On the HahaFiction shelf
Inspector Hobbes and the Blood
Unhuman · Book 1 · 2013
Andy Caplet is an inept reporter assigned to follow Inspector Hobbes through a Cotswold crime wave. Sharing the detective’s lodgings brings Andy closer to a man whose abilities suggest something beyond human, and leaves him poorly equipped to explain what he sees.
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What makes it funny?
Hobbes’s housekeeper, Mrs Goodfellow, can frighten Andy simply by appearing without warning. A License to Quill’s reviewer singles out her calm response to horrors and her elaborate meals: Andy’s alarm does little to disrupt the housekeeping.
The comedy at work
Andy tells the story through his own shortcomings. Around him, people meet supernatural trouble with practical habits, so his confusion and complaints become part of the joke.
Try this if…
A supernatural police mystery with a hapless narrator may appeal if you like macabre jokes in a domestic setting. Book-group readers recommend the title and series in funny-detective discussions; one also singles out the audio editions for praise.
Good to know
Murder, suicide and supernatural violence feature in the story. A License to Quill’s reviewer enjoyed the dark wit but found Andy’s complaining and the crowded sentences wearing, reservations worth weighing if narrator voice strongly affects your enjoyment.
A few distinguishing details
- The reporter following Hobbes also has to live with him.
More funny private eye & detective
Sources & further reading
- Reader discussion
Reader discussion
- A License to Quill review
Review
- Google Books edition
Book information
- Bibliographic listing
Book information
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