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Aberystwyth Noir #4
Don't Cry for Me Aberystwyth
It's Christmas in Aberystwyth. The tourists have gone home. The latest movie starring Clip the Sheepdog is on at the cinema. And a man wearing a red and white robe is found brutally murdered in a Chinatown alley. A single word is scrawled in his blood on the Hoffmann. But who is Hoffmann? Thus begins the latest hilarious adventure in the 'Louie Knight' series.
278 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
10 people are currently reading
311 people want to read
About the author
Malcolm Pryce
16 books126 followersMalcolm Pryce is a British author, mostly known for his noir detective novels.
Born in Shrewsbury, England, Pryce moved at the age of nine to Aberystwyth, where he later attended Penglais Comprehensive School before leaving to do some travelling. After working in a variety of jobs. including BMW assembly-line worker in Germany, hotel washer-up, "the world's worst aluminium salesman", and deck hand on a yacht in Polynesia, Pryce became an advertising copywriter in London and Singapore. He is currently resident in Oxford.
Pryce writes in the style of Raymond Chandler, but his novels are incongruously set on the rainswept streets of an alternate universe version of the Welsh seaside resort and university town of Aberystwyth. The hero of the novels is Louie Knight, the best private detective in Aberystwyth (also the only private detective in Aberystwyth), who battles crime organised by the local Druids, investigates the strange case of the town's disappearing youths, and gets involved in its burgeoning film industry, which produces What The Butler Saw movies.
Born in Shrewsbury, England, Pryce moved at the age of nine to Aberystwyth, where he later attended Penglais Comprehensive School before leaving to do some travelling. After working in a variety of jobs. including BMW assembly-line worker in Germany, hotel washer-up, "the world's worst aluminium salesman", and deck hand on a yacht in Polynesia, Pryce became an advertising copywriter in London and Singapore. He is currently resident in Oxford.
Pryce writes in the style of Raymond Chandler, but his novels are incongruously set on the rainswept streets of an alternate universe version of the Welsh seaside resort and university town of Aberystwyth. The hero of the novels is Louie Knight, the best private detective in Aberystwyth (also the only private detective in Aberystwyth), who battles crime organised by the local Druids, investigates the strange case of the town's disappearing youths, and gets involved in its burgeoning film industry, which produces What The Butler Saw movies.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
February 1, 2016
There can't be many books which treat the reader to a dead store Santa, The Queen of Denmark, Nazi hunters, various Intelligence and Detective agencies and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In this, the 4th visitation to the Aberystwyth Noir series, you will be confronted by all of these and more. This has some darker undertones compared to the previous books in the series, and even the humour has a darker shade to it. It seems a lot more introspective, and has a higher body count, all set against the backdrop of Christmas. There are some threads which are left hanging, but perhaps they will get resolved in future books.
March 13, 2012
who killed Santa?
3.5 stars- I liked this one and the lower rating for this one compared with the first books in the series is probably due to being a bit Aberystwythed out of it. This is the 4th, (i think) in the series I have read without a real break from them.
However, i highly recommend this series to anyone who likes noir/detective/good books in general. It is at once entertaining, well-written and, best of all, funny. The humor is rarely light-hearted though, more often bitingly sardonic actually. But Pryce is so insightful that it doesn't get old.
Great story, talented author, you can't go wrong. It was good enough that I already obtained the next two in the series
3.5 stars- I liked this one and the lower rating for this one compared with the first books in the series is probably due to being a bit Aberystwythed out of it. This is the 4th, (i think) in the series I have read without a real break from them.
However, i highly recommend this series to anyone who likes noir/detective/good books in general. It is at once entertaining, well-written and, best of all, funny. The humor is rarely light-hearted though, more often bitingly sardonic actually. But Pryce is so insightful that it doesn't get old.
Great story, talented author, you can't go wrong. It was good enough that I already obtained the next two in the series
May 26, 2022
Santa is found dead in Aberystwyth, the only clue is the word ‘Hoffmann’ scrawled in his blood. Louie Knight is on the case and is about to have a history lesson.
Couldn’t quite get into this book of the series, the ingredients from the first few are still there, the bonkers alternate history and Welsh humour, but it didn’t grab me.
Couldn’t quite get into this book of the series, the ingredients from the first few are still there, the bonkers alternate history and Welsh humour, but it didn’t grab me.
April 15, 2023
I really didn't know what to make of this, and didn't enjoy it. It's hard to follow with lots of inner tangents which have no purpose. All the characters had the same weird dry humour, so nothing different or exciting about them. I don't even really know what genre this book is! Would not recommend.
December 22, 2011
A lot of the same stuff that makes the first three so enjoyable:subverting the conventions of the private eye novel while still taking advantage of them, the surreal alternative-universe Aberystwyth setting, some lovely prose. This one suffers a bit (as did the last) from a slightly misogynistic subtext and, more overtly, a reliance on torture as a reasonable action for supposedly good people to take. On top of that the story was blighted by a completely unbelievable romantic subplot -- and yet it still had a lot of the charm one expects from this series. Not top form but not so much that I don't want to move on to the next one.
August 15, 2022
There are many books that try to cross over between humour and crime but very few succeed. (The master was Donald E. Westlake.) But very few achieve a crossover between humour and noir, at least very few do so without resorting to parody.
The Aberystwyth Noir series manages to be both very funny but respectful to the noir tradition. The humour emerges from the sheer silliness of Aberystwyth as being a hotbed of intrigue. I read this volume while on holiday in Aber but searched in vain for druid-gangsters, ladies-of-the-night in Welsh national dress and philosophical ice cream men. However, the geography is accurate and the author has released an excellent walking tour on Audible, which I recommend should you ever find yourself in Aber.
The Aberystwyth Noir series manages to be both very funny but respectful to the noir tradition. The humour emerges from the sheer silliness of Aberystwyth as being a hotbed of intrigue. I read this volume while on holiday in Aber but searched in vain for druid-gangsters, ladies-of-the-night in Welsh national dress and philosophical ice cream men. However, the geography is accurate and the author has released an excellent walking tour on Audible, which I recommend should you ever find yourself in Aber.
October 6, 2022
I love this books series, they are quirky and a lot of the jokes are a orientated to those of Welsh heritage. Always a fun read.
January 9, 2023
Jo, qué mal empiezo el año. Me resultó súper confusa la primera mitad, lo que hizo que me interesara cero, y para colmo el desenlace atropellado y rocambolesco.
August 16, 2007
The Aberystwyth books just get darker and darker, from laugh out loud comedy to the depths of tragedy in a few sentences.
Malcolm Pryce is becoming a writer of depth and worth, and who'd have thought that.
The series is well worth reading.
Malcolm Pryce is becoming a writer of depth and worth, and who'd have thought that.
The series is well worth reading.
December 31, 2015
An entertaining and surreal romp through some local scenery.
April 29, 2016
A fun ride.
August 16, 2018
Well, You May Cry Tears of Laughter
I enjoy noir tales, and every now and then it's fun to change things up with a humorous noir. The problem is that a good, amusing noir is so hard to pull off. It's an oil and water thing. Good noir, to me, is dark and hopeless, and the endings are usually ironic, unjust, and crushingly grim. That doesn't sound much like a recipe for an amusing romp. Enter this book.
Pryce pulls off the almost impossible task of producing a perfectly satisfying detective mystery noir, while also creating amusing characters, witty banter, a clever and ironic narrator, and memorable vivid set pieces. It may be his judicious introduction of the absurd. This isn't a straight detective novel with funny dialogue and it isn't a funny novel with a touch of mystery. It is, rather, a restrained exploration of the absurd that comes with just enough deadpan delivery to sell the idea that it's a detective novel. It also has a darker mood than Pryce's previous Aberystwyth books, and more of the humor has an edge to it.
When one of the main characters is a taxidermied dog with a Mona Lisa smile, (and at the end we learn the reason for that smile), you realize that we aren't really in Hammett/Chandler territory. But we also aren't in manic farce or comic country. We are at some weird intersection of the two. And I take special delight in this being set in Wales, which has made something of a specialty of hosting the weird intersections of things.
So, alternately funny, touching, silly, deadpan, introspective, chilly, and warm, (and loaded with great, short one-off rants), this is a marvelously well written book that will satisfy even if you just breeze along appreciating some of Pryce's top drawer throwaway lines and observations. Add appealing characters, and a silly but coherent plot, and you end up with a unique and quite satisfying treat.
I enjoy noir tales, and every now and then it's fun to change things up with a humorous noir. The problem is that a good, amusing noir is so hard to pull off. It's an oil and water thing. Good noir, to me, is dark and hopeless, and the endings are usually ironic, unjust, and crushingly grim. That doesn't sound much like a recipe for an amusing romp. Enter this book.
Pryce pulls off the almost impossible task of producing a perfectly satisfying detective mystery noir, while also creating amusing characters, witty banter, a clever and ironic narrator, and memorable vivid set pieces. It may be his judicious introduction of the absurd. This isn't a straight detective novel with funny dialogue and it isn't a funny novel with a touch of mystery. It is, rather, a restrained exploration of the absurd that comes with just enough deadpan delivery to sell the idea that it's a detective novel. It also has a darker mood than Pryce's previous Aberystwyth books, and more of the humor has an edge to it.
When one of the main characters is a taxidermied dog with a Mona Lisa smile, (and at the end we learn the reason for that smile), you realize that we aren't really in Hammett/Chandler territory. But we also aren't in manic farce or comic country. We are at some weird intersection of the two. And I take special delight in this being set in Wales, which has made something of a specialty of hosting the weird intersections of things.
So, alternately funny, touching, silly, deadpan, introspective, chilly, and warm, (and loaded with great, short one-off rants), this is a marvelously well written book that will satisfy even if you just breeze along appreciating some of Pryce's top drawer throwaway lines and observations. Add appealing characters, and a silly but coherent plot, and you end up with a unique and quite satisfying treat.
January 11, 2025
I was quite intrigued when I started this book.
The humour, whimsy, general Welshness and the vivid characters were entertaining. It seemed to be living up to the publisher's blurb and the review quotes, "Ripping Yarns" (yes, I'm that old) meets "League Of Gentlemen" would be my take.
The dialogue is excellent, and the comically complex plot is daft but well handled. And yet...
I soon realised that there were lots of 'in jokes' and murky incidents in the past which were alluded to, but not described in detail. I began to regret starting this series with book number 4. I told myself i'd read books 1-3 after this, but I'm not really planning to do that now.
There are too many daft characters, too many demands for the reader to suspend his/her disbelief, too many abrupt changes of tone to dark, noirish internal soliloquys...
Maybe I would have a more positive opinion if I'd read the first three books, but I'm thinking the relentless procession of whacky characters would have started to grate quite quickly. Sometimes it feels like the author is trying to achieve too much, too many implausible episodes and characters, too many killings...
The humour, whimsy, general Welshness and the vivid characters were entertaining. It seemed to be living up to the publisher's blurb and the review quotes, "Ripping Yarns" (yes, I'm that old) meets "League Of Gentlemen" would be my take.
The dialogue is excellent, and the comically complex plot is daft but well handled. And yet...
I soon realised that there were lots of 'in jokes' and murky incidents in the past which were alluded to, but not described in detail. I began to regret starting this series with book number 4. I told myself i'd read books 1-3 after this, but I'm not really planning to do that now.
There are too many daft characters, too many demands for the reader to suspend his/her disbelief, too many abrupt changes of tone to dark, noirish internal soliloquys...
Maybe I would have a more positive opinion if I'd read the first three books, but I'm thinking the relentless procession of whacky characters would have started to grate quite quickly. Sometimes it feels like the author is trying to achieve too much, too many implausible episodes and characters, too many killings...
April 16, 2018
Edgar Allan Poe meets "Phoenix Nights" says the cover blurb.
I say "delightfully bonkers" :o)
This is the third book I've read in this series & its possibly my favourite. The usual mix of the weird, wonderful & rather wacky. I particularly loved the home economics curriculum at the Sunday School; weaving fabrics from cobwebs, making soap from grit, anthracite perfume, penny hoarding, a hundred uses for stale bread, fifty simple one-cauldron dishes & making shoes out of slate. Good fun but just don't ask me to explain what the hell went on....
I say "delightfully bonkers" :o)
This is the third book I've read in this series & its possibly my favourite. The usual mix of the weird, wonderful & rather wacky. I particularly loved the home economics curriculum at the Sunday School; weaving fabrics from cobwebs, making soap from grit, anthracite perfume, penny hoarding, a hundred uses for stale bread, fifty simple one-cauldron dishes & making shoes out of slate. Good fun but just don't ask me to explain what the hell went on....
July 21, 2024
Oh dear, if it wasn't for the fact that it was a reading group book I would have stopped reading it. Completely dark and absurd it was not at all to my taste. The writing style was difficult to get in to, as it often went off on irrelevant dream like tangents so you lost the thread. The characters were mostly detestable, other than the main ones and it made it sound like Aberystwyth was the worst town ever, which it certainly isn't and has the author ever actually been? I have rarely given a 2* but this was well worthy of it.
September 10, 2017
Unfortunately this doesn't come close to the glorious daftness of the first three Aberystwyth novels, and it feels as if the series has finally exhausted the number of new angles on the Welsh noir theme. However, it's still laugh-out-loud funny, occasionally profound (what would a Welsh Heaven look like? Like Blaenau FFestiniog without the train) and occasionally brilliant: it's worth reading just for the two-page rant on the impossibility of disposing of a dead body.
October 9, 2019
Just finished reading 'Don't Cry for Me Aberystwyth.' It just conjures the 'noir' that everyone associates with Wales in all its flinty glory. Having just visited Porthcawl for a fabulous holiday in stormy weather it conjures the place, so it seems the trip is carrying on a little longer. Malcolm Pryce's prose is something to absorb slowly and use of language is awesome, but the lightness and craziness of the story prevents it getting bogged down. Go Malcolm Pryce!
November 10, 2023
My favourite so far of these Aberystwyth noir novels. I love the preposterous alternative Welsh history and the atmosphere of the dark detective fiction. And set at Christmas makes it perfect for a cozy fireside read. Great characters and an intriguing (albeit silly) plot make me yearn to get back to the wonderful Aber and immerse myself in the setting.
February 4, 2024
Wow
Such poetry. Such beauty. Storytelling par excellence. If you ever plan on visiting Aberystwyth, then this series of noire novels are the perfect guide. The twists and turns of the plots are a marvel to behold; but they always come together like the folds of pony tail. And so, so, so funny. Mr P I salute you.
Such poetry. Such beauty. Storytelling par excellence. If you ever plan on visiting Aberystwyth, then this series of noire novels are the perfect guide. The twists and turns of the plots are a marvel to behold; but they always come together like the folds of pony tail. And so, so, so funny. Mr P I salute you.
August 23, 2025
2.5 stars out of 5.
An okay satirical take on the detective noir genre. I've not read any of the rest of the series and probably won't trouble myself to read more as they're not really my thing. The drawing together of all the plot points was well done, but it was all just a bit too silly for me.
An okay satirical take on the detective noir genre. I've not read any of the rest of the series and probably won't trouble myself to read more as they're not really my thing. The drawing together of all the plot points was well done, but it was all just a bit too silly for me.
February 29, 2020
Excellent Welsh noir novel. Chandler goes to Aberystwyth. I went to uni there, recognise the landmarks and some of the bizarre characters. Some great one liners. Sharp writing. Definitely time to read a few more. Would recommend.
August 8, 2023
I'm very biased because of my affinity to Aberystwyth but I do find these books to be good fun.
There's always an interesting twist and it's just serious enough to hold you with the narrative while being amusing enough to keep you smiling throughout.
There's always an interesting twist and it's just serious enough to hold you with the narrative while being amusing enough to keep you smiling throughout.
June 17, 2024
Book 4 of the series and although still good, this one has too many long, reflective monologues and thought-passages for me. Also, even on a scale of nought to the previous books, the plot is far-fetched and doesn't really hang together; too many sub-plots.
October 26, 2017
I just love these books, they are well written, engaging and make life seem better
March 7, 2018
I'm 70% done with Don't Cry For Me: So frustrating I'm just not feeling the love for this book. I've enjoyed previous ones but this may be my last Pryce book.
March 31, 2019
Not my favourite in the series so far, I struggled with the plot slightly but still an enjoyable read.
April 10, 2019
Hilarious fun. Not read any noir before so as a Welsh woman this was a great intro. Gripping stuff with as many twists as a bucket of lug worms.
September 17, 2019
This was a great book with so much dark humour and intrigue... would recommend to anyone who is a fan of film noir, murder mystery and the quirky side of life!
September 14, 2020
I can't help being curious as to whether being familiar with this part of Wales increases your enjoyment of this series. I know I love them!
June 2, 2021
An amusing tale of an investigation into the murder of a Father Christmas in a back street of Aberystwyth. Convoluted. Strange. Just go with the flow.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews