A Shot in the Dark

By: Lynne Truss

Narrated by: Matt Green

After the notorious 'Middle Street Massacre' of 1951, when the majority of Brighton's criminals wiped one another out in a vicious battle as the local police force enjoyed a brief stop en route for an ice cream, Inspector Steine rather enjoys life as a policeman.

No criminals, no crime, no stress.

He just wishes Sergeant Brunswick would stop insisting that perhaps not every criminal was wiped out that fateful day. So it's really rather annoying when an ambitious - not to mention irritating - new Constable shows up to work and starts investigating a series of burglaries. And it's even more annoying when, after Constable Twitten is dispatched to the theatre for the night, he sits next to a vicious theatre critic who is promptly shot dead partway through the opening night of a new play. It seems Brighton may be in need of a police force after all....

©2018 Lynne Truss (P)2018 W.F. Howes Ltd

Funny, funny funny!

Loved it, actually laughed out loud. Can't wait to listen to the rest of them.

It was ok?

It was kind of silly? It made it difficult to enjoy even the humor because it moved into the ridiculous as far as plots go. There were some parts I really enjoyed but overall I just felt a lot of “I don’t care” which is never a good sign with a book. I can’t decide if I will read the next book in the series or not.

Funny and Brilliant

If you like your mysteries absolutely madcap and completely hilarious, then this is exactly the book you want. I was screaming with laughter throughout, and the mystery is genuinely surprising, too.

A somewhat fun send-up of police procedurals

I think Lynne Truss is a very good writer, and loved "Life at Absolute Zero" and "Eats, Shoots and Leaves." But she clearly had her tongue firmly lodged in her cheek when writing this one... it takes the tropes of the conventional "police procedural" murder mystery and takes them to absurd extremes just for fun (the moronic Chief Inspector who takes all the credit, the much smarter constable who is always showing him up behind the scenes, the unlikely villains, the well-placed coincidences, etc.). It is fun in its own way, but it's a bit like a bad pun -- the appropriate response seems to be a groan, rather than a laugh. I do have to say the killer's solution to "disempower" Constable Twitten at the end is very clever ('nuff said, no spoilers).

I'm guessing the others in the series are along the same lines. I'll probably try one or two, but chances are I'll get tired of the leg-pulling after a while.

Mediocre, won't continue series

I bought this one on sale, figuring I'd give a try to this series. It's contrived and drawn out. I know it's supposed to be humorous, and I did find some of it witty, but not enough to justify the book. If it were returnable, I probably would have, because there are enough great series that I enjoy and are so far better. So I won't be continuing this series. The narrator is good, and would be appreciated with a better story.

Save your credit or your money!

Agonizingly dull and flat! The end doesn't come soon enough. This is one to avoid.