Fun and fluffy. I was enticed by the weird title, which I guess is a reference to something but I don't know what (it's never explained in the novel). I didn't know this was a series and haven't read any of the others, but this seemed to work fine as a standalone.

It's narrated in alternating points of view between a boring, failing historical crime novelist, Ethelred, and his agent Elsie. I can only hope that their characters are a bit more fleshed out in the previous books, because in this one about 90% of Elsie's character was just "likes chocolate". In one chapter she mentions chocolate on literally every page. I don't know if it's meant to be cute or funny or what but I did not get it. Still, the film critic Mark Kermode suggests the 'six-laugh test' as the standard for a comedy, and I will say I found more than six of the jokes funny, so it was a success there. I did hope there would be more insight into or lampooning of the literary world (I know it's a busman's holiday but I can't resist books about writers and the writing world), but it didn't get any deeper than a puddle. For what it was, though, I enjoyed it – I've had terrible insomnia the past few nights and this was just the sort of light, half-asleep sort of thing I needed at 3am.

What happens when you trap a bunch of mystery writers together in a hotel in the middle of nowhere during a snowstorm...

I just discovered a new great series and bought the previous books as I had a lot of fun in reading this one.
Ethelred and Elsie are two quirky and well thought characters, the claustrophobic atmosphere is very Golden Age and I found this story gripping and entertaining.
Excellent plot and character development, a solid mystery that kept me guessing.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Wonderful to finally be back with Elsie and Ethelred after a two-year or so wait! This time they're up north in Yorkshire for a locked-in mystery without the use of Google and telephones. Still as funny and fresh as ever. I hope the title is not a nod to this being the last in the series as this is a fantastic tonic to the doom and gloom going on these days. Please keep them coming!

Farewell My Herring is a cutesy cozy mystery.

Farewell My Herring relies a bit too much on cleverness and not enough on substance. Five people have come to a remote lodge for a mystery writer’s workshop. Because of bad weather, they are trapped in the lodge with the workshop hostess and her helper. There is no real doubt who the victim will be and the survivors are not as bothered by having a killer in their midst as one might expect. With such a limit number of suspects, there is just not enough to build on to maintain the reader’s interest for an entire book. It might have been more successful as a short story.

The narrative is told alternately from the perspective of the two main characters: Elsie and Ethelred. Unfortunately, they are like people you would meet on a cruise: enjoyable for a short time but you don’t necessarily want to see them again.

Today I am reviewing the 9th novel in Tyler’s Elsie and Ethelred series, which is coming out in April.

Synopsis:

‘Ethelred Tressider and his agent Elsie Thirkettle have been invited to lecture on a creative writing course at Fell Hall, a remote location in the heart of ragged countryside that even sheep are keen to shun. While Ethelred s success as a writer is distinctly average, Elsie sees this as an opportunity to scout for new, hopefully more lucrative, talent. But heavy snow falls overnight, trapping those early arrivals inside, and tensions are quick to emerge between the assembled group. When one of their number goes missing, Ethelred leads a search party and makes a gruesome discovery. With no phone signal and no hope of summoning the police, can Ethelred and Elsie identify the killer among them before one of them is next?’

Overall Thoughts

As you can see from the book’s blurb, Elsie and Ethelred’s latest case is situated within a more traditional mould and at various points in the story there are surface level nods to the Golden Age of detective fiction. The writing course Ethelred and Elsie are speaking at is focused on traditional mysteries and Fell Hall, which they are staying is named after Dr Gideon Fell. However, I don’t feel there is a deep structural affinity with this earlier period of crime writing, beyond the setting and initial setup.

One of the consistent strengths of this series, which you can rely upon, is the entertaining nature of the narration, which is shared by Elsie and Ethelred and as usual, in this book, Elsie has the upper hand on Ethelred, bagging the nicest room. Though Elsie, who often speaks before she thinks, gets herself into a few awkward moments, such as when she tries to pretend she has read someone’s book when she hasn’t. Suffice to say her heavy handed interviewing technique is also rather amusing.

This mystery is well stocked with suspicious characters. There is the warden of hall, who is mysteriously enigmatic and is rumoured to be involved with MI6. We have another course member arrive later than the others on foot. Are they really that desperate to take part in the course that they would risk their lives by travelling through a treacherous deluge of snow? Then of course there is our surprising wild card. Claire on first appearance seems shy and as Elsie puts it ‘mousey,’ yet she has the power to render other people terrified when she talks with them alone. What can she possibly be saying to make them so jumpy and on edge? We know she is committed to getting her crime novel published. But what lengths will she go to?

As the first 24 hours unfold, both Elsie and Ethelred can sense something suspicious is going on, but what that thing is, is a separate matter and you can rely on these two to get the wrong end of the stick. Nevertheless, the reader remains vigilant in trying to determine who is going to get bumped off. However, whilst the reader is placing their bets as to who the victim will be, and then of course trying to figure out who has killed them, there is an additional anticipation. The various writers who were supposed to be speaking on the course early on discuss the different types of stories you can tell and one of them mentions how in fiction there is a device of events happening in threes, with the third occurrence resolving the issues raised by the first two. This is a structural device that Tyler plays around with in the subsequent narrative and Elsie and Ethelred even comment upon it as their investigation develops.

Given the set up of the murder the reader is posed with several questions to ponder. Has the correct victim been eliminated? What is the significance of them wearing the wrong coat? There is a tight window of time within which the death could have occurred, but is the evidence accurate in pinning it down as much as it does? What effect would it have on everyone’s alibis if this window changed?

More than one cold case features in this story. Claire’s work in progress is based on a woman who murdered her abusive partner. She was jailed before later being released after an appeal. Meanwhile, in the local area of Fell Hall there was also a murder 20 or so years ago. A man is assumed to have murdered his wife, having been caught having an affair. It was rumoured that the other woman sheltered him, as he disappeared and was never seen again. Yet later she went on to marry someone else. What happened to that man? I think the cold cases in this book are used effectively within the plot and add an interesting angle to the mystery being solved.

Another facet of the novel which I really enjoyed was the humour Tyler puts into depicting the life and career of a writer. No doubt some of this is based on his own experiences, though in other cases, one hopes not…

‘That’s the trouble with male writers – put them in a bar full of girls for long enough and they’ll wake up the next day trying to remember how many draft first novels they’ve promised to read.’

Tyler is never afraid to make comically disparaging comments about his own work and in earlier books he has even had a character criticise an aspect of one of his previous publications. In today’s read it is less specific in that a suspect only shares a dim view on comic crime fiction:

‘Writers do,’ he said. ‘Successful writers anyway. They look at things the way they are and write tragedy. Lesser writers look at things the way they wish they were and write comedy. Hal was very wise to switch away from comic crime. Nobody gets anywhere with that.’

Well with a 9 book long series, it seems that Tyler is an exception to this rule!

Other real-life authors are mentioned in the narrative and below is my favourite example:

‘In a fight to the death between a crime writer and a recently qualified solicitor, I’d back the crime writer to win, three out of five times. Four out of five if the crime writer was M. W. Craven.’

I have done a talk with Mike and Tyler might have a point! Though I don’t think we should put it to the test at the next CWA conference…

As the mystery develops it is interesting to see how the crime writer characters respond to the situation they are in, as it is one they have often written, but never actually lived through, (apart from Ethelred probably). Characters such as Hal sometimes look at the situation in those terms. For instance, when trying to justify his innocence to Elsie he says that:

‘And, as a crime writer, I am well aware how inadvisable it is to kill somebody when snowed in at a house in the middle of nowhere with no escape route. John Dickson Carr could have pulled it off, but not me.’

There are multiple strands involved in the ending, and I would say they are a satisfying mixture of ones you can and can’t anticipate. The list of suspects narrows down well, but the motive is perhaps a little trickier unless you have considered a certain idea. Going into the ending it looked like it was going to be a tense showdown between our delightful comic duo and the killer, but the moment is rendered bathetic.

So all in all an enjoyable book to while away an afternoon with.

Rating: 4.25/5

Source: Review Copy (Allison & Busby via Netgalley)

Often books are touted as a humorous mystery and many do not live up to that appellation but this one does in spades. It is well written and very humorous. There is of course a mystery and it is a good one indeed.
A group of people are gathering at a Fell Hall a restored home in rural England for a mystery writer’s conference. Two of the presenters Ethelred Tressider a mystery writer and his agent Elsie Thirkettle have been invited to participate. They are driven up in a taxi and the taxi driver points out that this would be a perfect place for a murder since it is isolated.
When they arrive, they meet the other presenters and two enrollees in the course who came a day early. The snows become very heavy and they are snowed in and isolated in this very old house.
One of the enrollees is murdered and the guests all become involved in solving the mystery. Ethelred and Elsie take charge of the investigation.
As the investigation proceeds it is very apparent that everyone there has a motive of some kind for wanting the participant dead.
The cook disappears is she another victim or the killer?
The story is compelling with enough red herrings for multiple Caesar Salads and ultimately it is up to Ethelred and Elsie to sort through them all to figure out what’s relevant and “who done it”.
I found this book compelling and filled with humor I wanted to find out what happened so I would read it every chance I got. It was a fast read and thoroughly satisfying.
One caveat: Elsie is a chocoholic so lay in a supply to join her as you move through the mystery.
This is the first book I’ve read by L.C. Tyler it most assuredly will not be the last.
I would like to thank Allison and Busby Ltd. the publishers of the book and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

"Farewell my Herring" is the 9th volume in T.C. Tyler's "Herring mysteries" and as usual it doesn't disappoint at all!

Crime writer Ethelred Tressider (the 14th century medieval murder mystery specialist) and his overbearing agent Elsie Thirketlle have been invited to a crime-writers' seminar at Fells Hall (Northern Yorkshire) where the mild mannered Ethelred has been asked to give some lectures.
But unfortunately they get snowed in with 7 others before more participants manage to arrive and very soon one of them is found dead..... of course mayhem ensues behind closed door with lots of chocolate mousse and no way to communicate with the outside world....

In this very funny and twisty whodunit Mr. Tyler brilliantly turns the tables on his peers and mercilessly pokes fun at them and their trade with priceless dialogues and lots of laughter. A delicious treat that the reader can go ahead and enjoy without moderation. Please Mr. Tyler send us another Herring very soon🙏👍

Many thanks to Netgalley and Allison&Busby for the opportunity to read this wonderful novel prior to its release date