Kyril Bonfiglioli

Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyril_Bonfiglioli ) implies that Kyril Bonfiglioli is British - certainly his books are all set in the UK - so this is just a friendly nudge in the direction of his books. You can buy his three completed novels in one volume as The Mortdecai Trilogy.

I don't think I have ever laughed so much at a novel, ever. He's also one of the few authors that both me and my husband have instantly taken a liking too (we have vastly differing tastes).

It's a bit Wodehousian but much naughtier.

Anyone else a fan?

I've never heard of him, but as a P.G. Wodehouse fan, I'm adding him to my list! Thanks for the recommendation, Rache.

I'm a fan. He's wicked, Charlie Mortdecai. You gasp before you laugh.

I've just put in an Amazon order for a second-hand copy of The Mortdecai Trilogy! Looking forward to receiving it!

miss_read, how are you getting on with Charlie Mortdecai?

Not even started yet! I'm on a Colin Watson jag at the moment, thanks to a recommendation by another LT-er. And I have something else I must read after that, so I'm not sure when I'll start on Charlie Mortdecai! So many books, so little time. Story of my life.

I've just found - and just finished - Bonfiglioli's All the Tea in China. Not set much in England - it covers a 19th Century trip to China to sell opium. Fun, witty bawdy like his other novels. (The hero is an ancestor of Charlie Mortdecai) A perfect holiday read.

One of my absolute favourite authors; the Mortdecai Trilogy is on my desert-island top 5. Bonfiglioli is frequently compared to Wodehouse mixed with Ian Fleming, but, as a warning, I think Something Nasty in the Woodshed is much darker than Bond. I sometimes have to rely on the sustained hilarity of the first two to make it through to the end.

If you're a fan, I recommend checking out (if you can find it) The Mortdecai ABC, compiled by his ex-wife. In addition to the encyclopedia-style section about Bonfiglioli, there are samples of his other writing, like his sci-fi essays and a short story or two, which are alone worth the cover price.

Not only a fan, but I knew the man, briefly but memorably, many years before he wrote his first novel. We were Education Sergeants together at the Gordon Highlanders Depot in Aberdeen (Scotland). He enlivened my National Service, enriched my young life and capsized my university career before it even cast off. You might want to visit my blog 'Bonfiglioli remembered' to hear about a part of his life of which even his second wife Margaret knew nothing. I contacted her after I read her compendium The Mortdecai ABC. She approved to the extent that she allowed me to half-inch her ABC format.