Killing Dylan

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Pub Date 1 Jan 2016 | Archive Date 23 Aug 2019

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Description

Someone is trying to kill celebrated author Dylan St James. But who would want him dead? And why? And who the hell shoots someone with a harpoon, anyway? Disgruntled failed crime writer Freddie Winters spends his days conning old ladies, setting up fake book signings, sneaking into literary festivals uninvited and lamenting his lack of success. When his old friend Dylan turns to him for help, Freddie agrees to use his limited detective skills to find out who's behind the murder attempt. With a group of suspicious ex-wives, a jealous rival, a crazed stalker fan and an exploding postman to deal with, Freddie soon stumbles upon a catalogue of crazy behaviour and a truly bizarre motive for murder. But can he stop the killer?

Someone is trying to kill celebrated author Dylan St James. But who would want him dead? And why? And who the hell shoots someone with a harpoon, anyway? Disgruntled failed crime writer Freddie...


Advance Praise

After reading Alastair's first novel The Unexpected Vacation of George Thring and thoroughly enjoying it, I looked forward to his next offering and I was not disappointed. Killing Dylan is just so much fun, different type of hero but just as quirky, full of laugh out loud moments. It is also a good detective story, who is the baddie? Great second book go buy this for anyone with a good sense of humour. Really recommend this. More please!

After reading Alastair's first novel The Unexpected Vacation of George Thring and thoroughly enjoying it, I looked forward to his next offering and I was not disappointed. Killing Dylan is just so...


Marketing Plan

Audiobook version due for launch shortly

Audiobook version due for launch shortly


Available Editions

EDITION Paperback
ISBN 9780993443961
PRICE £9.99 (GBP)

Average rating from 13 members


Featured Reviews

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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I really enjoyed this book. The main character was written in a way that even though he may not be a great individual, he was still very likeable and I cared about what happened to him. I feel the story itself was pretty predictable but the writing itself made it very engaging and I kept wanting to read more to find out what was going to happen. The humor was very well-done and I found myself laughing aloud at the dialogue and situations happening quite often. Overall I would recommend this book to all my friends.

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I don't even know where to begin! This book is so chock full of one-liners, hilarious situations, wicked twists and realistically daft amateur sleuths and criminals. It had me grinning throughout. Freddie is the epitome of who we wish we could unabashedly be when we're sick of dealing with the rest of the world, he is so incredibly unapologetic it's almost painful to see but he does keep you on the edge of your seat which is a great quality in a main character.

The slight twists and turns at the end had me laughing out loud at my work desk, especially a particular mishap, which you could probably guess at if/when you read the book for yourself.

Puddick perfectly avoided the cliche of the villainous monologue by revealing motives through conversation and action rather than an evil character stroking their cat, pacing back and forth, while they drone on about how their unusual childhood led them to this point in their life.

It's not often I've experienced reading a funny crime novel, and I really enjoyed this one.

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