Book Review: Inspector Hobbes and the Curse

Inspector Hobbes and the Curse by Wilkie Martin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, you love Sherlock Holmes and John Watson’s adventures, but you think there’s not enough, oh, you know, otherworldly monster-ish qualities about Holmes, and you wish Watson could be more of a bumbling idiot?

Wilkie Martin’s sorted that out for you. The adventures of Inspector Hobbes and his hapless companion Andy take place in the Cotswolds, and who doesn’t love that setting? No one I want to know.

If you still need a little something more to convince you… let me throw a few puns in your direction. These books are absolutely stuffed to the gills with clever wordplay. Sheer bliss, if you ask me.

‘Huh!’ I said and, to distract him, pointed towards a pen where some white birds with long beaks were standing round a pond. ‘Are those storks?’ ‘No, they’re Egrets. Egrets, I’ve had a few, but then again too few to mention.’

And yes, I sang that one out loud.

According to the article, Henry’s shotgun had been found by a tree. For a moment I tried to work out how a tree was capable of finding anything.

And yes, I said that in the tone of Groucho Marx.

You get the idea. This series is full of wit, wordplay, monsters, bumblers, crime, and pun-ishment. Dive in!