CROOKED

I have avidly followed Brian Wiprud’s work since his debut ‘Sleep With the Fishes’. He then published two, what I would term, zany caper novels featuring taxidermist Garth Carson and his partner Angie. In his latest book Wiprud explores the misadventures of Garth’s brother, the colourful scoundrel Nicholas Palihnic who appeared in a supporting role in Wiprud’s hilarious ‘Pipsqueak’.

Nicholas is hired by an insurance house to find a stolen / missing painting. But what appears like a simple case soon becomes far from simple as Palihac working on a lead, finds himself framed for murder. The writing style is more confident and hip than in Wiprud’s previous work showing maturity and therefore not requiring as much broad farce to propel the plot forward.

Wiprud does, however, revel in complexity as Palihac also gets involved with a former lover Nicasia Grieg who is searching for her current boyfriend who was apparently eaten by a crocodile in Costa Rica. Yes, there is still plenty of humour remaining in Wiprud’s latest as these two plots collide as Nicasia’s boyfriend – Barney Swires was working on finding a very substantial treasure, and Nicasia’s company need Palihnic’s help.

We get double, triple as well as multiple-cross, as everyone converges to find the treasure and everyone has their own agenda in a frantic finale. If you like comedy caper novels, then Wiprud’s ‘Crooked’ should hit the spot.