Roger Lecarre is a great character, he is identifiable with people he has normal problems and does normal day to day life.
Robert has a mission and he wants to combat the crime starting with Devon and Cornwall and the Mayor wants to shake things up.
Things look bright but then a body shows up.......
This book was so good I have read it twice. i can not wait to see where Robert will end up next and how his character will grow.

Saying that you need to be in on the joke for this one is an understatement. But when you are in on the joke? Oh-ho brother, you are in for the most blindingly brilliant crime story you have ever had the pleasure of your eyeballs experiencing.

Roger Lecarre is serious about ridding Exeter from the scourge of crime. And boy, does he..(Does he?)

There were many points in this book where I genuinely had to put it down so I could get my breath back from laughing. I loved Fergus Craig's videos on this character, and worried how it would translate into a book, but he has managed it beautifully.

I found this a really, really funny book. It's a type of humour that might not work for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's the clever, flat, deadpan humour of BBC quiz shows - think Lee Mack on Would I Lie to You - so if that's your thing, you'll enjoy Once Upon a Crime.

It's a spoof, a parody, a laugh... and it works. From page one right to the end. I found myself giggling through it and boring other people by reading out the funniest bits. What more can you ask for in a funny book?

Apart from the humour, it's also well written, well paced and engaging. Honestly, I can't find a thing wrong to say about it.

Now I'm off to find out what else Fergus Craig has written. He's got a new fan...

A Man With A Mission…
Detective Roger LeCarre is a man with a mission. To extinguish crime. For good. He starts his mission in Devon and Cornwall and intends to work out from there. It will take time, of course. His painting must be considered. A witty spoof take on a crime novel with plenty of laughs to be had and littered with bonkers situations. Rather joyous and a big dollop of escapism.

I was expecting a humorous mystery and this is a spoof of a hard boiled mystery. It' humorous, it made me laugh but it's too long and I think it would work better in audiobook.
The main character is quite old fashioned, seems he's channeling the average police detective from the 70s.
I laughed but I also found it a bit boring as the plot was quite thin and not much of a mystery.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is exactly the book that the Amazon "look inside" feature was made for. It is going to be a controversial book - a marmite book. You're either going to love the humour and sheer tongue in cheek bonkersness of it, or you are going to hate it. Me, I loved it - I know, the star rating gave that away already, but I can also see how others are going to get annoyed, irked, and, well, probably throw it at the wall! Its a spoof by the way, so please don't take it too seriously...
So, Exeter is set to become crowned UK Capital of Culture. An accolade that the Mayor is only too excited to receive. Problem is, there's a dead body to sort out first. A crime that needs sorted in only a couple days, needs done and dusted before the presentation of the award. Enter Det Roger LeCarry, stalwart of the Devon & Cornwall Police force. But he is distracted by important things in his own personal life. Time is running out to change his energy provider... And then there's his fresh-out-of-uni new partner to get to grips with.
Both within the crime and outwith it, this book is bonkers from start to finish. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a bit of a champion for the bonkers genre. The crime is ably (?) investigated and brought to a rather satisfying conclusion and the "other stuff", the shenanigans kept me amused along the way. Oh and some of the character names....
My favourite bit was the mash up of America sports. I nearly wet myself at that point. Read it out to my brother and he keeled over too... But I appreciate that that part is a classic example of how this book will work for some and not others. Unless you are familiar with US sports, it'll just go over your head. But, on the flip side, I'm not a know it all, so there are probably loads of things I missed along the way so I guess you don't have to "get" it all to get along with this book.
On the flip side, I did find the product placement stuff to be probably a little over the line and it did start to annoy me, not quite enough to give up, but nearly.
It's not the longest of reads but it does the job nicely. Yes it's a bit repetitive in places but it's quirky and doesn't take itself too seriously. It is a light read (unless it annoys the heck outta you, of course) and you don't need to have your brain to hand. In fact, it's probably best if you check it at the entrance...
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is a police procedural set in the present but with a chief protagonist (and his colleagues and the criminals) channelling the 1970s (that is fifty years ago, Wilson versus Heath, the three day week, Winter of Discontent, “The Sweeney”). Did you see what I did there? That comedic parenthetical insertion is the sort of thing that takes up huge chunks of this novel. Speaking of insertions, the main difference between our leading man and Jack Regan (of “The Sweeney” v.s.) is that Jack got much less sex.
Detective Inspector Roger LeCarre (who prefers to just be called Detective because it sounds more American) is based in Exeter, as part of the Devon and Cornwall police force. He’s a quiz fanatic, lover of Real Ale, and focussed on crime solving no matter how trivial. Drop a sweet wrapper and he’ll have you in the slammer before the first sugar molecule hits the first taste bud. So focussed on crime and his superhuman capacity for dealing with it is he, that he ignores everything else. For example his wife, is a highly paid professional but he is unaware of any details of her life outside of his bed. Trivia, unless it is pub quiz related, passes him by; for example, he doesn’t know the motto of the city despite it being on his badge and every piece of official paper he sees.
His preferred crime is Murder, of course, and this tale starts with a body being found in the centre of Exeter. The corpus is that of a young drug dealer stabbed with a long bladed weapon. The spot on which he died is covered by two CCTV cameras, both pointed away during the crucial two minutes surrounding the time of death (Forensics are amazingly skilled in this town). Assembling a long list of suspects (basically everyone we have met in the story so far from the Mayor to the Drugs Overlord) he sets off to catch the killer using the basic strategy of charging in and accusing.
The author is a comedian and, as I hope I’ve demonstrated, this story is amusingly written, although the style grates quite quickly. As a crime story it won’t challenge any reader with any experience of the genre.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

Detective Roger LeCarre: a man on a quest to rid the world of crime (starting with Devon and Cornwall and then working outwards) so he can concentrate on his watercolours.

LeCarre runs 10km a day but probably burns more calories shaking his head at what has become of his city. Now Exeter is set to become the UK Capital of Culture and the ambitious Lord Mayor wants to turn things around. But when a young man's (dead) body is found in the centre of town, things get murky.

Detective Roger LeCarre is a character never seen before in modern fiction - a tough but troubled detective with a drink problem and a marriage in trouble. Can he find out who killed the young man, save the city and change his energy provider before the new more expensive tariff kicks in?
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is an intentionally terrible and therefore amusing novel about the seedy crime world of Exeter and the brave, handsome, hard-drinking, sexually irresistible, brown-brogue-wearing, Kia Ceed-driving detective who is dedicated to cleaning up the mean streets,

I imagined the author as an Alan Partridge-esque character who was writing a self-insert novel about a hero cop and over-explaining everything. He’s very concerned with appearing manly and cool, but has a very 20th century approach, especially with technology.

A fun read for people who like “so bad it’s good” books.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Definitely good fun but whether the joke will run to a series, I am not convinced. I will look out for book 2 and give it a whirl though. Thanks to Netgalley.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group for an advance copy of Once upon a Crime, the first comic crime novel to feature Detective Roger LeCarre set in Exeter.

LeCarre has to investigate the murder of 19 year old Charlie Fade and solve it quickly before it affects the tourist industry.

I am obviously not the target audience for this novel , too old and too female, because I didn’t find it funny and I think I missed many of the references. The novel is full of product placement that I assume is supposed to say something about the characters, but means absolutely nothing to me as I don’t care which phone or car LeCarre has and don’t have the knowledge to know why his choices are funny.

Roger LeCarre is stupid and obnoxious by design and it’s laid on with a trowel. I’m sure that this will amuse some readers, but I found him hard going, unsubtle and annoying. Yes, I know it’s a spoof so I don’t expect him to be likeable but a bit of nuance wouldn’t have gone amiss, or is that in the product placement I didn’t get?

So I didn’t get the humour. I also didn’t like all the over explanations, which seem to assume that the reader knows nothing. To be honest I think the whole novel is glib and condescending in tone. Fortunately it’s a short journey.

I’m sure there are plenty of fans out there who will lap this up, unfortunately I’m not one of them.

Thank you to the author, publishers Little, Brown and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.

A spoof crime novel with Exeter’s greatest living detective.

Detective Inspector Roger LeCarre is a man on a mission - to rid the streets of Exeter of crime, enjoy a nice calzone with his wife at their favourite Italian eatery, and enjoy being a man.

Yes, he has the misfortune of having lost three partners who were all killed in the line of duty, but that’s just the risk you have to take working for the Devon and Cornwall police force.

In case it isn’t obvious from the description above there is no part of this book that should be taken seriously. This is very much a spoof of a very old-fashioned kind of detective novel. Like The Police Squad in book form. In fact I could see Leslie Nielsen playing the main character of Roger LeCarre very well in his heyday.

It’s well written in the sense that the tone of voice remains consistent throughout. The joke is maintained and isn’t let down by any inconsistent moments. But, for me it just went on too long. The book is only around 270 pages, so I was able to read it within a couple of hours. However, the joke wore thin long before the book was done. For me this kind of humour works best when backed with visuals. A TV version of this would be something I might watch. Punchy little 30 minute episodes with visual gags to break up the relentless narrative voice. In book form it’s just not for me.

Review will be published on 5 October 2021 at:
https://liseysreads.wordpress.com/
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This is by far the funniest and most tongue in cheek book I have read in 2021. We’re in Exeter where our protagonist – and would-be crime fighting hero Detective Roger LeCarre – is determined to rid the city and its environs of the bad guys. As the city is to become the UK Capital of Culture, there’s a real need to turn the location from East Devon’s capital of crime into something positive and welcoming. But there’s a small matter of the body of a young man found in the centre of the town. Roger is quick to get involved, but he’s got other issues too. A drink problem, marital issues (as much on his side as his wife’s) and having to deal with the consequences of his often hot headed actions. Also, he has to solve the crime(s) AND find a new energy provider, a bit like a modern day socially responsible Cinderella. I laughed out louds at parts of this book and would urge anyone with a taste for funny crime fiction to dive in.

Fergus Craig is a genius!

Before I start my review of Once Upon a Crime, I would like to reiterate that this book is a spoof. The synopsis clearly states this, yet reviewers are leaving poor feedback based on the storyline, product placement and arrogance of our lead character, Roger. Please, if you are not familiar with the author or the background to this book, please check out Fergus Craig on Twitter or YouTube.

I discovered Fergus Craig on Twitter a couple of years ago. His ‘Marcus’ Dad’ character, Martin Fishback, is hilarious and kept us entertained throughout lockdown last year.

So…Martin Fishback is a strange man. I won’t go into detail, but recommend viewing the videos to understand his personality as this is the backbone to the story. He wrote the Roger Le Carre character with all the oddities - the very unsexy steamy scenes, the innapropriate product placement, the unnecessary detail about elements within the story and the tantalising specification of his Kia Ceed.

Once Upon a Crime is brilliant. I can hear Fergus Craig (Martin Fishback) reading this in my head. So funny, so accurate to the Twitter character videos. I loved it.

Roger Le Carre is a legend - a very dated, sexist, annoying, narrow minded, unfunny, unsexy, arrogant misogynist legend!! This is testament to the excellent writing by Fergus Craig. It must have been so challenging to write a book whilst in character.

This book does not deserve the low rating received from other reviewers so far who have not familiarised themselves with the background of the book and character.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review 📚

Once Upon a Crime is a comic novel taking on all the detective tropes and running with them. Detective Lacarre has one purpose in life and that is to clean up crime, specifically crime in Devon and Cornwall, nothing and no one will get in his way.
This is a fairly short book and I found it enjoyable for what it was. I did feel like it was a bit of a one joke pony but I liked that one joke so it was ok. He did however managed to have sex with four women in less than 300 pages and they all felt icky. I could have done with out that. Very silly but quite fun.

Detective Inspector Roger LeCarre of the Devon and Cornwall police. He’s an old school cop, doesn’t follow the rules, drinks too much, has a wife and questionable view of monogamy and is married to the force. Paired with a new partner, a fresh-out-of-university graduate, he must solve a murder.

This is a bit like if Alan Partridge wrote a crime novel, all “masculine teeth”, “handsome ears” and unnecessary details about cars and technology. Whilst it was fun to begin with the joke did wear thin pretty quickly. It might work well as a short novella or as a sketch but personally I found this format overlong.

Detective Roger LeCarre is the best policeman in Exeter - indeed in the South West of England - at least in his opinion. He is a troubled character with a drink problem and a marriage that seems to be going wrong. However he has a murder to solve so other things pale into insignificance for him. Drugs are widely available in Exeter so this could be a drugs related crime. The book follows his investigation and his life at this point in time.

Over the years I have read a number of crime books that are also comedic and generally enjoyed them. I'm from the Westcountry too so this one look as though it might work for me. I confess I very nearly gave up around 20% in. I found this a strange book really. There is little doubt to me that some of the humour would probably be offensive to some people. There was a bizarre amount of "product placement" to me. The brand and spec of his phone and his car and its abilities, the fact that Exeter people loved the food at M&S, his fitbit and the like. His use of Burts Bees Lip Balm was literally off the wall. I don't recall ever reading anything that had such a brand awareness aspect and it did nothing for me.

Maybe it was just me but some aspects didn't feel like that had been well thought through. That LeCarre is intended as an anachronism is fine so at one point he is introduced to Google his partner (!!). Not long after that he heads for his "favourite comparison website" to change his energy contract (& yes we do get told just how much he saves and with who). This struck me as odd.

I guess there is always a fine line to tread using clichéd characters. LeCarre is a clichéd character on steroids really. For me this approach has gone too far in this book. The crime comedy ones that I have read and enjoyed have been crime stories that have had some humour in them. In this one the humour buries the story fairly effectively for me - it is simply too heavy handed with the humour. I'm not really sure who the target audience is here. Crime lovers will be put off by the comedy I think so maybe it's for fans of rather robust humour.

Having seen the countless praise from well known comedians, I went into this expecting a lighthearted, funny, crime novel - Once Upon A Crime is not that

Painfully unfunny and just plain ridiculous in parts.

Another review stated they found themselves skimming through the unecessarily overloaded descriptions of inane matter, hoping that things would improve, but generally, they never did - I wholly agree.

Once Upon a Crime by Fergus Craig.


Any attempt to wrote a novel in the style of Ben Elton should be applauded, especially a humourous one. Throw in a bit of 'The Sweeney' bravado from the seventies, and some Alan Partridge style dialogue, and surely you have a craking read? Except, you don't.

'The Thin Blue Line' this is not. Neither is it rude and sexist yet 'funny', in the way that Ricky Gervais seems to (usually) get away with.

Within just a few pages, I found myself skimming through the unecessarily overloaded descriptions of inane matter, hoping that things would improve, but generally, they never did.

Basing the novel in a real city, and filling it with known personalities , for me seems to be treading on dangerous ground. Of course this is a deliberate ploy by the author, buy it doesn't seem to work or add anything that creates a more enjoyable read.

Im not an especially quick reader, but on this occasion I surpassed myself.

First and foremost this is a comedy book that happens to involve crime not a crime novel with a comedic twist ( such as Richard Osman, Ian Moore, Robert Thorogood). Not knowing the comedy work of Fergus Craig, this was unchartered territory. So was it funny… in many ways, the book felt like a written version of comedy tv series ( I could imagine the BBC3 or sky version) . Yes, there were some very funny one liners. The key protagonist Roger Lecarre seemed like a stereotype from a 70s tv show - no understanding of modern systems, a one man crime crusader and bordering on offensive ( angry at his wife for having an affair but it was ok for him to have sex when he wanted) and somehow at 45 he seemed too young to have these attributes.The plot based in Exeter and drug culture ( even including a surreal trip to New York) had to be taken with a pinch of salt as it was to tricky to see who the guilty person was .The inclusion of Josh Widdicome as a character seemed a bit too matey and a joke within the comedy circle. I’m not sure who would be the demographic for this book … but if you want a comedy read about murder and drug wars in the dark streets of Exeter then this might be for you