Book Notes: Fresh Books from Hugh Laurie and Rex Stout

1996 hardcover

When I heard Hugh Laurie's crime novel THE GUN SELLER was being re-released this summer by Soho Press (which published it originally in 1996), I found the advance review copies were missing the hyped "introduction by the author" and "foreword by Stephen Fry." I bought one of the first edition hardcovers -- marked up by a library -- and dug into the story. 

Laurie is a noted actor, and in the US best known recently as Dr. House in the eponymous TV series House. I was tickled to find that his sense of plot and pacing in this book, his first novel, is first rate. Either he absorbed the rhythms of his performances (also including Blackadder on TV, and 101 Dalmations among films), or he's been reading and soaking up crime fiction for a long time. Or both.

2024 softcover

When former Scots Guard officer Thomas Lang receives a pitch for contract murder, he declines immediately and goes above and beyond the ethical call by going to see the prospective victim. That gets him into several kinds of trouble, from legal to physical, and at the same time makes him the target of an old-fashioned "honey trap" enterprise. The first half of the novel plays out as expected, with plenty of that familiar wry humor familiar from Blackadder. The second half is frankly unbelievable, but still a fun and lively read.

And now that the new edition's in print, you can read the very short intro material. But if you can grab the earlier edition, you might as well, because there's nothing of note in those added segments. The "Discussion Questions" in the new version are pretty funny, though. 

Espionage fiction shelves and British humor shelves should both include THE GUN SELLER.

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As a devoted fan of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series (if you ever met my darling extra-large husband, you can appreciate one reason), I rushed to pre-order HOW LIKE A GOD when it was announced in January that a never-published Stout book would be released by Hard Case Crime. It arrived as promised at the start of June. After several attempts, I've passed it along elsewhere. It's a cross between an existential exploration of a potential murderer's mind, and a grim LA-style noir, narrated as if it were an existential pseudo-novel. Not my cup of tea. If you like very dark noir and can put up with a slow pace and many diversions, give it a try and let me know your thoughts afterward. I'm going back to the Nero Wolfe series, which often warms my heart, as well as providing classic mystery narrative.