A Pocket Full Of Haddock (The Dogsbreath Histories Book 5) by Keven Shevels

 An Elf, a warrior, a dwarf, and a weedy man enter a pub in Slagbottom, and soon all four are dead. As the local crime-solving busybody, Miss Marble is in the hospital, Constable Big-Girl’s-Blouse asks the Met to help with the investigation. DS Dogsbreath is sent to start the investigation that will be done by the Corner of the Yard (aka DI Aloysius Corner of Scotland Yard). As the investigation develops, DS Dogsbreath finds it challenging to navigate the suspects, all of whom swear that they did not see who committed the crimes, if there were even crimes. The four strangers did not either commit suicide or die by some freakish accidents. After all, who knew the cistern could fall on a dwarf’s head and kill him or that a man could be killed by billiard balls or a lone dart to the head. When Dogsbreath insists that the four deaths were murders and he comes close to discovering the secret kept by all the villagers, Miss Marble solves the crimes from her hospitable bed, declaring all the deaths as suicides, and the Detectives are recalled to London. This installment of the Dogsbreath Historie, A Pocketful of Haddock by Keven Shevels takes place in 1932 Slagbottom, where Impetigo Dogsbreath.

 

A Pocketful of Haddock by Keven Shevels is a parody of the Miss Marple episode A Pocketful of Rye. It is cleverly written in the tradition of British comedy. The characters are varied, and much situational comedy is written to make the story witty and hilariously funny. The story is not fast-paced and it takes enough time to set up the scenes for the humor to be clear and successful. Although this is a humoristic story, the author still addresses some relevant themes, such as loyalty to family and community and how far one will go to protect the way of life in a village. Then there is the caricature of the successful Detective Inspector who has a soft stomach and almost no real investigative prowess and rides on the hard work and insight of the Detective Sergeant who does the investigating and case-solving. The reader will identify with the different characters and have a good laugh at how ridiculous some people act, as well as how naive others can be. The Dogsbreath Histories are stand-alone stories of the Dogsbreath family and need not be read in order.