The Day Aberystwyth Stood Still (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
Aliens. Maybe.Men in Black. Maybe.Hallucinogenic icecream. Definitely.Absurdity; triple scoop.Aberyswyth's only PI bashed over the head? Yep.Must be a Louie Knight novel mystery!Yes, another in the spoof noir detective series where the mean streets of Aber are over run with iniquity and sin and Louie Knight takes the most preposterous cases imaginable. In this case, finding a man hung for murder last seen catching a bus to Aberaeron...It's silly and it's equal parts in love with Philip Marlowe and West Wales seaside towns and maudlin philosophising. What's not to like? Malcolm Pryce’s alternative world is one of the odder in contemporary fiction, in that he has opted for a version of Aberystwyth that for some may be hard to distinguish from the actual place – except for the maniacal druids who seem to want to take over the world and similar quirks. But then his parody is not of Aberystwyth, but of crime noir, hard boiled loner detective fiction – so the richness of the series depends on knowing your Dashiell Hammett and his ilk. (Each of the books also relies on a weak pun linked to a notable film, but that is a different story.)In this, the sixth of his Louie Knight tales, the tone seems also to turn grim (not that noir parodies are necessarily all sunshine and laughter) in part, I suspect, because the criminal focus of the tale is local political power (and the occasional alien) rather a crazed delusional figure more suited to a Bond story than Hammett; this book is closer to the noir fiction Pryce seems to love to the point of parody. This is also the second of the series where Knight’s semi-requited regular love interest has disappeared so he, in the sense that he seems no longer yearning for and defending the always-in-danger Myfanwy, seems also to have become a slightly more unsympathetic character although for the most part that hardening is redeemed by his increasingly avuncular relationship with Calamity Jane, who seems to have become more enigmatic as the series has progressed, but remains a marvellous source of the arcane and an excellent character foil for Louie. The major challenge (dare I say weakness) of the book is the lack of action, or at least too much action off set meaning that much of the narrative needs to be carried by character exposition, which given that so much of the story depends on events over 20 year previously is understandable but not really the basis of a compelling noir tale. In short – not Louie’s best outing.
What do You think about The Day Aberystwyth Stood Still (2011)?
I still find these difficult to read, but I always enjoy them.
—rednicky
Very funny in parts but not as good as some earlier books.
—ehsan
Another excellent trip out for Louie Knight.
—Yazzy
