Subtitled ‘A Mark Fairley Mystery’, this parody of the whodunit will have you smiling, grinning, chuckling, and laughing out loud as the author takes you on a revealing journey with his reluctant PI.
There are many characters in this humorous novel, some of whom are deliberate cardboard cut-outs to mock the worst of the genre, but most of whom are real human beings struggling to do the best they can with the roles they’ve been given.
One of the aspects of American novels that has always irritated and puzzled me is the detailed descriptions of what people are wearing and what they eat. It’s almost as if the book trade is intent on selling the ideals of capitalism and attempting to influence readers by promoting food and clothing consumption. But here Walt Pilcher makes his fashion statements into mockeries by detailing the very ordinariness of the apparel his characters war. He does the same with the meals they share, emphasising the banality of what they consume. I found this very refreshing, and amusing.
The story itself has enough twists and turns to satisfy the most demanding of mystery readers. There are cliff-hangers slotted in between the more humorous chapter endings. There is tension aplenty. And there are underlying themes of justice and fairness. And even some mockery of the idiocies of certain financial systems.
On a personal point, I could do with some of the special ‘Spurrt’; that sort of lift would work wonders for this aging body!
More power to your elbow, Walt Pilcher. Let’s have more of this brilliant storytelling from your talented keystroking fingers, please.
[Any review is a personal opinion. No reviewer can represent the view of anyone else. The best we can manage is an honest reaction to any given book.]
Stuart Aken 
Brilliant review, Stuart! Thank you. I, too, wish there were an actual product with the Spurrt benefits, but it would probably be so regulated as to be practically inaccessible. On the other hand, given the current sprint to legalize marijuana for recreational use, maybe the atmosphere is changing.
Not sure I ever thanked you for your review of my Everybody Shrugged when it was new, so Thank You for that too. I will put a review of An Excess of . . . up on Amazon.com soon.
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Brilliant review, Stuart! Thank you. I, too, wish there were an actual product with the Spurrt benefits, but it would probably be so regulated as to be practically inaccessible. On the other hand, given the current sprint to legalize marijuana for recreational use here, maybe the atmosphere is changing.
Not sure I ever thanked you for your review of my Everybody Shrugged when it was new, so Thank You for that too. I will put a review of An Excess of . . . up on Amazon.com soon.
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You’re welcome, Walt – it’s a great read!
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Sounds like a good one! I have also noted the American tendency to describe food and clothes. I used to live in the US, and my take was that there is a cultural emphasis on the acquisition of expensive goods, but coming out of a lack of confidence, I think. I know that flies in the face of conventional belief, but that’s my experience.
Just so that you know, I tried to post a comment on your Saturday photo, but I think it may have gone into your spam. Cheers.
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Thanks, Lynette.
The whole of American society seems focussed on acquisition and consumption, which I’ve always supposed is driven by the ‘American Dream’, something that’s become a nightmare for the rest of the world, but I can see how a lack of confidence could also be a factor in a country where confidence is considered a vital quality.
I’ve extracted your other comment from the spam folder – sometimes WordPress can be a little overenthusiastic in tagging simple comments as spam!
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🤝🏿
Lovely take away.
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Thank you, Jermena.
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