Monday, May 03, 2010

Old Dogs -- Donna Moore

If you've read Donna Moore's Go to Helna Handbasket, then you know how funny she can be, and now she's done it again. I'm not sure there'll be a funnier crime novel this year than Old Dogs. It's billed as a screwball mystery. While reading it, I was reminded a bit of What's Up, Doc, the film with Ryan O'Neal and Barbara Streisand from long ago. It's not rocks that keep moving around in this book, however. It's dogs. Not real dogs, but a couple of Tibetan statues of dogs. Along with the fake statues of dogs.

Another couple of old dogs are the two ex-hookers who want to steal the dogs from a Glasgow museum. La Contessa Letitzia di Ponzo and her sister Signora Teodora Grisiola. Okay, those aren't their real names. They're Letty and Dora, and since they're in their 70s they're a bit old for the hooking game. They're con artists now.

And they aren't the only ones after those dogs. Toss in their patsy, a Buddhist monk, a murderer, a couple of crematory workers, and a few others. Add a corpse that gets around almost as fast as the dogs (real and fake) or sometimes faster. There's more, but you need to read it for yourself. I see Judy Dench and Helen Mirren in the movie. Or Maggie Smith. They'd be perfect.



5 comments:

Nigel Bird said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
nigel bird said...

great minds think alike. i guess that should apply to any kinds of mind. anyway, i posted up a comment re 'Old Dogs' at:

http://nigelpbird.blogspot.com

just this very morning (and i've not even finished it yet - fuller opinion later this week). it's fabulous. ufolding like the english countryside it is (no offence). haven't been counting how many laughs out loud, but it's lots and haven't been recording the time it's taking me to turn a page, but it's damned short.
can't wait to get my head back into donna moore's nosebag, if ya' ken what a mean. pure entertainment.
love the US cover by the way.

Paul D Brazill said...

Yep, fantastic book.

Vince said...

I won a copy of Old Dogs in a contest at Donna's blog. The book arrived and Rosemarie grabbed it for herself. She's been in hysterics ever since. Can't wait 'til it's my turn.

Donna said...

Bill - thank you so much! I'm thoroughly chuffed that you liked it. Judi Dench and Maggie Smith? Love that idea (I should be so lucky!) Thanks again. I'm grinning madly here.