Something Nasty in the Woodshed: A Charlie Mortdecai Mystery (Charlie Mortdecai Mysteries) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This third installment of the scintillating British mystery series originally published in the U.K. in the 1970s finds shady art dealer Charlie Mortdecai, randy wife Johanna and butler Jock, a "one-eyed, one-fanged" ex-convict, sojourning on the isle of Jersey. The setting provides many targets—drunken peasants, rich tourists, quaint French customs, unintelligible patois—for Charlie's jaundiced drolleries. His omnidirectional disdain is intruded upon by a string of brutal rapes, with Satanic ritual overtones, that victimize his neighbors and embroil him in a farcical investigation featuring fruitless stakeouts and a Black Mass. Through it all, Charlie keeps his priorities straight: avoiding personal danger and inconvenience and ensuring that the flow of food and alcohol is never interrupted. Bonfiglioli's comic invention and lacerating, politically incorrect humor are in brilliant form, but they take on a somewhat rancid edge in this outing. Unlike the innocuous art thievery that figured in Don't Point That Thing at Me, Bonfiglioli's first volume, serial rape is the wrong background for the facetiousness and light misogyny that characterizes Charlie's satirical voice. Weighed down by this dissonance, the laughs finally falter and the story ends on a dark note of trauma and suicide. Fans of Charlie's dissolute charm and outrageous wit will find it, but some readers may decide that certain crimes just aren't funny. (July 5)
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From Booklist

Straight from the era of joke cocktail napkins, this 1972 Brit-farce mystery marks the end of a trilogy featuring "degenerate aristocrat" Charlie Mortdecai. Positive notices generated by last year's first American publication of his debut, Don't Point That Thing at Me, suggest the shady art dealer and sunny wit remains a cherished favorite of knowing diehards, some of whom compare the late Bonfiglioli favorably to Wodehouse. But this outing, at least, which finds Mortdecai having a jolly time tracking down a masked serial rapist near his home on Jersey with the assistance of lusty wife Johanna and insolent manservant Jock Strapp (whee!), hasn't quite aged like fine cheese. And yet, this reprobate's rapier running commentary on all things debauched, debased, and dunderheaded is not without its aggressively tasteless charms. Anyone who fails to suppress a smile at arch zingers such as "Never let a day go by without making an enemy, is what I say, even if it's only a woman" might find Mortdecai a boon companion all the way through to the mystery's surprisingly dark and sober resolution. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 174 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Press (July 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585675644
• ISBN-13: 978-1585675647
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #522,813 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A deceptively light hearted examination of trust&betryal, March 20, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Something Nasty in the Woodshed (Library of Crime Classics Series) (Paperback)

by R.W.Fisher Don't be fooled by Kyril Bonfiglioli's light hearted narrative style. This novel is actually a look at betrayed trust in human personal and societal relationships which are examined by neatly and subtly weaving in religion and superstition. An ostensible parody of the English Satanic thriller, SOMETHING NASTY IN THE WOODSHED has an ending more horrible and soul upsetting than any gothic confection. This is a wonderful satire by a person who knows how to use language for maximum humourous effect. One doesn't realize until after a second reading just how deep beneath surface mores Bonfiglioli has gone.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars bloody fantastic, August 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Something Nasty in the Woodshed (Hardcover)

Why Kyril Bonfiglioli is not regarded as one of our best novelists is unbeleivalbe.I can only put it down to lack of exposure.The man can make you laugh and cry on the same page.I cannot reccomend him highly enough...... Everybody must read the Mordecai books NOW

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bonfiglioli is an original, April 24, 2006

By	D. Rahmel "Dan Rahmel" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The third book in the Mortdecai trilogy doesn't disappoint. This book captures the originality of the first book and improves on the polish of the second. The book opens with a tour-guide style listing of the surroundings of Mortdecai's current environs (The Islands, The People, The Fauna, The Flora, etc.) before launching into a bizarre tale of rape, mysticism, and, of course, C. Mortdecai's appetites.

In these novels, the plot isn't centrally important - it's the journey that counts. The standard cast of characters is here and Charlie seems to have settled into the contentment of married life. As in the first book of the series, the ending sees Bonfiglioli mercilessly hammer his characters and they all sport mental or physical wounds of varying severity. For my taste, this adds to the story with the bittersweet ending giving the characters depth not often seen in a light hearted romp.

I wish Bonfiglioli had written much more.