Blotto, Twinks and the Ex-King's Daughter

Brett, Simon. Blotto, Twinks, and the Ex-King’s Daughter. Blotto and Twinks No. 1. Constable, 2009.
Simon Brett has a wry wit that only the English seem to produce. He is a denizen of the BBC and writer of several better-than-average series of mystery novels. In addition, science fiction fans like me owe him a debt of gratitude for producing the pilot episode of the radio series based on Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The Blotto and Twinks series, which has grown to 10 novels, sends up the English cozy mystery and nostalgia for the early twentieth-century English aristocracy along with it. Blotto and Twinks are the 20-something children of a ducal family. Blotto is the dimwitted heir whose only real interests are cricket and fox show more hunting, which had only been made illegal in England five years before the first Blotto and Twinks book, Blotto, Twinks, and the Ex-King’s Daughter, was published. He is only fluent when he has memorized a speech provided by his sister. The Duchess wants him to marry, but his tongue-tied innocence makes him relatively safe from having to tie the knot. His sister, Honoria, a.k.a. Twinks, is pretty, bright, and eager to solve crimes before the dimwitted police mess up the crime scene. It is all as silly as a Monty Python episode, and its plot would be right at home in one. Is it fun? You bet. 4 stars. show less

This send-up of the Golden Age mystery stars the amiable but incredibly dense Blotto and his sister Twinks, who is both staggeringly beautiful and extremely intelligent. The story begins with the discovery of a body in the library (of course), which happens to belong to a visiting dignitary from Mitteleuropia. The exiled King Sigismund and his retinue are staying at Blotto and Twinks’ home due to a recent coup in Mitteleuropia by the ex-king’s traitorous brother. But the body in the library turns out to be the least of Blotto and Twinks’ worries when they stumble upon a plot to kidnap the ex-king’s daughter. Now they must save the ex-princess, infiltrate the Mitteleuropian court, and restore King Sigismund to his rightful place show more on the throne.

As with most parodies, enjoyment of the humor will vary widely from reader to reader; personally, I liked it and thought it worked well. The plot is, of course, ridiculous and wildly improbable, but that’s part of the fun. The characters are also fairly two-dimensional; even Blotto, the protagonist (of sorts), doesn’t really have any depth. But again, in my view, that’s not the point of the book. Rather, this novel is a playful homage to the classic British cozy, with more than a few nods to P.G. Wodehouse thrown in. Anyone who likes the Golden Age of mysteries would probably find a lot to enjoy and appreciate in this novel. That said, the jokes do get a bit repetitive, and they’re also not particularly subtle, so I can understand why some people might find the whole thing irritating rather than amusing. In my opinion, though, the book succeeds in being a fun, silly read, and I’ll most likely continue with the series. show less

A great fun, silly piece of summer fluff is how to describe this book. Blotto and Twinks are brother and sister sleuths. Blooto has the brawn, Twinks the brains (and good looks, a dangerous combination in a woman!)and they have the good luck to stumble onto a dead body in the family library. With family honor at stake and a completely inept police department, it's up to the brother and sister team to save the Ex-Kings daughter after she is kidnapped and unmask the murder. A fun read with a few well placed digs at the values of the ruling class.

Blotto and Twinks are siblings in a wealthy, snobby British family. The names, just one of the many ridiculous (but in a good way) elements of this story, are not their real names - it is de rigeur for aristocratic youths to have meaningless, absurd nicknames in this pre-WWII setting. Although as much as Blotto claims that his name is not due to any kind of drinking problem, and that he really doesn't drink much at all, he seemed to pound quite a few in the time period covered during this book... He and his stunningly bright and beautiful sister team up to solve the mystery of first a murder and then a kidnapping. Blotto is charming, somewhat dim (well, OK, downright stupid), exceptionally handsome, and uber-nationalistic. The whole show more story is ridiculous (again, in a good way), filled with silly characters, improbable and ludicrous inputs and outcomes, caricatures of thoughtless and supercilious aristocrats, and a profound belief that cricket can save the world. This should appeal to all you P. G. Wodehouse fans out there! show less

Always game for farce and fun a la Wodehouse and ever on the lookout for a new mystery series, I had real hopes for this book being a lark. It wasn't. The jokes wore thin before the second half. Some of what was supposed to be funny just wasn't. Too bad.

Always game for farce and fun a la Wodehouse and ever on the lookout for a new mystery series, I had real hopes for this book being a lark. It wasn't. The jokes wore thin before the second half. Some of what was supposed to be funny just wasn't. Too bad.

Always game for farce and fun a la Wodehouse and ever on the lookout for a new mystery series, I had real hopes for this book being a lark. It wasn't. The jokes wore thin before the second half. Some of what was supposed to be funny just wasn't. Too bad.