The Herring-Seller's Apprentice (Ethelred and Elsie, 1) (Volume 1)

I am on page 154 of this 206 page book and loving it so much that I thought I'd hop online to see if it is already well-known and possibly part of a series. Apparently not, yet. It is hilariously well written and reminds me a little bit of another recently published literary murder mystery, "The Writing Class" by Jincy Willett, which I also adored. (And I am not even a fan of murder mysteries...it's the humor and the character development and the writing angle in these books which delight me.) Despite my earlier reservations, I'm starting to like Elsie (L.C.?) and appreciate her candor. Don't know how it will end...but must get back to reading.

Think Agatha Christie and P. G. Wodehouse, whom L. C. Tyler mentions as one of his favorite writers, and you'll have an idea of how truly funny and intuitive concerning human nature this mystery is. The title, The Herring-Seller's Apprentice, refers to the sobriquet, the `Herring Seller,' given to the main character, a reluctant mystery writer, Ethelred Tressider, by his former wife because of the numerous red herrings he uses in his novels. Tressider is a writer writing about writing in the funniest, most insightful, ways as he, along with his chocolate loving agent, Elsie Thirkettle, try to solve the mystery of his missing ex-wife. Through various plot twists and hilarious observations Tyler takes his readers on a wonderful journey, and along the way they will meet some eccentric and intriguing characters. Fortunately this book is the first in
Tressider/Thirkettle series and is followed, so far, by two more. Highly recommended. [[ASIN:145152367X Murder, That's What]] Gillian Hanson

Disappointing British mystery after so many favorable reviews in the Amazon promos. Normally the cover would have put me off in that it reflects "cute" and as it turned out the cover is a good reflection of the contents. There just wasn't much in the story to get into although I did manage to wade through it.

Booth's wonderful cover art* made me expect delightfully eccentric characters, and the books did not disappoint. The contrast in characters between intelligent, educated, understated and reserved Ethelred and vulgar, crass, and loud agent Elsie is priceless. Sophisticated readers will not find the mystery very mysterious, but, after all, you are reading this for the pleasure of the language and the charm of the characters and setting. I also want to commend Tyler on the endings, both of them. In an age when even good books have poorly conceived and written endings, it was a pleasure to read two books with completely satisfying endings. I want more! More! MORE! from this writer.
*I bought print rather than Kindle editions of these for the sake of the cover art. Truthfully, as handy as the Kindle is for traveling and waiting rooms, I still vastly prefer print editions for any books that I think I will keep.

I agree with the other positive reviews, and would just add that for long-term mystery readers that like humor, this book is quite the treat. The dry wit and winks at the reader with the discussions of mystery writing conventions and the mystery publishing world added greatly to my enjoyment. The twist wasn't difficult to anticipate, given some of those winks and comments, but was still enjoyable. As my title suggests, highly recommended!!

Subtle, overt, clever, never boring.
This small masterpiece is both a mystery novel, as well as a critique of mystery novels.
Chapters alternate between the protagonists, with their point of view as to what has transpired.
While obviously not a new device, the way L C Tyler utilizes this is interesting. The emphasis
as to what each character describes is often unexpected.
The end of the story is a cliff-hanger, making the reader wanting to proceed to the next installment.

This series is wonderful!!! It's witty and tart and Ethelred is interesting in his loserdom w/out being whiny. Elsie puts me in mind of Agatha Raisin (in a good way). The juxtaposition of POV is a bit jarring at times (as soon as I get into the flow of one I'm switched to the other), but I adjusted quickly and the story flows very well.

A fun read with lots of humor and the author plays fair with the reader. The resolution doesn't come as a surprise notwithstanding plenty of red herrings--as one might expect from the title. I would definitely read more in the series.

Delightfully told mystery. Sense of humor. Story good. Makes for enjoyable read. Try it, you'll more than likely be entertained.

This wonderfully witty first outing in a series by L.C. Tyler certainly falls into the sub-category of crime fiction now described as `cosy'. I loudly and publicly chortled, whinnied, snickered, giggled and less ostentatiously grinned through this clever, playful, good humoured outing. Though set firmly in the modern era - emails do get a mention - our central character/investigators could quite happily have been travelled back to the 50s.

Ethelred Tressider is a crime writer. Actually, this rather old-fashioned, donnish and endearing individual is 3 writers (with different pen-names) Although he dreamed of being a Booker-winning lit-ficcy type of scribe he happened to write a first novel, featuring a rather plodding but meticulous detective, 2 years away from retirement, which was a fairly runaway success. (sounds a bit familiar?) Twelve novels later his detective has miraculously aged 6 months and acquired an interest in gloomy Norman Church Architecture. Tressider has also started another series, historical crime, (sounds familiar?) set in the time of Richard II, and also (sounds very familiar?) a third, female identity as a doctors-and-nurses romance writer. His no-doubt lantern jawed doctor specialises in oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Ethelred has an opinionated, overweight literary agent with a remarkably bad dress-sense, and an obsessive predilection for low-end chocolate bars. Size and availability matter far more than quality. Elsie is probably the best and most clear sighted chum that Ethelred will ever have. Though she does also keep her beady eyes upon her twelve and a half percent.

When a murder is committed close to Ethelred's home in more ways than one - not only location, but also, the victim is his dead wife, Ethelred is of course one immediate suspect. But rather in the manner of some of those other `cosy writers' (Ngaio Marsh sprung most to my mind, because of the wit in Tyler's writing) the obvious is not the only route. Whilst Ethelred is rather keen to uncover what is going on, it is Ethel (who is the author of some of the chapters) who is most keen - principally because she thought Geraldine, the ex-wife, was a total Bitch. For some reason Ethelred is less keen to have Elsie along as his `herring-seller's apprentice' The title of the book comes from the fact that a crime-writer's major tool-of-the-trade is the liberal use of the red-herring

Full of sassy, witty, sideways pokes of fun at writers, the writing and publishing industry, writer's blocks, crime fiction in particular - including several delicious little forays into well-known writer/book pastiches, this wonderfully light touch outing introduces an investigative pair who will no doubt continue their affectionate, exasperating, bickering relationship in the unmasking of other crimes. Though (whispers) the apprentice, Elsie, on this showing is probably the more efficient investigator of the two.

Tyler himself has also now launched into the first of a second series - set in historical times A Cruel Necessity (A John Grey Historical Mystery) Look out in a few years' time for the love lives of dentists to make an outing!

....and I've immediately downloaded the next in the adventures of Elsie and Ethelred Ten Little Herrings. I do hope the others will make it to Kindle!