Rymin Symin

I like Richard Osman. On TV and radio he’s knowledgeable, witty, erudite, amusing and well-spoken. Thus, when I heard about this murder mystery book I was keen to read it. But the mystery is where exactly the hilarity is hidden given that the plaudits on the back cover include “so VERY funny” and “laugh-out-loud funny” and “I laughed my arse off.” Wry grins yes, LOLs no. I didn’t get it - it must be me. The funniest line is inside the back cover beneath Richard’s picture where somebody, maybe he, writes “ . . [this] is his first and, so far, best novel.” Ha ha. TTMC is well written in an uncomplicated even simplistic style, the 377 pages split into 115 chapters. 115? Well yes, some only a page or half a page long. This makes it easy to dip in and out if you have a short attention span or are a child or like me, reading it in bed after a long day. I was somewhat peeved to discover at the denouement that the motive for the murders involved hitherto unmentioned characters prompting me to go back and re- read bits to see if I’d missed something, which left me feeling disappointed. And it’s about a hundred pages too long. I’m presently working my way through Elmore Leonard’s entire oeuvre from Arizona cowboys to 20C small-time crooks; now there’s a storyteller with plot, humour, realism and closure. Just saying not comparing - or am I? I won’t dismiss Osman’s tale, far from it, it’s adequate, interesting and amusing, make up your own minds. But if you do laugh out loud at any point please let me know where. Thank you.