The Stranger Times gang interacting and their banter are what I've grown to really like with this series. As the third book covers so much of what has gone before, I wouldn’t recommend starting here, but I would heartily recommend going back to the beginning. Saying that strange things are afoot at the offices of The Stranger Times is a bit like telling someone that the Pope is a Catholic but bear with me because they are weird even by Banecroftian standards. I would thoroughly recommend this series to lovers of Brookmyre, Pratchett or Urban Fantasy in general. I don't think I can recommend reading this as a standalone but you can definitely read it while not perfectly remembering what happend in the previous one.

I'm not sure if you'd be able to read this as a stand alone but I would seriously recommend reading The Stranger Times and This Charming Man anyway. I have to admit that I felt deep compassion for this loudmouthed, uncouth character whose manners are as inexcusable as his own personal hygiene, and I followed the narrative thread concerning his quest with great trepidation. After being visited by the ghost of his dead wife (sort of) Vincent Banecroft becomes a man on a mission. At the start of this book we are told that Hannah, the protagonist of the last two has gone back to her scumbag of a husband without ceremony.So how did I find myself checking the video doorbell from work to see if this blue jacketed, slightly mirrored tome had reached the damppebbles residence? In this time of crisis, is her decision to swan off to a fancy new-age retreat run by a celebrity cult really the best thing for anyone? For example, DI Tom Sturgess turns up a handful of times, querying the disappearance of an occasional contributor to the paper. We dive straight in to the mysteries, as we find that Hannah has left The Stranger Times to go back to her ex-husband. Took me longer to get into than the first two, and I flipped and flopped between really enjoying it, and not being motivated to carry on reading.

He performed all around the world, had several well-received Edinburgh shows and supported acts such as Sarah Millican on tour before hanging up his clowning shoes to concentrate on writing. I was pleased to pick out the ‘correct’ fictional conspiracy theory, which sub-plot was excellently put together. P’s, ‘The Stranger Times’ world is a breath of fresh air after a full pack of mint chewies, or a shot of vodka. Hannah has left The Stranger Times for an exclusive retreat exploring the benefits of giving her marriage a second try. As for Banecroft, he is a man obsessed: since making contact with the voice of his departed wife, he has been so concentrated on unraveling this mystery that he left everything else unravel around him, including his own well-being.His ingenuity and pure sense of fun is evident throughout all his writing and his pure brilliance in depicting a character or a scene is 100% and uniquely his own. And as far as the plot is concerned, I’m aware I said next to nothing about it, but to do so would run the risk of spoiling your enjoyment, so I will only say that some of the threads that started in the previous two books reach here their – quite satisfactory – fruition, and prepare the ground, or so I hope, for future stories set in the quirkiest newspaper I ever learned about. We catch up with the gang, as chaos reigns, and we're introduced to a new assistant editor Rosie, who is a great character. Welcome back to Manchester and the weird and wonderful environment of the offices of The Stranger Times.

Now, of course the main characters are tangled in the big thing more and more, but somehow it feels like we have small, funny moments that often felt a bit separate from the main thing. And as this is the culmination of one of the series’ overarching plot threads, you need to know about Banecroft, his wife and Simon Brush. Besides the humor, there are some of the most heartwarming moments in this series that will leave their marks on you. I think I might pick out Gordon's monologue on the characteristics of various bird species… - great writing.There was also nowhere near enough of a certain dashing policeman in evidence, with or without his live-in friend. The missing person is an ex-contributor to the paper and their colleagues have the tough job of working out which article has clearly upset the wrong people. Another thing was how the "MHHHH, MANSPLAINING" type overused, unimaginative, unoriginal comments are getting more frequent. If it might seem that all these diverging narrative threads could be a recipe for a confusing read, think again, because CK McDonnell does weave them quite masterfully into a cohesive whole that evolves into a veritable page-turner once the story establishes its “legs”: the shortish chapters, which move from one character to the other, encourage you to keep reading, and as the questions and the revelations pile up it becomes almost impossible not to let oneself be swept up in the current of events.

Hannah has gone to investigate a retreat, known as the Pinter Institute, Stella and Betty try to find out what is going on with Banecroft and Sturgess involves Ox and Reggie in trying to find out who took a conspiracy theorist from his house and threw him in a van.We understand more about why the previous agreements that kept the magic hidden are breaking down and the threats posed to inhabitants of the city. And if you've ever had to deal with company audits, there's a great moment in this book where Grace is having to haul in boxes of documents for an audit. The characters are as quirky and endearing as ever, even as they are growing and changing; the dialogue is witty; the plot is gripping and a perfect balance of humour and pathos, intrigue and action. is a former stand up comedian who has created a world (a slightly different Manchester) that I would love to visit but certainly not like to stay!