https://www.austcrimefiction.org/book/man-one-those-faces ( )

https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2023/11/2023159-man-with-one-of-those-faces.html ( )

Very entertaining

A random selection that didn't disappoint. Terrific mix of character, plot, set pieces and one-liners. I'll certainly read more of the 'four-volume trilogy'. ( )

This book was wildly inappropriate in places. So it should surprise mo one I laughed constantly and can’t wait to read the next one. ( )

I thought this was very good, especially considering it was the first in a series. There was a lot of humor, but dry and not over the top forced. An interesting story with interesting people. I liked most of the actual characters - even Paul, the main character, who starts out seeming like a total loser. And perhaps he is in most ways, but he improves.

Paul started life as the son of a single mother - the father had abandoned them, I believe. When he was 6 years old, he first met his great-aunt Fidelma, who refused to help them. He met her a second time at 12, after his mother died, and his aunt wanted nothing to do with him. But perhaps she had some tiny shred of decency left because when she died, she remembered him in her will. She left most of her estate and money to Donegal Donkey Sanctuary, but left him the use of one of her houses and a very small stipend to last until he got a job. In return, he had to perform 6 hours a week of charity work. He was not too happy, and dedicated the rest of his life to hating her, making do on the small stipend, and not getting a job. He would even visit her grave regularly to curse her.

But the charity work was the main subject of the book. He visited old people in a home, and played along with whoever they thought he was. He didn't do it for any personal gain, and it made them happy, so all in all it was OK - until it wasn't. One old patient tried to kill him, and then died in the process. Unfortunately, there was a lot of history associated with this guy, and some people who wanted to keep that history hidden. He had no idea what it was, but they didn't know that.

There were a lot of interesting people throughout the story. One (seemingly, so far) minor character was an 80 year old patient named Dorothy, who actually was a lot more alert than it seemed, and was lots of fun. There's an old police inspector named Jimmy Stewart, and one guy named Bunny who is totally unpredictable in almost every way. But I don't want to give anything away, so read the book to find out more. You may just enjoy it as much as I did.

Oh, and I thought the narrator, Morgan C. Jones, did a splendid job. ( )