farce, law-enforcement, murder-investigation, puntastic, sardonic, satire, laugh-out-loud, laugh-riot, imaginative*****

Mel Brooks and Peter Sellers got together with P G Wodehouse and...
This book is a positive laugh riot! I had to read it twice because I was laughing so hard I couldn't assimilate the police work! The characters are a hoot and the slightest thing I can say about it is that is is a fantastic cure for the Covid doldrums!
Mark Milroy is the accomplished voice actor who manages not to laugh his sox off while doing the audio interpretation. ( )

I picked up an advance copy of Simon Grave and the Curious Incident of the Cat in the Daytime by Len Boswell from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

And honestly – while this is my first Simon Grave book – I loved it. A wonderful combination of mystery and crime novel, with more than a generous helping of dark humor. Detective Simon Grave is called away from the Crab Cove Conference on Crime (C4) to a possible murder just outside the conference center. The body belongs to a man recently diagnosed with an incurable brain cancer. Is this just a natural death, or is there something else going on? As Grave and his nearly invisible partner, Sergeant Blunt, begin their investigation they learn that deaths in Crab Cove have been on the increase. Is their case really a murder, or is there just a statistical blip in deaths in Crab Cove? When Grave’s father tells him he’s been diagnosed with an incurable cancer as well, and is planning out is final rest at the Crab Cove Cinema Cemetery (C4), Simon must balance his father’s insistence on preparing for his inevitable demise while trying to figure out who may or may not have killed the man on the beach.

Simon Grave and the Curious Incident of the Cat in the Daytime blends subtle humor, and a whimsical setting, with a good mystery. While I was able to deduce who the killer was, for me that wasn’t as important as being able to enjoy the world that Len Boswell has created and the colorful characters that inhabit it. I really enjoyed the idea of the Crab Cover Cinema Cemetery where the dead have looping video highlights of their life playing at their graveside, complete with paid ads, and the need to have their video lives approved of through likes – social media of the dead. The population of droids all made to look like famous people (mostly actors, but a few others like politicians) ads an interesting backdrop through which the humans interact.

I recommend the Curious Incident of the Cat in the Daytime for anybody who loves to blend they mystery with a good dose of humor (often dark). ( )

I received a free advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a fun satirical murder mystery that takes place in a town called Crab Cove. The book opens when Mr. Potz is found dead on a beach. He was found with his respite simdroid nearby. I should mention, the book takes place in the near future where simdroids are all the rage, but they are also stealing jobs from humans left and right.

Detective Simon Grave is on the job to solve the murder with the help of his simdroid Charlize.

I love the irony in the names of this book. For example, the head of the detectives is Captain Morgan. One of the other officers that Grave works with is Barry Blunt. Blunt and his wife June are more like clouds than people, so you can't really see them. Nothing like a cloud with blunt edges, right?

Mr. Winter runs one of the graveyards in town.

Ida Notion is the town psychic.

If you are looking for a fun read with a little mystery and a little humor, this is the perfect book! ( )

The premise of this mystery is really fun, and there's some amusing wordplay – the writing style reminded me of Jasper Fforde. I don't think I had complete buy-in on part of the ending ... perhaps I was hindered by not having read the first book in the series, although that shouldn't matter. I also would've liked to see the characters become more than quirky pastiches; the main character's good, but his supporting cast didn't feel as loved. They've definitely got promise. Overall, this is a diverting, easy read, and I'd read the next one. ( )

This high spirited book entertains incessantly with its lively language, fast pace and interesting ideas. A police procedural made bizarre and amusing by its setting in the future with a community lagging behind in technology uptake. I received this as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer. Thank you. ( )