What a fantastic read! Being a big fan of Terry Pratchett's humour and Ben Aaronovitch's 'PC Grant' series, I am thrilled to have found this new Unhuman series. Obviously, I'm late to the party as Book 4 is the first one I had heard of or read but I will definitely be going back to read the previous three. The titular Inspector Hobbes is mysterious and unflappingly heroic and he (?) is, well sort of, capably supported by Andy, who gets more book time than the lead but is well worth it. Full of witty one liners and laugh out loud imagery and story lines, I can't wait to read the first three, and hope there will be a fifth really soon.

A thoroughly enjoyable read! Hobbes and Andy remind me of Hercule Poroit and Hastings, with Andy being much more incompetent. However, he often attempts to be heroic, ignoring his inner voice urging him to be cautious, which makes me like him even more. This is the fourth entry in this series, and I read it without reading any of the previous ones. Although I think it would be preferable to read them in sequence, and I intend to read the others, I found that I could follow along in this book without feeling that I had missed too much background.

The mystery was interesting, and the characters fun. I will definitely be reading more of this series.

I was provided this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh deary, deary me, I've gone against everything I believe in. The Order of Which One Should Read a Series.

'Call me an ambulance'. 'You're an ambulance'.

Inspector Hobbes and the Bones is book 4, and I never start off in the middle of a series, let alone at the end of one. (Although, I'd hope that Wilkie Martin is penning another!)

Anyway, seeing this on NetGalley, (albeit, last year, me bad, sorry NG, I'm on it) I have to own up, it was the cover that inially intrigued me. The artwork was zingy and eye~catching, the blurb sounded like an easy~going, light read, and daft humour tickles me pink if the mood takes, and this is exactly what I fancied this week.

I'm not a Cozy Mysteries kinda girl, and I don't really do Fantasy either, but this is a Cozy Crazy Crime Fantasy Comedy Mystery (CCCFCM for short) which just kept me entertained from start to finish.

It was extremely British, with puns galore, slapstick~style action, and dog characters!! Yes dogs!! Well, there are humans and the.....ummm, unhumans as well. But my favourite characters were definitely Dregs and Mimi. To see an animal relationship blossom is something I've never read about before and it was so lovely. And very funny.

The characters and place names!!! From pubs, to shops and street names, I sighed, whispered 'oh dear' to myself, and quietly smiled with cheesy, guilty pleasure.

One of the two MC's is Andy Caplet. A hapless, clumsy, wally of a man, who's pretty much outta luck all the time it seems. And, of course, Hobbes, a police Inspector of questionable age and ethics, whose character I'd like to know more about. He has strange abilities and strength. I, for one cannot drink scalding hot tea or break a padlock with my bare hands. Reading book 1 will hopefully give him some background to answer a few of my questions. Who or, what is he?

It was all a bit silly, but the silliness was balanced with a nice little mystery that was cute and clever. Unlike poor Andy.

Every character was superbly written, you do get some funny types in these small English villages, I can tell you. Anyway, I need silly sometimes. There comes a time when reading this stuff suits me just fine.

So, on finishing this, I've learned two things, one, I need to read books 1~3 when my next non~serious urges arrive. And two, crime and dodgy shenanigans can always wait whilst there's a good hearty meal to be had. Who could possibly solve anything on an empty stomach?

Wilkie Martin has my kind of humour, and his style certainly won't be for everyone, but I loved it. A proper bonkers CCCFCM. I'm off to make that a new Goodreads shelf.

I'd like to thank the author, Wilkie Martin, the publisher, The Witcherley Book Company and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This is a lightweight detective mystery with some fantasy characters including the eponymous Inspector Hobbes.
Andy Caplet's wife has gone away for a while and he gets made homeless following a storm. He ends up staying with his friend Inspector Hobbes and gets caught up in an investigation into some bones.
I really struggled with this book. The main problem was the humour. The humour was not clever but rather the book was liberally dotted with puns and slapstick. Andy is very clumsy so we are provided with a very slapstick selection of prat falls and trips with supposedly humourous results. I felt the author tried far too hard to introduce this throughout the book. The puns and corny jokes are prolific at the start which irritated me and left me wanting to give up after approximately three chapters. I did persevere and it did calm down a bit but I never found it funny, merely irritating.
The story itself is basic. In fact there is very little depth throughout the book. The solution all seemed to lie with a selection of fantasy characters about which we are told very little. To be fair, however, this is the first book in the series that I have read so it is possible that these characters were explained in a previous book.
Andy Caplet is a rather stupid and unfunny character. He never seems to have any idea what is going on around him, never does as he is told and shows a distinct disregard for other people. Quite how he is married is beyond me! None of the characters are really explored in depth leaving a rather cardboard plot with cardboard characters.
I couldn't bring myself to give this book two stars - yes it was unfunny and cardboard but not horrendous. However, it is not quite a three star either - more of a 2.5.
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

I was bemused and not amused. A very lightweight unfunny book. I guess if your a fan of the earlier books you'll like this one.
Humour as they say is a funny thing and I'm afraid this did not tickle my funny bone at all. The whimpering Watson to Hobbes's Sherlock was the most irritating character.
The two stars is because whilst the subject was dire the writing was quite good and if I'd enjoyed the genre I would have looked out the other three for light holiday reading.

There’s going to be trouble. Andy Caplet’s wife goes away, someone is out to get him, and he loses nearly everything in a storm. Amazing both himself and his unhuman friend Inspector Hobbes, he heroically rescues flood victims and uncovers something shocking. Is Andy being set up for blackmail by the apparently charming young woman who attempts to seduce him, or is something even more sinister afoot? Hobbes certainly believes so, and he’s getting worried.
Typically I read this book first, which is the second in the series. But it didn’t really matter as explanations were made as the book went along, or should I say raced along as fast as the flood water! What a delicious book, humorous, odd, heart-warming, with a few ghostly/paranormal bits thrown in. A book of typically British humour and an absolute delight!

I really wanted to love this book, and from the description I thought I would. Sadly, that was not the case. You MUST have read the first installment in this series in order to not be totally lost trying to read this one. It starts charmingly enough, with our narrarator Andy having a n altercation with a man he doesn't know for a reason he can't fathom. But even so, we don't learn Andy's name until several pages in. And although he introduces the enigmatic Inspector Hobbes and his surreal housekeeper, Mrs Goodfellow, almost immediately, we learn nothing about their history. Andy is constantly alluding to Hobbes extreme age and strength or Mrs Goodfellows prowess with whipping up a meal out of a recently deceased moose, but we are never given an explanation of these facts. And as charming as Andy started out, he quickly devolved into the most annoying thing about this whole book. His constant (and I mean in every fricking sentence) "ummm......" is beyond annoying and his thought process and ensuing actions border on stupid. By the end I was hoping HE was the culprit and would dispatched by Hobbes, never to appear in another book. Sadly , that was not the case.

If you like Sherlock Holmes, you will love Inspector Hobbes. It is similar to Sherlock Holmes but with new, fantastic things.

somehow I just couldn't get into this book. I have tried to read it several times, and find myself floundering half way through the first chapter.

Inspector Hobbes isn’t quite human; that’s not a spoiler. Even readers, like myself, who are new to the series will figure out soon enough that Hobbes is centuries old and more intelligent that we mere humans. Just as Sherlock Holmes has his Dr. John Watson, Hobbes has his Andy Caplet, an accident-prone newspaperman just one notch above imbecile. The novel begins with someone making several attempts on Caplet’s life. When a storm ruins Caplet’s apartment, he moves back in with Hobbes, which leads to even more mayhem.

Inspector Hobbes and the Bones is a light-hearted, humorous cozy. Caplet and the groan-worthy puns and jokes proved annoying at first, as if author Wilkie Martin were trying too hard, but, once Hobbes came on the scene, I really warmed to the novel — much more than I thought I would. If you’re not turned off by the riddles in the Bazooka Bubble Gum, you’ll like this series; if not, definitely steer clear, as Bazooka Joe’s humor can be more sophisticated than Hobbes’ and Caplet’s.

Although Inspector Hobbes and the Bones is the fourth in this series and the first I’ve read, I never felt at a loss. Even readers, like myself, new to the series will do fine.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and The Witcherley Book Company in exchange for an honest review.

A very nice premise, which is why I chose this book, but the execution was poor. There were a lot of plot balls being juggled but none of them went anywhere, the central mystery being lost among them. Andy was cartoonishly bumbling and inept, and his relationship with his wife could not be more unrealistic; even various characters being immortal creatures felt more believable. The writing was plodding and I found that I forcing myself to read the book, until I finally gave up on it.

This is my first Inspector Hobbs book and I loved it. There were several times when I had to stop reading and just laugh. I can't wait to go back and catch up on the past books that I have missed! Thank you, Netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book and introducing me to this hilarious series. And thank you to Wilkie Martin for having such a great sense of humor and imagination.

This is the fourth book in a series of cosy crime mysteries, and unfortunately my first adventure with the unhuman Inspector Hobbes and his friend Andy Caplet.

It's certainly cosy and a light and easy read, but I simply wasn't pulled into the story quite as much as I wanted. For the first quarter of the book I was just turning pages without any real desire to, other than to get to the end. Once you're used to the setting, I think any book in a cosy series can take the scenic route in getting to the point, but this took a little too long for me. The mystery didn't seduce me, what can I say.

It is funny, with several laugh-out-loud moments, and the characters are well-drawn. I did enjoy the writing, so I'll come back, but to book number one next time.

Very fresh read. Great story, original and memorable. This author will do well

‘I was grateful for having been born human’
There’s going to be trouble. Andy Caplet’s wife goes away, someone is out to get him, and he loses nearly everything in a storm. Amazing both himself and his unhuman friend Inspector Hobbes, he heroically rescues flood victims and uncovers something shocking.

Is Andy being set up for blackmail by the apparently charming young woman who attempts to seduce him, or is something even more sinister afoot? Hobbes certainly believes so, and he’s getting worried.

This is the fourth in Wilkie Martin’s unhuman series of standalone cozy comedy crime fantasies.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I had never heard of this writer before. As I am very keen to discover both writers I've never come across before and new talent, I was really interested in this book.

The characters are ever so slightly strange at first, especially if this is the first book of the series that you have read. The people in the story are all very eccentric. I was particularly fond of Billy the ninja dwarf. He was great.

It was a little bit hard to wrap my head around the character and place/street names at first. However, the more I realised that that was all a part of the story's central themes of difference and eccentricity.

The story line was good and there were several plot twists and turns. It was also rather comical in places. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised. An excellent story.

A four out of five star read.

I am profoundly grateful to NetGalley and The Witcherley book company for my copy.

The fourth book in the series and as funny, unique and satisfying as it's predecessors.

You do not need to have read the first three, although like most good series it helps engage with the characters.

Be prepared to suspend expectations of reality and go with the flow as it is well worth it.

This is a really different & exciting read. Great storyline with a perfect blend of humour and mystery. 100% recommended, totally loved it & in a class of it's own - fabulous!

It is a fantasy detective series set in the Cotswolds, narrated in the first person by one Andy Caplet, the victim of "an unfortunate set of calamities" - a food critic and friend of the titles character - inspector Hobbes. There are all the elements of detective fiction - murder, blackmail, quirky characters, natural disasters - all of which add to the mystery. Its a light read.

Not having read any of the books in the series prior to this one, I found it a little hard to follow the premise of an "otherworldly" inspector. I may have to source the first three tomes and come back to this one.

I felt I didn't read to read the previous 2 books to appreciate this rather unusual mystery tale.

Inspector Hobbes is not quite human and thus he and his friend tend to encounter criminals who are also not quite human. The Inspector's long suffering housekeeper knows exactly what to do when he is stumped - hence the bones.

One is never quite certain what the Inspector looks like, but we do know he is very strong and has a strange appetite. He is also very clever and has been a member of the police force for rather too long for a normal person.

In a funny way, I rather enjoyed this book and have debated over what I would rate it. as i am not inclined to read any more of this series I am grading it a 3. A 4 would have meant looking for more to read and I didn't like it quite that much.

I haven't read the earlier books in the series and so I didn't really get the characters or the set up and the constant punning got on my nerves. It's a bit like a supernatural Elsie and Ethelred crossed with Mal Peet's Murdstone Trilogy. I think if you started from the beginning it would be fine.