Spanking Watson [Paperback]

The plot is minimal, but the book's strength lies in it's characterisation. It's well written, funny (especially the little Holmes story on the acknowledgments page) and a very good read. It's offbeat to the extent that the track has disappeared entirely, but ultimately satisfying even if the conclusion seems to be incredibly quick.

Winnie Katz still lives upstairs, and continues to run her lesbian dance classes. While this has never caused Kinky any serious problem before, it's been the cause of a slight inconvenience now : the constant pounding on Winnie's floor has left a rather large hole in the Kinkster's roof. Rambam, a genuine PI and Village Irregular, has arranged for two repairmen to help out - Vinnie and Gepetto, known "associates" of Joe the Hyena. Kinky had received his espresso machine several years earlier from Joe, a token of thanks for rescuing his daughter from a mugger. Vinnie and Gepetto, admiring the machine, tell Kinky there's only one problem : Joe doesn't have a daughter. Obviously, Kinky's curious - but Joe is, of course, the sort of Italian "businessman" you don't get curious about.

On a lonely Friday night, in an anger encouraged by several generous helpings of Jameson's Whiskey, Kinky writes a series of threatening letters to Winnie - never, of course,with any intention of delivering them, never mind acting on them. When Ratso catches sight of them the next day, Kinky decides to put them to good use. He would provide each of the Village Irregulars with a copy of a note, and ask for their help - while asking them to keep their investigations secret from the other members of the gang. The Irregular who successfully solved the "case" would officially become "Watson" to Kinky's "Sherlock". Of course, this plan would have the added bonus of disrupting not only Winnie's life and dance classes.

"Spanking Watson" has much in common with the other books by Kinky I've read. Not an entirely serious 'whodunit', it is a fast moving and easily read book. The story, I felt, is much better than his earlier books, and he still delivers his one-liners. While his quips won't be to everyone's tastes, it was a book I thoroughly enjoyed.

Kinky decides to strike back at his foe. His devious plan begins with a fake threatening note that he shows to several of his buddies, the Village Irregulars. He cons each of them to play "Watson" to his "Holmes" and infiltrate Winnie's apartment to irritate her. They even bug Winnie's place, but that disturbs Kinky because he overhears a male threatening to harm her. It is one thing for the Kinkster to threaten the woman with bodily harm, but unacceptable for anyone else. Kinky worries that his game has turned deadly and he might need to intercede.

SPANKING WATSON is the type of novel that readers will either totally love or absolutely trash. No one will remain neutral, which shows the talent of Kinky Friedman to make his audience react. Kinky the character remains irreverent as readers will consider his outlook either very droll or very sick similar to the reactions the audience had to the late Lenny Bruce. Watching Kinky pull his best Tom Sawyer on his friends is definitely entertaining regardless of taste. Fans of the series will take great pleasure with the return of the Kinkster.

Harriet Klausner