ODH reviews and Swearing 3

You wait weeks for a ONE DEAD HEN review, then three come at once! Ain't that the way. First up this one from Ray Banks:

Williams is one of those rare comic novelists who manages to be funny. And I'm not talking about that "smile because I recognise the humour in this situation" kind of funny - I'm talking about the "I just spat on someone because I wasn't expecting to laugh" funny. That's difficult to do unless your readership is the kind of person who thinks Lee Nelson is side-splitting.

My son thinks Lee Nelson is a comedy genius, actually. But he's nine. When I was nine I thought the same of Benny Hill. Come to think of it, I still do.

Then there's Luca Veste on his blog Guilty Conscience:

But that's the beauty of the Mangel novels, everything is unexpected. From the casual, accidental violence, to the liberal use of "offensive" (if you're a child) words. It's a fantastic example of quality storytelling.

And that is a fantastic example of book reviewing, if you ask me.

Last, but not least (does anyone ever say "Last, and very much least..."? Surely the last item in a list is sometimes the least? Not that I'm saying this one is) comes Keith B Walters on his blog Books and Writers:

It’s a crime novel, but it’s a hell of a lot more than that and I loved the voice in ONE DEAD HEN and will be sure to be tracking down the earlier Royston Blake books very soon.

I heartily applaud that intention.

And if you read my recent couple of posts about Swearing, you will understand how much I dig this Amazon review.

Many thanks to Ray, Luca, Keith and Sid.