This was one of those fortuitous pickups in the Audio section of the library's BorrowBox app. Probably based on the reference to Magpie Murders in the blurb, which was a TV series I thoroughly enjoyed. It might also be because of the description of the main protagonist:
Meet Agatha Dorn, cantankerous archivist, grammar pedant, gin afficionado and murder mystery addict. When she discovers a lost manuscript by Gladden Green, the Empress of Golden Age detective fiction, Agatha's life takes an unexpected twist. She becomes an overnight sensation, basking in the limelight of literary stardom.
I'm not a grammer pedant (you need to actually know grammer to be pedantic about it), and the idea of being an overnight sensation at anything makes me want to vomit copiously, but I do like gin, and I am a murder mystery addict, and I'm cantankerous. So, the premise AND the main character seemed designed to please ... for some reason.
And it did not disappoint at all - this was huge fun, with a truly engaging, but profoundly annoying central character, a nicely twisty story at its heart, and a lot of odd goings on, all of which were narrated in a voice that was easy to listen to, but not so soporific as to make you lose track. Of course, not losing track could also be down to the plot, which was clever, fun and just OTT enough to make you laugh a bit on occasions.
The story does, as the above quote explains, revolve around the discovery of a lost manuscript. The great Gladden Green is an Agatha Christie like literary figure, and the style and action is a hefty hat tip to the same woman, although there is not a lot about Dorn that should remind readers / listeners of the demure and observational Jane Marple. It's also a massive go at celebrity for celebrity's sake, cancel culture and has some things to say about the complications of modern relationships.
At it's heart though is Agatha Dorn. A prickly drunk, there's a lot gone on in her past, and it's definitely not helping her deal with the present, and there is much to recommend about THE MYSTERY OF THE CROOKED MAN.
The Mystery of the Crooked Man
Meet Agatha Dorn, cantankerous archivist, grammar pedant, gin afficionado and murder mystery addict. When she discovers a lost manuscript by Gladden Green, the Empress of Golden Age detective fiction, Agatha's life takes an unexpected twist. She becomes an overnight sensation, basking in the limelight of literary stardom.
But Agatha's newfound fame takes a nosedive when the 'rediscovered' novel is exposed as a hoax. And when her ex-lover turns up dead, with a scrap of the manuscript by her side, Agatha suspects foul play.
Cancelled, ostracised and severely ticked off, Agatha turns detective to uncover the sinister truth that connects the murder and the fraudulent manuscript. But can she stay sober long enough to catch the murderer, or will Agatha become a whodunit herself?
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