Ethelred Tressider, just barely successful writer of comic mysteries and his agent Elsie Thirkettle, always on the lookout for more successful talent, are invited to take part in a weekend of lectures on mystery writing in a location so remote 'even sheep are keen to shun'. The writers and a couple of members of the audience have arrived early to get prepared. Unfortunately, over night, a heavy snowfall traps everyone inside. Tensions are already starting to mar the already ruined weekend when one of their members goes missing.

Farewell My Herring is the ninth entry in the Herring Mysteries by LC Tyler but the first I've read. I admit my main reasons for requesting this from Netgalley were the title and the cover and that's always an iffy proposition. I wasn't sure what to expect except perhaps a rather humorous homage to the Golden Age of mysteries and there are certainly traces of that here. But that was just a bit of what kept me reading.The characters are all interesting, especially Ethelred and Elsie who make for a very likeable pair of would-be sleuths. As well, the dry wit of the dialogue, and the numerous red herrings scattered about kept me engaged and entertained throughout. Overall, great fun to read, perfect for a lazy afternoon.

Thanks to Netgalley and Allison & Busby for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review ( )

fun, situational-humor, verbal-humor, sleuth, sly-humor, stranded, country-house, murder, mystery, mystery-writer, wry-humor, snarky, England*****

Mystery writers, agents, rural Yorkshire, and lots of snow=murder and snickering humour. This entangled tale is as full of twists and red herrings as it is of fun. Won't even try to do any kind of summary, but be prepared to ignore reality and enjoy the read. This is the first Herring I'vr read, but it won't be the last!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Allison & Busby via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )

'If I were to kill you somewhere like this,' said the taxi driver cheerfully, 'it would be months before they found the bits the buzzards didn't want. Every time I drop a passenger off round here, I think: now, there's a good place for a quiet murder.'

Sometimes you just need an escape, a harmless diversion from all the doom and gloom, and this 9th outing for mid-list author Ethelred Tressider and his shamelessly cynical literary agent Elsie Thirkettle delivers the perfect piece of escapist cozy crime fiction. The pair travel to the remote Fell Hall to take part in a creative writing weekend, and together with their fellow teachers they have arrived the day before the course starts to prepare and discuss the course. Unfortunately, and much to the chagrin of the course director Wendy Idsworth, a couple of the students have turned up early. Even more unfortunately, a blizzard is setting in, cutting off the house from the outside world.... Needless to say, before too long one of the characters ends up dead as a dodo, and as our hapless pair of amateur sleuths investigate it seems that everyone has a motive for killing the victim. When a second person disappears, the race is on to find the culprit before the snow melts and they can escape.

I had read three of the previous novels in the series, so I knew what to expect, but this works perfectly well as a stand-alone novel for anyone new to the books. The narrative perspective alternates between Ethelred and Elsie, which at times gets a bit of getting used to, but the book delivers everything you would want without ever taking itself seriously. It's fun, with enough clues and/or red herrings to keep you guessing as the plot rattles along apace. An added bonus for book-lovers is that the theme of this novel means that there is a lot of joy to be had poking fun at writers, publishers and the general world of books. So, switch off your phone, make a cup of tea and put your feet up - just enjoy the mystery and escape the real world for a few hours. ( )