Bookworm - Never the Bride

Author: Paul Magrs, 2007

OAP Brenda has come to Whitby to run a B&B, desperate for some p&q after an unusually long and eventful life. But Whitby is not the quiet little retirement town she had hoped for; indeed the town seems to be full of some rather weird and wonderful characters – none more so than Brenda herself, whose scar savaged face and mismatching limbs has made her quite the talking point with the locals.

Her only friend is Effie, a prim woman who runs the junkshop next door and loves nothing more than poking her nose into other people’s business. And with illegal aliens, satanic beauty salons and drugged elves roaming the streets there’s plenty of mischief to keep the duo busy! But when a mysterious man rides into town, Brenda and Effie face their toughest challenge to date.

Never The Bride is a unique story, told in a tongue-in-cheek manner that is instantly engaging. The tale of the Bride of Frankenstein or Dracula is hardly ground uncovered before, but Magrs puts a new spin on the “monster tale” by having the story told from the perspective of the monsters themselves.

The book is separated into a number of mini set-pieces, giving it an almost serial feel that, whilst unique, did give the story a “stop/start” rhythm that got a little jarring after a while. But it certainly kept us engaged enough to want to see it through to the end.

Magrs has a unique turn of phrase, and is clearly not afraid to dip into the thesaurus for some 20 point words on the odd occasion, ensuring that this witty tale never slips into the quagmires of mediocrity.

The only real downside is the book ends rather suddenly; the big climax is more of a gentle “pfffft” than a bang, and was clearly intended to be left on a cliff-hanger to pave the way for the next in the series, Something Borrowed.

An original, witty and dark book.

3/5