A series that grows better with each book! Ms. Truss has really got her arms around the characters, location, and tone in the Constable Twitten series and her humor gives these mysteries that extra bit of shine and specialness. I also appreciate the changed and changing relationships between Twitten and Mrs. Groynes and Sgt. Brunswick - the characters are evolving with time but in an organic way that reads as natural and easy breezy. If there's a word to hang your hat on with Ms. Truss's writing, I think it would be "unforced" - she writes with confidence and the humor and crime solving fold together as neat as a pin. A strong recommend!

Enjoyed the mid century setting and cast of quite eccentric characters. Twitten is hoping for a bit of a break in the action, but three bodies add up to a lot of busyness. I liked reading this and the characters.

At first, I was a little slow to get into this novel. The humor just seemed a little off to me, or the characters just a tad too overdone. However, I am glad that I gave it a chance, because the further I got into it, the funnier I found it. You don’t have to have read the first two books to be able to follow along with the third, but it will spoil the stories of both to an extent. I would suggest reading them in order. Otherwise, you ruin one of the running jokes/plot points that brings quite a bit of hilariousness to the story. It also adds a nice flair. I liked “Murder by Milk Bottle” so much that I went back and read the first one and just started the second one. I can also say that if you like audio books, the narrator for the audio of “A Shot In The Dark,” Matt Green, does a really good job! The second book is “The Man That Got Away.”

The stories take place during 1957. The 1950s are really well represented. From the entertainment, to the news, to the language, it is like a blast from the past. With the boardwalk featuring prominently, it’s fun to listen to the Punch and Judy shows that occasionally make an appearance, or the numerous ice cream and soda shops that are talked about. A large part of it is a piece of life we left behind us. The BBC makes an appearance and we get to hear a comedy trivia show where Inspector Stein is trying to guess the careers of guests who come before them. Last but not least is the society of the 1950s, from the schools to social graces required.

The third book really lets you get to know the characters more deeply. As the first two books establish the basics between each person in the novel, the third is able to give us more backstory on each one. It is greatly enjoyable to see Constable Twitten before he became a cop, as well as to get some insight into Sergeant Brunswick’s odd personality. Mrs. Groynes, the charlady, is perhaps my favorite character. With her backstory, and all the things you learn about her, she is charming, funny and quite witty. It’s such a great twist to the story and I love it absolutely. It adds an extra layer of humor as well.

Lynne Truss should be commended – although this book revolves around solving a crime, it is somehow hilarious. Not two genres I would have put together myself, but I find that I love it. Constable Twitten is trying to decide if perhaps the murders are connected to the launch of a new Milk Bar on the boardwalk, and their new slogan “DRINKA PINTA MILKA DAY” which gave me giggles every time I read it. Overall, it is a very enjoyable novel.

Truss is not only a writer, but also a journalist. She started out as a literary editor. She has written three novels and radio comedy dramas, which shows in “Murder by Milk Bottle.” Truss won Columnist of the Year when working with the Women’s Journal. Now she is a book reviewer for the Sunday Times of London and on BBC Radio 4. She lives in Brighton, England, the setting of her novels.

DNF
2020

I could not even finish book one, at 15%, so I am not going to try and read the next two books in the series. I feel like I would be forcing myself and rate it low.

have found Lynn Truss to be so entertaining and clever ever since she wrote Eats Shoots and Leaves. I rejoiced when she started to pen mysteries. This title is the third that she has written.
The story takes place in 1957’s Brighton where several murders occur. Who will have done it? How hard will it be to solve the case?
If you like your mysteries quirky and don’t mind some “bad” language, this book is worth a look.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

This is book 3 in the Constable Twitten Mystery series. I picked it becausee the author Lynne Truss is a familiar name. Set in Brighton, England during the 1950's this genre is a little out of my normal pick. Constable Twitten and his Sergeant Brunswick are trying to solve a multiple murder when a room with lots of dead bodies is found. This story seems to be a comedy of errors that actually turns out with the crimes being solved. I think reading the first two books in the series might have helped me understand the characters better. Readers expecting a cozy should be aware the language is vulgar and a little unexpected. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Hilarious and quirky - just my cup of tea! (or should I say, glass of milk!)

Murder by Milk Bottle is the third in the Constable Twitten historical mystery series. Set in Brighton in 1957, the story takes place over the August long weekend. There are three murders in one night. Each victim (a beauty contest runner-up, an AA patrolman, and a visiting radio celebrity) has been hit over the head with a full milk bottle and then stabbed with the broken remains.

Told in the third person, this story takes the reader on a wild ride through the jam-packed streets of Brighton over a very eventful four days. The characters are quirky and sometimes stereotypical, yet feel very real. I love Constable Twitten! He wants the minutia of police work but finds himself investigating multiple murders. He is inquisitive and curious and methodical and desperately wants to fit it. I felt so bad for him when he realized that he actually was paid on a weekly basis and that there was a police canteen across the street! There was a great sense of time and place. The author wove both very naturally into the story. I can't wait to go back to the beginning and read the first two books in the series.

"You'll feel a lot better if you drink more milk."

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for sending me a copy for review.

Murder by Milk Bottle by Lynn Truss is a Keystone Cops kind of mystery, although it is not so much the mystery as the characters. Chief Inspector Steine is kind of a buffoon but everyone keeps still about it. The last time he and his men had been eating ice cream when the gang shootout happened, killing 45 gang members. He was credited with the genius of the scheme. This time, shot the last remaining bad guy, although it had nothing to do with him knowing what was going on, Sergeant Brunswick is a good guy, really too nice to be a copper and sadly in want of a lady friend. Despite his best efforts he never can seem to find one. In fact, the latest one to stand him up had, indeed, been murdered in lieu of meeting him as she had agreed. She and two others had been killed just hours apart, that night. Each one with milk bottles. Very odd. Constable Twitten was the only one amongst them that had much of a brain, and he, if anything, was too intelligent. It got him in trouble. The last major player is the charwoman at the police station, Mrs. Groynes, was a leader of the local, and indeed, country-wide band of higher level criminals. Twitten knew this and had shared the information with his superiors but they had just rolled their eyes.

The mystery was a good one with multiple facets, all leading to the climax. Twitten kept his nose to the grindstone while the others simply went about their business. It was extremely well-plotted, depending on perfect timing. The characters are to die for m each having thoroughly fleshed out personalities and behaving as the reader would expect in all situations. In many ways it was a comedy of errors, but also well a well-executed plan, which everyone took in stride. In many ways it is outrageously funny, in other ways to close to real life. It is perfect. There is nothing more to say.

I was invited to read a free ARC of Murder by Milk Bottle by Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #murderbymilkbottle

With all the mess going on right now in the world and in the White House, it is almost comforting to be hunting for a killer in 1957 Brighton, England. For three victims have been killed in an unusual way. In fact, it is Murder by Milk Bottle.

Constable Twitten was hoping to have a quiet day. But alas, it was not to be. Three victims with nothing in common beyond their cause of death. A young beauty contest runner-up, a radio comedian, and a policeman? All killed within a three-hour period. Could the new milk bar in town be the reason that milk bottles were used as the weapon?

I’m getting increasingly bored with this series. Constable Twitten must be the most unobservant policeman, or even person, in Britain. He didn’t realize how to collect his pay for six weeks? He didn’t find out about a cafeteria in the police station for even longer? He knows who the Moriarty in Brighton is but doesn’t tell a soul? Speaking of the Moriarty, does she have to be behind all of Brighton’s crimes?

Unfortunately, I can’t recommend Murder by Milk Bottle except for its trip back to a simpler time. 2 stars.

Thanks to Bloomsbury USA and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

So can a book with Murder in the title be charming? Yes, it can. It can also be crazy. So many bodies to keep track of. Set in 1950’s Brighton, it’s the third book in the series. This one wasn't my favorite, but if you're looking for a murder story with some humor you'll enjoy it.

a crazy story from start to finish. You will have to pay attention in order to keep track of the body count in this one. I think I lost track at about 20....but it is an enjoyable ride to get to the bodies.

Constable Twitten, Inspector Steine, and Sergeant Brunswick find themselves faced with three murders, all committed with, well, milk bottles. Set in Brighton in the 1950s, this is meant to be a light tale but somehow much of it fell flat for me. I admit I didn't enjoy the first book and missed the second one so I had high hopes for this installment (I mean, really, murder by milk bottles?). Unfortunately, the humor was too broad for me and the characters not deep enough. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Give it a try if you enjoy blunt British humor.

Really enjoyed this will be recommending to others who enjoy fun light quirky mysteries .Enjoyed the characters the storyline kept me entertained Lynne Truss always rights fun reads.#netgalley #blloomsburybooks.

I enjoyed this book. It was a quick, light, fun read. I would recommend it to others. It checks the boxes for what I look for in a cozy.

A farcical mystery set in 1950s Brighton, featuring crime fiction's most unusual murder weapon. Nothing is as it seems and no one is to be trusted--except for a certain earnest constable determined to solve the Milk Bottle Murders. And to find his locker. If you like Midsomer Murders, humor, and historical mysteries, you'll like this book, the third in the Constable Twitten series.

I had a hard time getting into the story. I usually like this kind of book, but this one was a little more difficult for me to get through. I had to set it down and pick it up a few times before I finished it. The book had its moments with the dry wit that you'd expect from this story. The cast of characters was interesting and I enjoyed the setting as well. I didn't realize that it was part of a series and I guess I might have enjoyed it more if I had read the others.

Brighton, summer of 1957, is the setting for this story. Not one or two but three murders have Constable Twitten, Sergeant Brunswick and Inspector Steine wondering what on earth is going on. Even more puzzling is the manner of death which is one of the most unique and bizarrely over the top I've read! Not believable but that's not the point...this is a lighthearted read, not one in which you get bogged down in details. To me the murders are beside the point.

Witty and dry British humour is my favourite but this particular branch of humour didn't work for me this time. Yes, the book is crazy and quirky which is usually appealing but this wasn't a fit for me. Don't let this dissuade you...it's personal preference.

The book was well written for the most part, truly comical in places, though occasionally a bit disjointed. The British setting is great and the twisty paths to get to resolution are fun. Characters are described and portrayed well, an unusual assortment indeed!

For those sensitive to adult language just know there is some in this book.

My sincere thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review of this book. Much appreciated.

The Constable Twitten books remind me of the British comedy crime movies of the 1950s/60s, like The Ladykillers, The Lavender Hill Mob, or the movies starring Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. If movies like that were still being made, I can just see these books adapted for the screen, with the lively scenes of Brighton’s beach, boardwalk and pier in the 1950s, the featured locations of ice-cream parlors and other Brighton businesses, and a small police station with its regulars of Inspector Steine, Sergeant Brunswick, Constable Twitten, and the ever-present cleaning lady Mrs. Goynes.

Despite the festive air of the August Bank Holiday weekend, Brighton has turned into a hotbed of crime, what with claims of fraud in various amateur competitions, a secretive set of villains in town for a big meeting, and three shocking murders—by milk bottle. Even brainy Constable Twitten is at a loss, so no surprise that the plodding Sergeant Brunswick and the complete dunderhead Inspector Steine haven’t a hope.

With a little help from Mrs. Goynes, and none at all from his amateur psychologizing, Twitten not only solves the convoluted crimes, he also changes his relationships at work for the better.

I enjoy the broad humor and postwar nostalgic flavor of the Twitten novels, and this one is particularly fun with its advertising gimmicks and slogans, BBC quiz shows, and manic plot. It’s also notable for giving us a deeper acquaintance with the regular characters.

Though it’s not absolutely necessary to read this series in order, if you don’t you will miss the origin of the glorious silliness of one ongoing aspect of the plot.

Another entertaining romp from Lynn Truss. As frothy as the foam on a cappuccino, this entertaining mystery makes a perfect holiday read.

A little different cozy mystery, but enjoyed it. Quirky characters and a good story overall. Would recommend this book and author.