"If we don't work out who did it, fast, I think it's safe to say that you're completely fucked."

A hilarious murder mystery with a surprising amount of emotional punch.

Set on a remote tidal island in 1910 at a British manor estate, our two main characters are Steven, an ex-prisoner with a heart of gold, and Miss Decima, an 80-year-old great aunt whose swearing would make a foul-mouthed sailor weak at the knees.

The lord of the estate - a so-called man of science - is found brutally slain in his office (locked from the inside, of course) after trying to convince the entire household that the appearance of Halley's Comet will be the end of life as they know it.

The Scotland Yard man sent in to solve the crime is a bumbling fool, naturally.

"You have nothing to fear! I'll have the killer in chains before the weekend is out. I believe that the slaying at Tithe Hall will be my greatest achievement yet."
"Please stop calling it a slaying."

Since the police are obviously not up to the task - and with the not-quite-metaphorical noose around Steven's neck tightening - what follows is an entertaining madcap investigation, with Miss Decima determined to make it as chaotic and insulting as she possibly can.

The big reveal ending was top-notch, and I hope we get many more books with these two unlikely but clearly unstoppable crime-fighting besties.