In Which Inspector Steine Is Irritated….
The first book in the splendidly quirky Twitten series of mysteries from Lynne Truss and in which Inspector Steine is irritated by a new arrival - Constable Twitten. An enjoyable, fast moving farce - fun and frolics with eccentric characters aplenty, well written with clever detail and a delightful setting. A breath of fresh air

This was one of my favourite reads of 2018. I have read a couple of the author's non-fiction books and loved them. I've left it too long to do a proper review however I will be reading the second book..

The first in a new series from Lynne Truss, I loved A Shot in the Dark. It is totally charming and very evocative British seaside town (and having grown up just down the road from Brighton I loved it even more!). I can't wait for the rest!

As hilarious as the original radio series, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Our intrepid and bungling heroes are thoroughly fleshed out and their back stories expanded upon. Looking forward to the next one.

Great storyline with good strong characters. Very well written. I would recommend this book to anyone.

What is it about :

Set in 1950’s Brighton, with some good pop culture added too. Inspector Steine is a buffoon, useless as a cop and won’t admit any crimes are committed in Brighton. His, Sergeant Brunswick, is frustrated by this and then along comes Constable Twitten. He has been moved around from one area to another as he’s ‘too clever’. However, he is very clever and picks up clues missed by the Inspector, wit an opinion poll lady, thefts and deaths.

What did I like :

There are some really funny moments and I loved Vince the Punch and Judy man. Lynne Truss has created great, believable characters with some laugh out loud lines.

Would I recommend:

Yes, a fun read and I hope there’s more to come.


I would like to thank the Author/the Publishers/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review

Although I found the first few pages confusing (a flashback to Brighton gang incident told in a cheery voice), I enjoyed this spoof mystery. Brighton's inspector insists there is no crime in Brighton and when circumstances and a overly clever new policeman prove differently entertainment ensures. Show business, Punch and Judy, ice-creams and bobby sox all play their part in this retro cosy mystery.

Now, I will preface this review by saying that I am a huge fan of Lynne Truss – both of her non-fiction works and of her Radio 4 series Inspector Steine. When I saw that the same characters were now available in book form, I was really keen to read.

There are many positives in this but, unfortunately (for me, and anyone else who has heard the series), there is a problem: A Shot in the Dark is largely a re-hash of some of the key points in the first series of the radio show. Even more unfortunately, it seems to suffer in the translation to the page. Its pace to start with is pretty slow and Inspector Steine has mutated from the starring charming imbecile brought to life by the marvellous Michael Fenton Stevens on the radio to a less appealing and relatively minor character.

Ok, moan over – onto the positives! The pace picks up fairly quickly and there is a lot of fun to be had: there are some funny moments, Twitten is adorably irritating, Brunswick actually seems a more substantial character in the book and Mrs Groynes is always good value. The book itself is good and I do think that if I had never heard the radio version I would have enjoyed the reading of it more.

In summary, the storyline and revelations are great, it is amusing and well-written and, providing you don’t know what’s coming, cleverly plotted. Therefore, if the blurb appeals to you, give the book a go and I really hope you enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the ARC of A Shot in the Dark.

Lynn Truss is an excellent writer with a fine comic sense and I have enjoyed a lot of her work very much, but I'm afraid I was a little disappointed in A Shot In the Dark.

The Book is a "crime mystery" but also essentially a farce. Set in Brighton in the late 50s, a hopelessly stupid and vain police Inspector turns a blind eye to all crime, completely convinced that he has eradicated it from Brighton. A brilliant, socially inept new constable arrives and upsets the normal order of things, just as murderous events take place around the opening of a new play by an Angry Young Man, and a comic investigation/imbroglio develops.

Truss has a lot of fun at the expense of conceited but idiotic policemen, pretentious and narcissistic theatre folk and so on, and I enjoyed the first half of the book a lot. However, it did begin to pall a bit; the plot moves slowly and rather predictably and the comedy is so broad-brush that it lost its appeal rather. Inspector Steine's colossal idiocy and vanity became just annoying and the rest of the developments weren't funny enough to maintain the book. I know that it is intentionally absurdly pantomimic and a parody of old-fashioned police dramas, but even Lynn Truss couldn't keep it going for me.

So, a decent beginning but overall I can't recommend this and I shan't be bothering with any more in what seems to be being set up for a series.

(My thanks to Bloomsbury Press for an ARC via NetGalley.)

I must admit I was concerned when I saw that Lynne Truss was having a go at writing crime but I was at that point unaware that this book has its origins in 4 series broadcast on Radio 4. By then end of the first couple of chapters my feelings were confirmed as the y are to my mind a little muddled as if someone had given an instruction manual on how to set up a crime novel BUT after this the book takes off properly. I am not going to summarise the plot as that is already done in the blurb and I don't like to give too much away as it takes the fun out of reading it and it certainly is fun. There are some great uses of humour sprinkled throughout, in fact the whole tale could be said to be a farce. The Police Gazette has horoscopes where the reading for Pisces suggests that there is an affinity with dark blue and the favourite object is handcuffs and there is a delightfully sweary Punch and Judy Man who is regularly complained about at the beach, these are just a couple of examples of the humour. I also liked the way that the period feel was lightly done so there was enough of a flavour there without overdoing it.
The sort of wry humour used in this novel is most appealing to me and the way the story is told means it can be savoured rather than rushed through as is sometimes the way with 'modern' crime fiction. The gentle tale told means that for those who don't want gory stories won't find anything here to offend their sensibilities either. I have to say that I would definitely look out for another instalment of the Constable Twitten series.
#AShotInTheDark #NetGalley

Lynne Truss' new novel was included in the Guardian reviews round-up (above) - I have listened to the radio series which the book is linked to (if not based on - things are not quite the same). I'm not sure how you'd categorise this book - comedy-crime? Inspector Stein (pronounced Steen) is the bumbling, but somehow celebrated, head of police in Brighton, England. Twitten is the new PC who has been kicked out of several jobs already for being 'too bright'. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Stein is convinced that all crime in Brighton ceased after a mass shoot-out amongst the criminal underworld, which the entire Brighton constabulary missed due to stopping for an ice-cream. On his first day, Twitten thinks he might have found a crime or two, though... Plenty of references to Brighton Rock for the Graham Greene fans, too.

This is the first of a proposed crime series, set in Brighton. We begin in 1951, with the ‘Middle Street Massacre,’ where Inspector Steine (pronounced ‘Steen’) believes he has wiped out crime in the town, when two major gangs manage to wipe each other out. He has rather lived off this event, which was made into a film and we meet up with him, six years later, enjoying a pleasant and delusional existence as a minor celebrity.

However, despite his reputation as a radio presenter and criminal expert, it is obvious that there is still crime in Brighton and nothing much is being done about it. This causes Sergeant James Brunswick a great deal of frustration, and irritation, so he welcomes the new, keen young Constable Twitten with open arms. Brighton will soon be requiring someone with an interest in solving crime, as strong passions are being roused by the appearance of theatre critic, Algernon Crystal.

Crystal is a man who is known to crush reputations and he is coming to witness a new, kitchen sink drama, “A Shilling in the Meter,” by Jack Braithwaite, which is everything he despises. He also has an old case that he wants to bring up with Inspector Steine, who is about to have a very annoying day indeed…

I love mysteries and there was a lot about this I enjoyed. At first I chuckled at the humour, but, eventually, it felt a little forced. This is clever, but it had too many stereotypical characters and not quite enough content to really keep me interested. There seem to be quite a few light hearted, comic crime series around at the moment; mainly set in the Fifties, rather than the Golden Age, between the wars, period. This has a lot to offer, but it is, perhaps, just a little too light-hearted for me. I received a copy from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review. Rated 3.5.

Sometimes, I end up wording the review in my head while I am still part way, over confidently I would have to add. When I was part way through, I was still thinking of marking this book under humour since it seemed painfully obvious who the villain was and therefore not a mystery. To make things clearer, I was labouring under a false impression. This story is built off of a radio show by the author and therefore may be familiar to a few people but I went in blind. It is based in 1957, six years after the local Inspector became semi-famous and in his own head, cleared the town of Brighton of any criminal element. There is a new spate of robberies in town, and the entrance of an earnest 'too clever' new constable(we all probably have either met people like him or are him).Multiple dead bodies follow within the span of a day. There are many players in this drama, some good and clever, some bad and clever and some just plain convoluted. It was funny in a very subtle way for the most part, though some were outright funny. It had a surprising mystery hidden within its depths, and I personally enjoyed the tale. It has a slow pace, and you cannot trust anything you are told, both attributes that may not suit a few people. For people who like a leisurely stroll with absurd situations and the people causing such a situation, this is the right sort of book.I am looking forward to what might happen next, considering the situation we leave Constable Twitten in.

I am always on the lookout for interesting reads and especially books which have a historical element to them and so this murder mystery book set in the late 1950s and in Brighton sounded just the thing to take me away from all the nice fluffy reading I have been doing.

Inspector Steine is head of the local police department in a place where he says no crime is committed. . The Inspector is still dining out on the fact that a mere seven years previous he took the glory for two rival gangs who managed to all kill each other. Clearly there cannot be anymore crime in Brighton.

Sergeant Brunswick is desperate to be able to solve a crime and to go undercover to do this. He is thwarted at every turn by Steine.

Constable Twitten is a young whippersnapper who is being moved from police station to police station, not because he is no good but because he is too good. A stint in Brighton seems to the be the last resort.

Of course there needs to a crime - and so there is - now keep up at the back.....a hated theatre critic shot dead in his theatre seat whilst just about to reveal something about a crime he was victim of some years previous. A strong woman who escapes prison, a phrenologist who is not what he seems, a red-headed opinion poll lady, stolen jewels, dead actors and of course a murderer.

As I reflect back this was somewhat of a humorous novel, but for me it was somewhat lacking the humour simply didn't work for me. The change in tone of the writing felt I was treated as rather foolish and couldn't possibly understand what was happening without clear direction from the author so I was told what to think. That may well have been the intention but for me I rather make up my own mind about these things.

Towards the denouement it became rather ludicrous, that an Inspector so inept could continue and get away with what he had done, with no spark of conscience. The constable had the answers but was in no position to convince anyone of the truth and so much was left unsaid.

This was not the book I thought it was going to be and I was left rather disappointed and unsatisfied. However, it may well be a book that many other people will enjoy - so it is worth a try if you like murder mystery novels.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) for an advance copy of A Shot in the Dark, the first novel adapted from the Inspector Steyne radio series.

Brighton 1957 is a quiet place after the Middle Street Massacre of 1951 when the town's criminals wiped themselves out. Inspector Steyne is happy to preside over a crime free environment although Sergeant Brunswood isn't so sure, especially with a rash of burglaries, and greets the arrival of the clever Constable Twitten with a speciality in forensic observation with open arms.

There is no doubt that A Shot in the Dark is a clever novel with a great sense of the absurd so I have awarded it 3* for these merits as I personally didn't enjoy it. I found the arch tone grating and slightly condescending and the humour was wasted on me as I didn't find it funny. The whole idea of an extremely stupid policeman, Inspector Steyne, landing on his feet at every turn is, as I said, clever but distinctly unappealing to me.

Plenty of readers will find A Shot in the Dark an amusing and a satisfying read, unfortunately I'm not one of them.