At first I thought Freddie was an absolute armpit with no redeeming attributes at all and that became one reason I did enjoy the story. A real life character for a change warts and all stumbling around trying to exist day to day who finally has to hopefully do the decent thing. Great plot even though I think most readers will have a clue about the villain in the piece only Alastair has us on a merry chase for its not all it seems with this clever story. Thanks to NetGalley and Raven Crest books

Aside from the author’s amusing (to an immature mind anyway) name, the main draw here was the premise and the cover, both quirky and attention attracting. And indeed, the book lived up to its cover premise. Certainly not a sure thing these days, but there it is. This was a genuinely fun story. Someone is in fact actively trying to kill Dylan. And Dylan is the nicest guy, too. His career as an author is a wild success, ladies like him, all his ex wives seems to agree. And yet…it’s just too dangerous to be Dylan. So much so that he has to resort to hiring his former friend Freddie Winters to find out what’s going on. Freddie’s pretty much Dylan’s opposite, failed author, crap with the opposite sex, not anyone’s idea of a nice guy. His sole qualifications for the job seems to be his career writing crime thrillers. Plus he’s desperate enough for the money to do whatever it takes. And so Freddie, limited skills or not, sets off to find out who’s trying to off his imminently likeable once upon a time bestie. Which takes him through a gamut of friends, lovers and associates, all invariably entertainingly odd. And there you have it, a crime novel set in a literary world. Charming and humorous despite having a thoroughly sh*te, morally reprehensible sort of protagonist and being completely (mile away) predictable as to who the would be killer is. Seriously, those two factors would usually be huge detractors for me, often unsurmountable, but somehow this book managed to get right past that on pure charm and jocular flippancy. Yeah, the plot is wildly far fetched and yeah, it would have been nice for the plot twists to be more thoroughly obscured and more challenging to puzzle out, but Freddie, you actually get used to Freddie, unapologetic scoundrel that he is, he even has something of a redeeming moment there. Overall, it was just a really fun read and a quick one too. Your mind may not be blown, your socks may stay on, but you will be entertained. Thanks Netgalley.

This book started off really well, then it lost me a little until it picked up the pace and I found my stride. A funny book with a mystery woven into it. It's a book you either like or hate, I liked it.

What do you do if you are a selfish, cowardly, second-rate author of detective stories, while your friend from uni is a nice, mega-successful, rich babe magnet? You seethe, you scoff. But what if that friend comes to you for help because he thinks someone is out to kill him? Still you scoff, until....you sense he’s actually right. At this point (and due to a pressing pecuniary emergency), Freddie Winters takes on the job of finding out who is after Dylan St. John.
The list of suspects he draws up contains several ex-wives, rival authors, a literary agent with murky connections and a shady disgraced TV doctor. Will Freddie be able to make sense of the clues or is he already caught up in a very dangerous web of deadly hide-and-seek? Strap yourself in for an edge-of-seat ending!
I don’t normally like “blokey” writing, but there’s something in Alastair Puddick’s stories (loved the Unexpected Vacation, too) that is very endearing and makes you root for the characters whatever foibles and flaws they might have.