Another winner by Mr. Watson, his books never disappoint. A very enjoyable read. Definitely recommend it! I need more!

One Man's Meat is the 9th Flaxborough mystery by Colin Watson. Originally released in 1977 as It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog , this reformat/re-release is 194 pages from Farrago Press and is available in ebook and paperback formats.

It's been a lot of fun to revisit these silver age English procedurals and this one in particular is a joy. The general naughtiness level is less than most of the others in the series (with the exception of implied nudity/sex) but the wit and double entendres abound. This outing for Inspector Purbright and co. sees them up against murder and double crosses galore along with industrial espionage. Miss Teatime features prominently in this volume and she's delightful as always.

I enjoyed the plotting and spareness of the prose. It's only 194 pages, so a quick read. Watson is incredibly adept at providing clues in the narrative without beating one over the head with them. Nothing goes to waste in his writing and I could only shake my head in wondering admiration of the way he ties everything together at the end. Brilliant.

This is definitely my favorite book in the series. Wonderful writing. I think Watson compares quite favorably with Maugham, if a bit more cheeky and given to sly *nudge* *wink* in-jokes occasionally.

Five stars, well worth chasing down for a smile and a pleasurable reading interlude.

This was an odd story. I did not get where the story was leading itself till it was all explained and things clicked into place. Ms Teatime continues to make her strange presence felt. The premise is simple, there are two warring dog food manufacturers and a very odd accident at the local fair. One of the higher-ups of one company is trying to become free man to marry another woman and his wife decides to play a game of her own. What she doesn't know, in this case will come back to hurt her. Inspector Purbright has less to do with this one apart from mediating random interviews. I really enjoyed the humour in some of the other books of the series and did not find the same quality in this one. I do intend to read the next books all the same.

Two more fabulous British mysteries in the #Flaxborough series.

Originally published in the 1960s and 70s, the Flaxborough Series by Colin Watson are traditional British mysteries at their finest. Watson used satire and a biting sense of humor to captivate readers across the globe. Thankfully, Farrago Books has reprinted these classics and made them available as e-books as well so that a new generation of readers can enjoy Watson's tales of hilarity and skullduggery.

In One Man's Meat, DI Purbright is back, this time investigating the strange case of a young man who has died while on a carnival ride. While this may seem like a simple, straight forward accident, nothing ever is simple or straight-forward in Flaxborough. Ever. As Purbright soon discovers, murder is afoot along with corporate espionage, "professional correspondents" and tainted dog food. For those of you who might equate "professional correspondents" with modern-day journalists - think again. A "professional correspondent" is court lingo for the person with whom a spouse has had a liaison. Oh yes, One Man's Meat makes The War of the Roses look like child's play.

Although the bulk of the story is told from the perpetrator's perspective, all of the humor and witty repartee are present throughout. This particular book in the series is a bit more difficult to follow, perhaps because of the selected voice used. It is, never-the-less a marvelous classic mystery that readers will enjoy. 

Of all of the Flaxborough series, The Naked Nuns is my least favorite. However, that is like saying that vanilla is my least favorite ice cream - it still is tasty and fun! 

The concern with The Naked Nuns is that the plot is too unbelievable. Okay, most of this series has convoluted plots, but this one is more so. The salvation to the book is that, as always, Watson is an incredibly funny writer which makes reading his books a little like watching the Pink Panther version of Christie's Poirot. Silliness abounds, but it's a worthwhile, fun read just the same. 

If you are a fan of witty, well written, non-violent, no-gore, classic mysteries then I highly recommend both of these books and the rest of the Flaxborough Series as well. 

A huge appreciation to #Netgalley and #Farrago for giving me the pleasure of reading these books!

A young man has fallen out of a carnival ride to his death in the city of Flaxborough. DI Purbright and Sgt. Love are charged with the investigation. While busy with this, the wife of the local dog food manufacturer’s manager goes missing. But her husband thinks she just setting him up to look bad during the divorce proceedings. And then, Miss Teatime is asked for assistance by an old friend who’s in a bit of a muddle with a job he was hired to do by the dog food people and know wants to get out of. When Miss Teatime discovers that dogs have been disappearing from the local shelter you have to wonder what’s to become of Flaxborough. Will Purbright and Love be able to untangle all these knots? You’ll have to get yourself a copy of the book and find out.

You all know how much I have been enjoying this series and this one is no exception. I found this story a little bit different in that much of the story is told from the perspective of those perpetrating the crimes, rather than all from the investigator’s standpoint. The story starts with the riders in the carnival ride shortly before the fall and left me feeling a little off balance right from the start. The drama increase from there and the kidnapping plot gets underway. In the end, Purbright brings the investigation to a mostly satisfying conclusion and Flaxborough returns to its quirky self once again. I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

This book just didn't appeal to me at all. It was really quirky and I found it hard to follow the dialogue. I know part of the problem is that it's based in England. But I have read other books based in the United Kingdom that I've enjoyed and chuckled at some of their expressions.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Cultured conman causes chaos. Purbright and Teatime intervene and peace eventually reigns...but what a 'to do' to get there! As always, great fun and an absolute pleasure to read. Highly, highly recommended.

Love this series! Always a pleasure to visit Flaxborough. The characters are excellent and the writing and dialogue is first rate! I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

The first, and I hope only, Flaxborough mystery that I had to put aside - this one starts off a little too mean-spirited for me and the strange abusiveness between Julia and her husband really, really put me off. I couldn't tell you about the mystery or how these two horrible adults fit into the fair ride death that begins the novel, but I'm sure Mr. Watson stitches them together nicely. A pass for me.

This is another of the well written British police mysteries. I love this series. The quirky characters are such fun and refreshing to read about. Thanks to Farrago and to NetGalley for providing me a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Flaxborough Chronicles continue, this time with a soft focus on Mr. Mortimer Hive, a "professional correspondent" that we met in "Charity Ends at Home". Now you young people might not know what a "professional correspondent" might be except in the context of Rachel Maddow or George Wills. But back in the days before no-fault divorce, a "correspondent" was the title used in court filings as the person with whom someone committed adultery. Mr. Hive seduces women for pay.

Here Mr. Hive is hired to seduce Mrs. Julia Hatton, the wife of a dogfood manufacturer. Mr. Watson does not make this an unsavory episode, Mrs. Hatton is quite happy to be photographed in motorcycle leathers and linked with one of Mr. Hatton's employees more unsavory employees named Digger Tring. She enjoys Mr. Hive's company (he is seductive, after all) and gets a kick out of a supposed plot to accuse her husband of her murder. What neither Mr. Hive or Mrs. Hatton know is that Digger Tring has been bumped off and someone is trying to pin the deed on Mrs. Hatton. They have enlisted the unwitting Mr. Hive to set her up.

The motive for the murder is awfully complicated and revolves around dogfood and a bunch of gangsters going by the name of Cultox Company who have invested heavily in dogfood. So complicated in fact that I almost missed it. Digger Tring was murdered Why? Of course our Detective Inspector Purbright sorts it all out.

This isn't my favorite Flaxborough book. The motive really is too obscure, the dastardly deeds that must be covered up are economically unlikely, and the question about how the murderer is linked to Cultox unanswered. But Hive is an interesting guy. A cad with a conscience. Let's keep watching him.

I received a review copy of "One Man's Meat: Flaxborough Mystery #9" by Colin Watson (Farrago) through NetGalley.com. It was first published by Eyre Methuen in 1977 and reissued by Mandarin in 1991 and Faber & Faber in 2011. An audiobook was released by BBC Audiobooks in 2004.

A really fun book, this was hard to put down. Watson is an excellent wordsmith and I loved how he put sentences together. The wit was wonderfully dry through out the book. The characters were quirky. I was held captive to find out at first how the two "stories" that were presented in alternating chapters could possibly be related. What a delight to see how they were woven together! It was amazing how so much of the story was orchestrated by higher powers. It makes on wonder about "free will."

The only bad thing is that although we learn how the death presented at the beginning was brought about and who was behind it, we never learn the fates of others who were integral to the subplots! I was left hanging as to the status of the divorce, Mr. Rothermere, the Hortons. I felt that there were lose ends, unanswered questions. Will any of them be addressed in Flazborough Chronicals #10? I guess I will have to read it (and all the others in the series) and see!

This is another fine entry in the very witty Flaxborough series. Watson's use of language and double-entendre is classic - the title doesn't mean what you think it means, except maybe it does... As with most in this series, the plot is fun, but read it for the characters. They are all a little bit crazy, without being over the top.

This Flaxborough mystery starts off with a surprise. Where are you? This doesn't seem like our familiar town. It's the start of an intriguing mystery full of dastardly characters and corporate-sponsored misdoings. While the social satire in this volume isn't as strong, it's a complicated plot that kept me guessing.

One Man’s Meat is Gone Girl 60s style!

The ninth Flaxborough mystery was published in 1977 but is set in the “swinging” 60s. Motorcycle gang member Digger Tring falls from a carnival ride 100 feet to his death. Julia Harton’s husband wants a divorce to marry his mistress who is willing to play the waffle game with a tennis racket, butter and her bum. Con man Mr. Rothermer convinces Julia to use the “classic ploy of the vanished wife” to ensure she receives $20,000 in her divorce settlement. Inspector Purbright and Detective Love investigate.

Highly recommended for its dry wit and great mystery. Definitely one of the best in a series that just keeps improving. 4 stars!

Thanks to the publisher, Farrago Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

What can you say about Colin Watson apart that his books are really fabulous, the have a really well written plot that circles around the storyline, they are easy to read and so much fun.. I am so sorry that Colin Watson died so early, I would have loved to read more and more of his books. Love the characters, love the easy way he has of meeting the '60 , saying exactly as it was yet with non offending language. Just magic.

*3.5 stars rounded up.

These old Flaxborough mysteries by Colin Watson from the 1970s are such a hoot! In this ninth book in the series, a young man falls to his death from an amusement park ride. Was it accidental? Or is it tied to something funny going on at the local dog food plant?

The man who runs the plant is a nasty piece of work who wants to divorce his wife for his new little hottie. But hoho, hold on a minute! His wife Julia receives a letter from a firm called Happy Endings which claims they can help her come out ahead in the divorce proceedings. Intrigued, she meets with the man who wrote the letter, one calling himself Mortimer Rothermere, who has a convoluted plan in mind to help her...

These are witty British police procedurals with finely-drawn characters and crazy situations, which of course makes for great reading.

Many thanks to Farrago Books UK for once again providing me with an arc of this mystery via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 9th installment in Colin Watson's gentle crime series set in Flaxborough. Originally published in 1977, this book features Detective Inspector Purbright and Sergeant Love, neither of whom seem to have aged significantly although the series was published over a protracted period.

As with the other books, the focus is more on characters and humour rather than any sense of realistic crime. The book opens with the death of a young man from a local family, Digby Tring, in a fairground accident. What follows is a fairly far-fetched tale of deception and double-crossing, adultery and murder, investigations and...dog food! It's certainly entertaining and kept me reading.

This book could be read as a stand-alone because you don't need any back story to enjoy it; however, for regular Flaxborough visitors, there is the pleasure that is another meeting with Lucilla Teatime, a series favourite.

I'd recommend this series to anyone who likes cosy crime with a humorous slant. It won't change your life or stay with you forever, but there are much worse ways to spend time than in the strange town of Flaxborough.

A young man named Tring is having a fun night at a local fair when for a seemingly unknown reason, he falls to his death from a ride. But his family is having none of it and insist that his death was murder. After the general inquest, DI Purbright isn't sure what to make of it, but he's willing to listen to what Tring's grandmother has to say on the subject...

Julia and David Harton heartily dislike each other and he wants a divorce. Badly. But not enough to part with any of his money, which is why she won't grant him one. Yet she soon receives in the post a very strange letter from a company called "Happy Endings" that professes to offer her just that.

When she meets with the sender - a Mr. Mortimer Rothermere - he merely states that he has been retained by someone who knows of her plight and is willing to offer her a way to achieve her ends - to the tune of ￡20,000. After hearing the details she agrees. She is merely to "disappear" for a time, leaving trace evidence of her husband having done away with her. Then, when he is desperate for her to return, she will - but only if he meets her price...

Somehow these two events are related, but how? And will Purbright be able to connect them, thus solving the disappearance of Mrs. Harton and the death of Mr. Tring? Perhaps...with a little luck, the mild assistance of Miss Lucy Teatime, and the reluctant help of Mr. Rothermere...

While at first this seems to be a tale of the murder of a young man and a plan to convince a husband his wife has been kidnapped, it soon becomes something else entirely. The young man's grandmother goes to Purbright telling him that a picture of her grandson is missing, along with the silver frame it was in - taken by a supposed reporter - and also missing is a small round medal that he had possession of. Who would want either of these items?

Then when Julia Harton agrees to a plan to be "kidnapped" in order to force her husband - who wants a divorce but does not want to give her any kind of financial settlement - to do so, it is soon found out that something very different than what Mrs. Harton had agreed to has been put in place.

But while these two things seem to have nothing in common, it turns out that they most certainly do. And when Miss Lucilla Teatime pays a visit to a friend and discovers that one of her beloved dogs has passed away it only adds to the mystery...

What seems like a couple of forthright cases soon turn into a mystery indeed for Detective Inspector Purbright. Certain things start to come to light, both for him and for the 'grieving' husband who begins to realize that things are starting to go awry; partly because Mr. Rothermere - who has begun to realize that he might have made a terrible mistake - turns to Miss Teatime for help in unraveling himself from the situation.

When Mrs. Harton also begins to realize her role in the matter may not have been as straightforward as she thought, she also wonders how to extricate herself and that is when things start falling into place for Purbright. With plenty of twists and turns, it is delightful indeed to watch everything weave itself into place giving us a nice historical mystery; while those today are indeed much more complicated, this is still a very nice endeavor. Recommended.

My review has been posted to Goodreads.

Review has also been tweeted as usual.

Thank you! :c)