It's Christmas in Aberystwyth. The tourists have gone home. The latest movie starring Clip the Sheepdog is on at the cinema. And a man wearing a red and white robe is found brutally murdered in a Chinatown alley. A single word is scrawled in his blood on the pavement: Hoffmann. But who is Hoffmann? Thus begins the latest hilarious adventure in the "Louie Knight" series.

Mae'n Nadolig yn Aberystwyth. Mae'r twristiaid wedi mynd adref. Mae'r ffilm ddiweddara am Clip y Ci Defaid ymlaen yn y sinema. Ac mae dyn yn gwisgo gŵn coch a gwyn wedi cael ei lofruddio yn lôn Chinatown. Mae un gair i'w ganfod wedi ei ysgrifennu'n grynedig ar y palmant mewn gwaed: Hoffmann. Ond pwy yw Hoffmann? Dyma ddechrau ar yr antur diweddara' yng nghyfres "Louie Knight".

Father Christmas has been murdered in a dark alley in Aberystwyth. The Queen of Denmark, recognising him as one of her citizens, is offering a signed first edition of the works of Kierkegaard as a reward for information leading to an arrest. She contacts a local private detective – calling from a pay phone and reversing the charges. It’s another case for Louie Knight and his lovely assistant, Calamity.

OK, I’m hooked, possibly the last person in the world, let alone west Wales, to join the Louie Knight cult – even beaten to it by my eleven-year-old son, who snorted with frustration when I said I needed to borrow the book before he’d finished reading it. This is not really a cross-over book, but I can understand the appeal for a boy moving on to adult fiction. Malcolm Pryce offers everything you would expect of a good detective story: a strong central plot with a suitably confusing plethora of sub-plots, loads of characters (a number of whom inevitably die), a powerful narrative voice with plenty of sharp dialogue and the essential wry and dry musings on the meaning of life. In my head, the book was read to me by the drawling, gravelly voice of Philip Marlowe (pace Raymond Chandler).

Don’t Cry for Me Aberystwyth is a good-fun read, a clever and light-hearted take on the great tradition of crime fiction.

Suzy Ceulan Hughes

It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.

Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatâd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.