beware women in bars with books

Gary Thorn is a quiet man with a quiet life. He’s a legal assistant, putting together wills and helping out clients when they get arrested. He lives alone, in a small apartment. He doesn’t date. He does have a friend in his apartment building, Grace, a retired IT worker, who lives with her dog Lassoo. Every weekend, Gary will stop by her place with some premade meals, and they sit down together to eat.

Grace is the one he tells about what happened in the pub.

Sometimes at work, the law firm Gary works for uses a private investigator, and the one Gary usually works with is named Brendan. Brendan can be a little much, but Gary is grateful for his hard work and amused by his novelty socks. He’s asked Gary out for a beer before, but something made Gary say yes this time. When the end of the day had rolled around, Gary didn’t really want to go to the pub. He just wanted to go home. But he’d promised, so he went.

When Gary got there, he saw Brendan sitting at the bar, so he headed over to join him. But Gary also saw a beautiful woman sitting alone. He joined Gary and had a couple of drinks. They talked and laughed, and when it was time for Brendan to head out, he slipped his phone number into Gary’s pocket. And Gary noticed the beautiful woman had moved to a table, still by herself.

Gary sat at the tale next to her, and they chatted about her book. It’s a mystery that lots of people are talking about, The Clementine Complex. At one point, Gary excuses himself to go to the bathroom, and when he comes back, the beautiful woman is gone. But she left the book behind for him. He takes it with him, hoping to find that she’s left him her number in it.

The next day, Gary is visited by two men in suits. They say they are investigators and that Brendan is dead. Gary may have been the last person to see him. Gary tells them about his encounter with Brendan at the bar, not believing that he was dead. When he recounts the story to Grace later, she is dubious about the police officers. She puts her IT skills to work trying to find them and comes up with no detectives with the names Gar gave her.

Then Gary realizes that Brendan had also slipped a dongle into his pocket. Grace tries to figure out what’s on it while Gary goes to the apartments that the beautiful woman had talked about, trying to find her again. If nothing else, she might be able to provide him with an alibi, if he needs it. But when he finds her, she says she can’t help. He wants him to forgot all about her. She asks him to leave. He does. But he can’t stop thinking about her.

As Gary tries to put together what is happening, with Grace’s help, he can’t help but worry about the beautiful woman he thinks of as Clementine and how she could be in danger because of all this. He wants to help her, but she pushed him away. Is there a way for him to solve Brendan’s murder, get the cops off his back, and get the girl? Or is he just stuck as a sad, lonely legal assistant?

The Clementine Complex is a comedic mystery from one of England’s favorite comedians, Bob Mortimer. The story is charming and a little absurdist, with a mystery filled with secrets, lies, puzzling connections, and conversations with a local squirrel. There is a lot of talk of pies (meat) and cake (Battenberg), and Lassoo tends to steal his scenes.

There is a lot to lie in The Clementine Complex, but I have to admit that I struggled. The mystery wasn’t too difficult, but it is convoluted, and I had some trouble keeping my attention in the story enough to unravel things easily. I liked it. It has some good characters and a lot of heart. I just didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped it to. Good, not great, but still fun.

Egalleys for The Clementine Complex were provided by Gallery/Scout Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.