The Day Aberystwyth Stood Still (Louie Knight Mystery 6)
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Malcolm Pryce is the king of Welsh noir and he dishes up a dastardly mix of gothic comedy where Edgar Allen Poe meets Phoenix Nights in a flurry of blood-stained absurdity Sunday Telegraph Surreal, absurd and very funny ... ingredients include a Buick sought by an alien from another planet; a mayoral election that has replaced voting with a human cannonball; and wisecracks that would make Groucho Marx jealous The Times Pryce continues to put a uniquely surreal spin on the hoary old conventions of noir writing ... It's impossibly weird and, in parts, beautifully lyrical. Pryce's many fans certainly won't be disappointed Guardian You'll weep and laugh, on the same page. Wonderful Guardian Pryce's Aberystwyth is populated by the same hoods, crooks, heavies, conmen, liars, informers, dealers and bureaucrats that prop up the street corners of Raymond Chandler's LA, Louie himself possessing the same unshakable idealism and acid tongue as Philip Marlowe Time Out Poor Aberystwyth. Malcolm Pryce has taken this blameless town and turned it into a nightmarish world ... his plots are as satisfying as those of some of the best straight practitioners Daily Telegraph
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It is May in Aberystwyth, and the mayoral election campaign - culminating in the traditional boxing match between candidates - is underway. Sospan the ice-cream seller waits in his hut for souls brave enough to try his latest mind-expanding new flavour, and Louie Knight, Aberystwyth's only Private Detective, receives a visit from a mysterious stranger called Raspiwtin asking him to track down a dead man. Twenty-five years ago Iestyn Probert was hanged for his part in the notorious raid on the Coliseum cinema, but shortly afterwards he was seen, apparently alive and well, boarding a bus to Aberaeron. Did he miraculously evade the hangman's noose? Or could there really be substance to the rumours that he was resuscitated by aliens? Now, as strange lights are spotted in the sky above Aberystwyth and a farmer claims to have had a close encounter with a lustful extraterrestrial, Iestyn Probert has been sighted once again. But what does Raspiwtin want with him? And why does Louie's investigation arouse unwelcome interest from a shadowy government body and a dark-suited man in a black 1947 Buick?
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have read all the Louie Knight mysteries, but I don't think I have laughed so much as I did during the first half of this latest story of Aberystwyth.
As in his other books, Pryce's pastiche of the stereotypic world-weary gumshoe is spot-on, and the way he intertwines it with people and places in his Welsh "parallel universe", where the everyday or quaint are steeped in intrigue, is utterly brilliant.
That aside, Pryce is an extremely accomplished wordsmith, and his writing is filled with wonderful images, metaphors, and philosophical insight.
This book is by turns hilarious, moving, deep, and once more hilarious. If you have a pulse, and a sense of humour, you will love this book.
As in his other books, Pryce's pastiche of the stereotypic world-weary gumshoe is spot-on, and the way he intertwines it with people and places in his Welsh "parallel universe", where the everyday or quaint are steeped in intrigue, is utterly brilliant.
That aside, Pryce is an extremely accomplished wordsmith, and his writing is filled with wonderful images, metaphors, and philosophical insight.
This book is by turns hilarious, moving, deep, and once more hilarious. If you have a pulse, and a sense of humour, you will love this book.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I love a story that is completely different to the myriad of books out there, so when I was recommended this title by staff at Bloomsbury I thought that it would be worth a shot if only to see what the only PI in Aberystwyth had to offer. The story is quirky, the lead character, Louie Knight even more so and all in a tale so fantastical and unlikely that it should have been a complete mess, but with so many things that could have been wrong it made something so right and I found myself loving every minute of the book.
Add to this a great sense of pace, cracking dialogue and a smart mouth that keeps the lead character in more trouble than he can really handle which made this such a satisfying read.
Whilst this was the sixth title in the series I didn't feel that I'd missed out to this point and because of that its warm enveloping sense of humour and friendship really won me over. I really will be looking at picking up the other titles by Malcolm when time allows as this little gem really did bring a smile to my face throughout the read. Malcolm really is quirky, humorous with a Noir sense of darkness lurking the edges of his mind. Great stuff.
Add to this a great sense of pace, cracking dialogue and a smart mouth that keeps the lead character in more trouble than he can really handle which made this such a satisfying read.
Whilst this was the sixth title in the series I didn't feel that I'd missed out to this point and because of that its warm enveloping sense of humour and friendship really won me over. I really will be looking at picking up the other titles by Malcolm when time allows as this little gem really did bring a smile to my face throughout the read. Malcolm really is quirky, humorous with a Noir sense of darkness lurking the edges of his mind. Great stuff.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've been eagerly awaiting the latest Louie Knight mystery for several months, and have not been disappointed. Although this book returns all the action to Wales (apart from a brief foray over the border into Shrewsbury when Louie goes on a date with Miaow, a new beauty in a stovepipe hat he meets in a shady nightclub), and a number of characters from earlier volumes reappear (notably Louie's terrifying games teacher, Herod Jenkins), this episode is as wonderfully imaginative as any yet, encompassing elements of 50s sci-fi, reminiscences of the Vatican laundry, and Macbeth - along with plenty of old time religion and local politics done the Aberystwyth way. As ever there are plenty of though provoking musings on the meaning of life.
At times this adventure does descend a little too far towards silliness, but as well as laughs there are some very solid pleasures to be found within its pages. Perhaps more than with any of the previous books in the series, I found myself stopping to reread sentences and paragraphs and admire how beautifully they were crafted. Malcolm Pryce has either a particularly silver pen, or he works much harder than most writers, and there are many delightful changes of pace and mood. If I were given to underlining or highlighting striking passages I think I could find many wonderful quotations from this book on a range of subjects including picnics, rioting, and economics; there are many lines which I am tempted to steal for use in poems. I think this book is at least as likely to appeal to fans of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series as of Discworld (I like the former but not the latter).
Although I have read all the previous episodes, I think a reader new to the delights of Louie Knight could start with this episode without missing too much, though I hope any reader who does that will then want to go back and read the earlier books.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book and the series to readers. Louie Knight desrves to be at least as widely appreciated as Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next, or Alexander McCall Smith's Precious Ramotswe.
At times this adventure does descend a little too far towards silliness, but as well as laughs there are some very solid pleasures to be found within its pages. Perhaps more than with any of the previous books in the series, I found myself stopping to reread sentences and paragraphs and admire how beautifully they were crafted. Malcolm Pryce has either a particularly silver pen, or he works much harder than most writers, and there are many delightful changes of pace and mood. If I were given to underlining or highlighting striking passages I think I could find many wonderful quotations from this book on a range of subjects including picnics, rioting, and economics; there are many lines which I am tempted to steal for use in poems. I think this book is at least as likely to appeal to fans of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series as of Discworld (I like the former but not the latter).
Although I have read all the previous episodes, I think a reader new to the delights of Louie Knight could start with this episode without missing too much, though I hope any reader who does that will then want to go back and read the earlier books.
I wholeheartedly recommend this book and the series to readers. Louie Knight desrves to be at least as widely appreciated as Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next, or Alexander McCall Smith's Precious Ramotswe.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
inventive, clever but overcomplicated
The Day Aberystwyth Stood Still is the sixth book in the Louie Knight series. Pryce has really hit his stride with the series now. Read more
Published 20 days ago by Rob Kitchin
How green was my chalet?
Malcolm Pryce is a subversive genius, clearly in love with Wales and the Noir genre in equal measure. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Zelig
I give up with the Louie Knight series
I have read and own all the Louie Knight series, and they have been going from promising to disappointing to I give up. Read more
Published 4 months ago by J. M. Salinas
Uniquely funny and unexpectedly moving
This is the sixth (and, I have on good authority), the last in the Louie Knight series of detective stories.
The books' premise is surreal. Read more
The books' premise is surreal. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Stephen Hudson
More zany adventures
My husband and I are great fans of Malcolm Pryce's Aberystwyth books and were not disappionted by Louis Knight's lastest adventures. Zany, laugh out loud fantasy. Read more
Published 6 months ago by A. L. Ellis
Louie, Louie, Oh Yeah !!
The further adventures of Louie Knight, Abertswtwyth's only private detective, and his sidekick Calamity continues with a search for Iestyn Probert. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Book Addict
Aber-noir!
I think that these books are fabulous.
The alternate world where Louie Knight is Aberystwyth's only PI is comedic, dark, surreal and hugely enjoyable. Read more
The alternate world where Louie Knight is Aberystwyth's only PI is comedic, dark, surreal and hugely enjoyable. Read more
Published 8 months ago by M. J. Nash
The Aber detective is back.
Louie Knight calls up a chess game of fantastic characters and gritty action ,with many of his old friends and also some new faces . Read more
Published 8 months ago by Wallis
You don't have to be Welsh to like this..but it helps
As someone who is Welsh but has lived most of his life in England I was drawn to this series of novels a few years ago simply because of the 'Welshness' and have been hooked ever... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Soundcheck Phil
The best one yet
I thought that the Aberystwyth series would be a one joke idea that would run out of steam after a while - but no, they just keep getting better and better. Read more
Published 8 months ago by David Arturovitch
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