I found this slightly-battered softcover at a local thrift shop, and nabbed it for another release copy.

I did enjoy this story, though I found it uneven in places. Lots of puns, including names like Bella Pok and Mrs. Midsomer Knight, though my favorite wasn't a name at all: at one point in the story, Box is forced to take a bicycle in order to make a silent approach to a suspected opium den, and he mentions that he's "never been a, shall we say, fan de cycle". I sniggered for quite a while over that one!

The hero, Lucifer Box, presented me with a bit of a problem; he's not just a roguish hero who sometimes takes liberties with the law, he's actually more of a villain, whose position as secret agent/assassin happens to suit his style. And while he may not go out of his way to do harm to people other than his assigned targets, he's not always very fussy about "collateral damage". We do hear his story in his own words, which has the odd side effect of making me find him a bit less amusing or fascinating than I might have done if the story had been in the third person - but then again, it's his own self-congratulatory tone as he talks about how devilish he is that sets the tone for the book.

The mystery reminded me of some of Jules Verne's plots - though with considerably more sex and explicit violence than Verne ever dealt with. And it's equal-opportunity sex, as Box cheerfully attempts the seduction of Bella and the delightfully insoucient Charles ("Call me Charlie") Jackpot. [He has better luck with Charlie, if you don't count the number of times he has to rescue his new valet.]

There's a graphic-novel version of the story available as well; rather fun...

I left this book on a bench in the entrance of the Black Birch gastro-pub at 2 Government St. at around 4:30, after having some very good beer and tasty food. Hope the finder enjoys the book!

*** Released for the 2017 Oh, the Places We Can Go release challenge. ***