high and there are lots of twists and turns especially in the highly suspenseful denouement. And the novel's palette is peppered with rich, memorable characters that you either care very much about or despise.
This book is a solid entertainer but also is a showcase of charm, practicality and wisdom with its references to Tolkien and Tillich.
Highly recommended if you are looking for a great read with humor yet thoughtful and wise in its way.
And so British!
November 21, 2023
Slow start
This book started out slow for me. I spent over a month reading small amount’s at a time. It picks up towards the end. I liked how the author wraps up the story at the end.
This book started out slow for me. I spent over a month reading small amount’s at a time. It picks up towards the end. I liked how the author wraps up the story at the end.
April 7, 2025
An entertaining short story about a stag do that went wrong before it started. A group of men who don't know each other find themselves on a canal boat with a criminal, it starts off fun and gets wilder by the minute. Enjoyed the references to Wivenhoe and norfolk too.
August 30, 2022
A fun & quick read
June 19, 2023
Fast fun read
Fast read. Tom's efforts to put together a stag weekend before his wedding leads to wild adventures and mayhem. Enjoy!
Fast read. Tom's efforts to put together a stag weekend before his wedding leads to wild adventures and mayhem. Enjoy!
November 21, 2023
Sorry couldn’t get into it
I got about 100 pages in and just wasn’t interested enough to continue. Nothing wrong with it, just not my taste in plots.
I got about 100 pages in and just wasn’t interested enough to continue. Nothing wrong with it, just not my taste in plots.
April 22, 2023
This was a great concept - could have been funnier though. The charm just wasn’t there.
October 31, 2022
Quirky! Think Richard Osman, and others although you know who done it, you haven’t a clue what they are going to do next and that goes for just about every character in the book! A really good fun read.
November 13, 2022
A muddled crew of misfits, all strangers, sign up for a weekend stag do and stumble into more trouble than they'd bargained for. The title is classic British wordplay. The plot bubbles along like a brook in springtime ... or should I say a 'canal' in summer? Stefan Le Roy's debut novel is both suspenseful and laugh-out-loud funny. A rollicking good read!
June 13, 2023
The first third of his story dragged a bit and I wondered why it was called hilarious. But, once the stag do party started, the fun began. The bungling crew lurched from one ridiculous, laugh out loud disaster to another. And at that point, it became a page turner - how could they ever get out of this? Highly recommend!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews