The Awful Truth About The Herbert Quarry Affair


Fiction - Humor/Comedy
298 Pages
Reviewed on 08/04/2022
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    Book Review

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

The Awful Truth About The Herbert Quarry Affair is a work of fiction in the dark humor subgenre. It is best suited to mature readers owing to the use of strong language throughout and was penned by Denis Shaughnessy, writing as the central character of the book itself, Marco Ocram. In this first novel of The Awful Truth series, Marco finds that he has written himself deep into trouble, thanks to his mentor’s encouragement to write with total freedom and devoid of thought. When his mentor, Herbert Quarry, finds himself caught at the scene of his lover's murder, it’s up to Marco to write them both out of this terrible mess.

This fascinating work of satirical mystery fiction has much to offer those who have grown tired of the many tropes and conventions of the typical murder mystery. Denis Shaughnessy has plenty of tricks up his sleeve writing in the guise of the surreal Marco Ocram. This book breaks just about every taboo that publishers tell new authors to stay miles away from. The book does it so bravely in the narrative style, dialogue, and plot delivery that it cannot fail to bring a brazen smile to the faces of rebellious readers everywhere. I also enjoyed the character development and the mentorship between Herbert and Marco, which was suitably sharp-witted and ridiculous in all the right places. I would recommend The Awful Truth About The Herbert Quarry Affair to fans of convention-breaking and highly engaging mystery tales.

Owlbert Owl

Such originality and hilarity in one book it will blow your mind trying to work out the plot and how the author Denis Shaughnessy conceived the idea of Marco Ocram writing the story as the book progresses. This book and all the others in the Marco Ocram series are incredibly well written and there is nothing out there which compares to them and they should all be winning multiple book awards and prizes.

Steph Warren

This book is utterly amazing - definitely up there with my all-time faves.

Marco's meta adventures in crime fiction and fictional investigation bring a completely fresh approach to the mystery genre and are delightfully entertaining too.

I agree that it's the intelligent construction and clever wit that makes the book so appealing and concur with your assessment that it will bring a smile to its readers' faces.

AJ Farrelly

Another ludicrously fantastic adventure for our writer/hero Marco Ocram. Denis Shaugnessy revives, extends and adds to all the mind twisting meta-gags that his readers have come to know and love. As per usual, there is a a belly-laugh on every page and, if you didn't get that joke, don't worry - there's another one in the next paragraph.
The 'Awful Truth' series is one of the most truly original bodies of work that you will ever read. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Nooshafarin Ravaghi

I absolutely loved The Awful Truth about the Herbert Quarry Affair. With a great story, lessons for writers, a brilliant sense of humor, and an unparalleled style, Denis Shaughnessy, a.k.a Marco Ocram, does it again! I recommend this book to anyone who can smile.