I was ready to be amused and intrigued by this “comic detective” story. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into it. I didn’t get far before I lost all semblance of the story and kept wondering when the author was going to get to the point. All the little asides were unnecessary and distracting to the story. I couldn’t seem to find the energy or the interest to slog through this “story”.

DNF@15%
2018; Bloomsbury Publishing

The cover of A Shot in the Dark, and the synopsis interested me right away. I tried reading the eBook at one point but couldn't get into it. When I saw that my eLibrary had the audiobook, I jumped at the chance. I usually am a fan of historical mysteries and really wanted to like this one. After 15%, I found I didn't care for Twitten and the writing style. I am giving up on this book, and series.

***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for this reader's copy. In exchange, I am providing an honest review.

Darn. I'm always disappointed when I don't connect with a book/author that is in a genre I love.

As explained by an introduction at the beginning of the book by the author, Truss writes police comedies for the BBC and ventured into books after encouragement by the Detection Club in London. It is natural, in my opinion, to make that leap or attempt. I thought this would be a plus but the problem, for me, was it read more like a script than a book. I would have enjoyed WATCHING the story Truss had written much more than I enjoyed reading it. It is cheeky, and I love cheeky, but the cheekiness was too much for reading. I felt disconnected from the story right away and struggled to make sense of some of the characters until I finally decided to call it quits 24% in.

Darn it.

I am reading everything I can find by this author now. The book was well paced and I enjoyed the protagonist very much. Will be looking forward to more in this series.

I loved this book. With all the thrill and well-written prose, this book soon became a page turner for me.

A Shot in the Dark is the first book of a new series set in 1950's Brighton. Based on Lynne Truss' BBC Radio 4 series with some of the same characters, this novelization is a decidedly odd & farcical lampooning of post-WW2 police procedurals.

Released 6th Nov 2018 by Bloomsbury, it's 304 pages and available in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats.

The author has an unerring ear for dialogue and setting. The book really reads exactly like it was written contemporaneously for the time in which it's set. The pacing is superb and it moves along at a good clip. I never found my interest flagging. Ms. Truss has a deft touch with characterizations (she's been writing these characters for a while for audio plays, and it shows).

That being said... for an almost cozy read, there is a prodigious amount of violence (much of it gratuitous). People are constantly being stabbed, slashed, shot, throttled, flung out of amusement park rides into the ocean, run over, and otherwise mutilated. There is a disconcerting amount of *glee* in the descriptions. There is a bizarrely psychotic Punch & Judy man who is both hysterically funny and scary in about equal measure.

The language is way over the top. The violence is omnipresent. I personally loved the denouement, but readers who need everything to be tied up in a neat bow with the good guys the unequivocal winners by page 298 are going to be driven nuts by the end.

Four stars. Worth a read, but definitely different.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Advance copy provided for honest review.

I saw a few mixed reviews of this before I started reading, but I really liked the idea of a funny police procedural, so I was excited to form my own opinion. Overall, I would say that the book was right down the middle.

I got into the story, the characters were interesting and the setup was odd enough to be funny but dark enough for policing. The downside was the omnicient narration... It was like stage directions or authors notes for the set up. Also, it got weird in parts, giving us a window into a distant future for characters and events, which did not seem at all relevant (or was it!? 🧐) No, it was not.

The plot went from odd to unnecessarily dark and sometimes gory. The characters were extremes - some were overly clever or really thick, very likeable or universally hated, etc. This made the callous treatment of life easier to read, but I didn't like it.

Finally, and this is not related to the actual book, but detracted from my reading so I am mentioning... The Netgalley advance copy is hard to navigate on Kindle, having no chapters or pages, and the setting of the type was off. Some words would have s paces within, which made for awkward reading (see what I did there? Annoying!). Also, because of the format of the book, my bookmarks did not sync across my devices.

#AshotInTheDark #NetGalley

An entertaining cozy mystery set in 1950's Britain. The local police force is a mixed bag of characters that seem unlikely to solve the latest murder much less the cold case that started the whole story rolling. The book got better the further you read so it kept you reading trying to figure out which character would make the next move. The story works out to be not what you'd expect so start out with an open mind and you'll still be surprised in the end.

Delightful, funny mystery set in 1950s England by a fine writer. I would have liked to have had a better sense of Brighton, but the pace of the novel was fast. Every character was clearly and deftly defined, in just a few brief words, so that event he unlikable ones were interesting and one felt a little sad at their comeuppance. The twists and turns of the book are rapid; it's been a long time since I was surprised in a mystery novel, but this one got me. Well written, with a surprising ending, funny characters, and funny situations. I will definitely keep my eye out for future mysteries by Ms. Truss.

This is the book Monty Python would make into a movie. It is bubbling over with British humor and strange characters. The writing is very rich with detail and goes to the extreme in painting a picture of the action as it takes place. This is a light-weight story full of humor.

This was a moderately interesting British mystery. It is apparently a departure for Lynne Truss, who wrote the interestingly titled Eats, Shoots & Leaves best selling book on punctuation. It was written in the British style because of a connection to a group of authors called the Detection Club of London. It centers around a bungling group of police somewhat in the style of the French counterpart Jacques Clousteau and his superior officers. The criminals and victims are mostly connected to the world of performance, and it is set in Brighton. The “star” is the young detective Twitten, who has a wonderful knack for analyzing the facts of a case and determining the culprit. Of course, his superiors consider him a hindrance when he shows them up. Truss has written a radio series, and I can envision this book working well as a movie script, perhaps even better than as a book. I enjoyed the book, although I did have to flip back and forth a bit to keep up with the characters and the timeline.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an impartial review.

A Shot in the Dark
By: Lynne Truss
Bloomsbury USA
3 Stars

At the beginning of the story the author vowed to “play fair with readers, Making no use of divine revelation, feminine intuition, mumbo jumbo, jiggery-pokery, coincidence, or acts of God.” And the author follows through with her promises, and plays fair with the readers. She sets out a very methodical plot, and does so in a very clever way. She introduces us to the three main police characters Captain Stein, Sargent Brunswick, and Constable Twitter. All three have very different personalities. When a loathsome theater critic, A. S. Crystal is killed during the production of A Shilling in the Meter, they all set out to try and solve the case. Each, however, does so on their own path. Stein would rather the whole incident just go away so he can concentrate on his radio show. Sargent Brunswick seems to want to prove himself, but isn’t exactly sure where to begin. Constable Twitter, a self-proclaimed genius, is new the station, and he knows exactly how he wants to solve this case.

The investigation felt like they were on three separate mine cars with no individual steering controls. At times it even felt like they were jumping tracks. I kept waiting for the cars to crash and have the investigation end up in shambles. However, the author was carefully able to control these mine cars behind the scenes. She leads them down twisting and turning paths, and even paths that the reader doesn’t expect (though not far fetched). She is able to slow these cars down so they stop right before the point of collision. None of the paths hav led down the wrong track, and in fact all three seem to intertwine. The ending is surprising, but still within the author’s own words of “…play(ing) fair with the readers.”

This book felt like an old time mystery, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys that genre.

Thanks to Net Galley and Bloomsbury USA for the opportunity to receive an arc of this book. #NetGalley #AShotInTheDark

A Shot in the Dark is a delightfully funny mystery in the classic vein.  Lynne Truss skillfully captures the feel of 1950s Brighton in her newest comic novel.  The captain of police likes to think all crime ended with the shootout between two gangs that not just made the news - a movie followed idolizing him.  Little real police work was done before the arrival of Constable Twitten, a too bright newcomer. The murder of theater critic A S Crystal opens the door to an investigation into a decades old robbery and a conspiracy behind the scenes of Brighton’s cheery holiday veneer.


The quirky characters and the strange situations make A Shot in the Dark a funny book.  It’s plot is cleverly composed - more than enough to satisfy the most critical mystery lover.  A Shot in the Dark is the perfect antidote to the large quantities of movies that think pratfalls and cursewords are high comedy.  If you like classic British mysteries or wry situational humor look no further.


4 / 5


I received a copy of A Shot in the Dark from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.


-- Crittermom

Wait a minute...this is a comedy?

Seriously...is this a comedy?

I was attracted to this book because it was described as the beginning of a new mystery series featuring a brilliant and driven police detective, Constable Twitten, and written by a New York Times best-selling author, Lynne Truss. That this first book featured a theatre critic who holds the keys to an unsolved murder made this doubly appealing to me.

What I didn't expect was a collection of mostly inept, foppish constables who stumble over crimes as well as each other. I did not expect a primary detective who has to battle his own department in order to solve a crime. I did not expect a simple story drawn out to fill the pages of a book. Yet that's what I got.

It is the late 1950's and a noted theatre critic A. S. Crystal has come to the seaside resort of Brighton. Sitting in a dark theater he is about to tell Constable Twitten what he knows about an unsolved case from 1945 when there is "a shot in the dark" and Crystal is dead. Now Twitten has two mysteries ... that from '45 and who killed Crystal?

The narrative here is very strange. Truss is not only the author, but she seems to be the story-teller here - almost playing a defined role in the narrative of the book, pausing to tell the reader a thing or two, like an aside one might find in a Shakespeare play. It works in the theatre, but here...? In a 1950's mystery? Not so much.

In her introduction, Truss mentions that this book, in addition to writing a police comedy serial for the BBC, she was hoping to gain membership in the Detection Club of London. In fact, that's really the whole purpose of this book ... to transform her BBC series and gain admittance to a club she reveres. Ah, such lofty goals. I should have known not to expect great care when she writes "<em>A Shot in the Dark</em> is set in 1957 ... Most of us weren't there, so I felt pretty free to make it up."

Humor and mystery can work - there are any number of authors who do it well. But this one lacks heart.

Looking for a good book? Lynne Truss' <em>A Shot in the Dark</em> misses.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Detective novels, especially of a period and time in and off itself, almost can take on a self reflexive nature if paying homage and adhering to certain telltale signs of the genre. Understanding the structure of a time period and how the perceptions of different characters work in what they reveal can be enjoyed by multiple angles. With “A Shot In The Dark” [Lynne Truss/Bloomsberry/304pgs], the author takes into mind both the rag tag experiences of Holmes & Watson in a more brutish way but also different essences of Agatha Christie, most specifically “Murder On The Orient Express”. The main structure revolves around a theater critic and a new production starring an actor whom he has famously criticized. The theater critic ends up dead and the mystery surrounding his killer begins. Taking place in the mid 1950s in the English town of Brighton where a massive mafia battle occurred and was silenced within a day, there are a variety of investigations going on consecutively. The local head of the department is rather aloof and would rather have everything swept under the rug. The aspects of the two other investigators, including protagonist Constable Twitten, who is too smart for his own good, lead them both into the underworld of Brighton which is populated by fun yet very flawed characters from a foul mouthed puppetmaster to a strong lady with decidedly different tendencies. The tone, despite any sort of violent arc, plays light even as Twitten closes in on the party responsible for the inherent chaos, however controlled, that continues to plague the town. The inherent humor, especially when a crime reporter with a reputation makes his way into the fray becomes one of a farcical nature. However the theatrical conclusion, done almost in a theater within a theater structure, brings to mind the studio system movies showing behind the scenes of productions where the strings are being pulled by those unseen. “A Shot In The Dark” is an effective exercise in the building of a world at once familiar but fun to live in. Even in the final moment where family strife reveals itself in unusual ways, the reflexive nature of the metaphor the central antagonist relates rings true as much in modern society as that of yesteryear.

B-

By Tim Wassberg

A Shot in the Dark is a clever and engaging historical mystery and a solid start to a new series! I loved the setting and the characters were well drawn out and quite memorable. I would read more books by this author!

The world is a serious place right now, and everyone needs to step away from it now and then in order to stay sane. Here it is, your very own mental health break. In fact, if you look at the hourly rate of a good therapist versus the number of hours you’ll read this mystery, even at the full jacket price, Truss’s book is clearly the more economical choice, and it’s far more fun. Lucky me, I read it free courtesy of Net Galley and Bloomsbury. It’s for sale now.

The story doesn’t start as well as it might. It begins with a note from the author explaining that she has written this book exclusively for the purpose of joining a particular writer’s club. It’s likely intended to be a tongue-in-cheek reference, but it comes across as an in-joke between people other than me. I almost feel as though I have walked into a party to which I am not invited.

Then, to make matters worse, the opening chapters contain some jokes that fall completely flat. At about the quarter mark, I consider skimming and then bailing, but I am reluctant to do this with a galley, so I double check the author and publisher first. That changes everything. Bloomsbury is not some small, desperate press that will take any old thing, so that gives me pause. Then I see that Truss also wrote Eats, Shoots and Leaves as well as Cat Out of Hell. At this point the tumblers click into place. I liked both of those books quite well, but I felt exactly the same at the quarter mark of the latter story as I feel about this one. Truss is a writer that takes her time warming up, but she is worth the wait. Soldier through the start as she sets up her characters and puts the story in motion, because once she is on a tear there is no stopping her, and then she’s funny as hell.

Our story starts in a little tourist town in Britain. Twitten is the eager new guy on the force; Sargent Brunswick is unimaginative but sincere, shackled by the lead cop, a bureaucratic blowhard that avoids doing police work by pretending that Brighton has no crime. Since this is the first in the Constable Twitten series we know he won’t be killed, but everyone else is at risk.

Our story features performers from the Brighton Royal Theatre, a woman that works as a cleaner and occasional secretary for the constabulary, a love triangle, a playwright, and an ambitious journalist. The satire is both thick and at times, subtle. I appreciate a writer that can sneak humor into odd nooks and crannies without hitting me over the head with the fact that she’s made a joke, and Truss does that even as she lays out the larger joke in an unmissable way. Ultimately, even the captain must acknowledge that a crime has taken place:

“’May I offer you a sherry before you go?' And then she opened the door to her front living room, and let out a scream of horror. Furniture was in disarray; ornaments shattered, curtains torn, blood dripped from the fireplace and was sprayed in arcs across the walls. There was no doubt that a life-and-death struggle had taken place inside this room--the biggest giveaway being the lifeless remains on the best Persian rug, of the magnetic young playwright Jack Braithwaite, whose own personal Gas Man had arrived unexpectedly to read his meter and collect his dues."

The glory of satire is that instead of needing to dream up a variety of innovative twists and turns to liven up the plot, Truss instead can take the oldest and tritest murder mystery elements and make us choke with laughter as we read them.

An added perk is that this is the first in a series, and so the reader can get in on the ground floor. Just don’t trip over the corpse.

Once Truss warms up, her humor is hilarious. Cancel that expensive therapy appointment and order this book instead.

This is an unexpected hit for me.
Constable Twitten is the kind of young recruit no-one welcomes into their police station. We will know a few like him our job histories. Too clever by far; far too clever for his own good.
His talents are shown up in a clearer light when he turns up at Brighton nick. The is a stark contrast to the little grey cells he would appear to have, and use compared to the existing CID team.
Thankfully, although the body count previously was high in the Middle Street Massacre the lives lost were those in ravel gangland hoods. The local police took the credit but if truth be told, the detection rate isn’t high. This is not so much as the local police force is incompetent but that other factors are at play.
A story has real comic genius running through this plot like a piece of seaside rock. It is a book full of humour, misunderstanding and genuine criminal moments. However, the plot is both engaging and believable with clever clogs Twitten not always on top of developments.
A police procedural that never disappoints, it is true to its period. In the process it pays tribute to a gentler time and world of entertainment was variety shows and provincial theatre. The laughs are never at the expend of these gentler times rather it is character driven, the result is an authentic murder mystery. The author has a good ear for language and the experience to write with confidence and maximise human frailties and shortcomings to enrich her story.
A wonderful reflective piece that entertains and delivers a crime thriller that works from first to last. Hopefully she will not rest here but revisit her strength of character driven writing, the ability to capture a more romantic era and allow us to share a journey with Twitten for many years to come.

Good Read, enjoyed this one very much. Kept me reading with anticipation till the end. Recommend it to anyone who loves to read good books

This book puts a new twist on crime fiction. The cozy humor coupled with the mystery of a murder makes it an ingenious book, and one I struggled to put down. This is one that I will recommend to friends and will probably be stuffing in stockings this holiday season!