A budding crime writer, a death at a literary festival and a satirical peek into the world of publishing

Handsome, debonair Nigel Inchcock is a talented crime writer working on the next global bestselling thriller. Or so he believes. In his early thirties and still living with his ageing mother, his writing career is taking time to kick-start, hampered by his warped sense of self-belief. From attempting to woo literary agents and library assistants, to becoming a victim of his own research, we follow Nigel on his turbulent journey through the bewildering world of publication.

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While attending a series crime writing festivals, Nigel befriends octogenarian author Edith Sparrow, after which his writing career takes an unusual turn. An accidental murder, the unintentional theft of a manuscript and the devious misuse of intellectual property leads to some unexpected publishing scandals that will change Nigel’s world.

My Review

I once told someone I’d only just met that I was writing a book about a female serial killer and it was ‘dark humour’. He looked at me a bit weird. How can a book where someone gets murdered be funny? Think Killing Eve I suggested. OK, that’s a bit extreme, but crime fiction can be funny so long as you don’t go in for really gruesome details. And Confessions of a Crime Writer IS hilarious.

Budding crime writer Nigel Inchcock may believe he is talented, debonair and handsome, but in reality he is awful, be it in an almost lovable way. Well his mum loves him. Jennifer Primrose at the Library thinks he’s stalking her. When he gets a job there, she leaves, saying she is being stalked. Nigel questions who it could possibly be. Yes, he’s that dense.

Then there’s Marion Winterbottom, who Nigel is convinced is a literary agent. He asks her on a date, which she accepts, but it goes disastrously wrong. It’s her dog you see. It doesn’t like him. But octogenarian author Edith Sparrow’s dog Riddles – or Widdles as she pronounces it with her lisp – adores him.

When Nigel attends a famous crime festival, there’s a murder, and Nigel becomes the prime suspect. But there’s doggy DNA on the victim, as well as human. And poor Riddles is implicated.

‘Her dog,’ said Best. ‘Jesus, the old biddy had a dog! The DNA! We need to question Mrs Sparrow’s dog.’

This is so my type of book. I love a bit of crime humour, and occasionally as in the ‘we need to question the dog,’ it slips into the absurd. All the better as far as I’m concerned.

As an aside, I love this self-insertion by the author.

Sally scrolled a little further through the thread … she looked down at the list of names:
Hugh Smith – Evening’s Standards
Louise Mangos – The Beaten Track
Nigel Inchcock – untitled spy thriller
… Flannery hadn’t been quick enough to send her an offer before she was snapped up by another agent right after the festival …”

But seriously this book is so entertaining I read it in two and a half days. I adored Edith Sparrow and I’d love to see a picture of Widdles, sorry Riddles, please.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours #blogtour

About the Author

Louise Mangos grew up in the UK but has spent more than half her life in Switzerland. Her debut psychological thriller Strangers on a Bridge was a finalist in the Exeter Novel Prize and long listed for the Bath Novel Award. The psychological thriller The Beaten Track and her historical mystery The Secrets of Morgarten were both finalists in the Page Turner Awards, while the psychological whodunnit Five Fatal Flaws reached the shortlist. She also writes short stories and flash fiction which have won prizes and been published in various anthologies. She holds an MA in crime writing at UEA.

Louise lives on an Alp with her Kiwi husband and two sons, and when she’s not writing you can find her on the cross-country ski trails or wild swimming in the lake, depending on the season.