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The Prisoner of Brenda

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The Prisoner of Brenda

By: Colin Bateman
Narrated by: Stephen Armstrong
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When notorious gangster 'Fat Sam' Mahood is murdered, the chief suspect is arrested nearby. But he seems to have suffered a breakdown. Incarcerated in a mental institution, he's known only as the Man in the White Suit. The suspect remains an enigma until Nurse Brenda calls on Mystery Man, Belfast's finest mystery bookshop owner, to bring his powers of investigation to bear...

Intrigue, conspiracy, and ancient Latin curses all combine to give the Small Bookseller with No Name his most difficult case to date.©2012 Colin Bateman (P)2012 W F Howes Ltd Crime Fiction Modern Detectives Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Funny Witty
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Another very enjoyable outing for the Mystery Man, the owner of No Alibis, the finest crime fiction bookstore in the whole of Belfast (according to the Mystery Man himself). Those of you who have read previous Mystery Man (MM) books will need no introduction - for the rest of you, the narrator of the story is a bookshop owner and part-time detective who takes on cases brought to him by people who have nowhere else to go (or in some instances, cases that simply intrigue our MM). Given that he is borderline autistic, a massive hypochondriac, and an imbiber of huge quantities of pills and medicines of dubious efficacy, it is a wonder that he is able to hold his own in the big bad world outside his book store.



The main premise of this story is that MM, a former mental patient himself, is "employed" by a mental home nurse, the Brenda of the title, to find out the identity of one of her patients, the Man in the White Suit, who she is convinced could not be responsible for the murder he has been incarcerated for. The problem is that the Man in the White Suit never utters a word, and as a result he is a mystery wrapped in an enigma that no-one can solve. Except perhaps the Mystery Man!



The book was very ably narrated by Stephen Armstrong (it had to be an Irish person reading this, no other accent would have worked as well), and his dry delivery really has had me laughing out loud on numerous occasions.



Thoroughly recommended.

Laugh out loud. I did, several times.

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This was a new author for me but am so glad I tried. A crime with laugh out loud (which I frequently did) dry humour, whilst moving the story along. Throwing insights into the strange happenings in a book shop and their owners personality. Give a try well worth it.

Quirky crime story but worth listening to.

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This was my forth mystery man book.enjoyed it right till the ending which was unnecessary and silly. and I'm glad this was the last in the series. VERY disappointed.

crap ending !

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I have enjoyed the 'Mystery Man' series of books and even though this fourth instalment is not the best in the series it's still a good read. However, I found the final chapter to be ludicrous. It's as if the author (Bateman) decided to celebrate the finishing of his latest book by getting blind drunk and then whilst under the influence of drink thought it would be a good idea to add a few extra pages to the novel. So, a good book spoilt by a silly end. Well narrated.

An utterly ludicrous ending.

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I enjoyed this. The plot is good, nice twists. The deadpan delivery by the reader is spot on. The endiing is unpredictable.

Very funny.

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