Warning to anyone buying this book in hardback!
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I found this book really good up to page 26 - BUT then I noticed the story got a bit disjointed! This was however no fault of Mr. Sharpe; in fact pages 27 - 58 were missing and instead I had a DOUBLE HELPING of pages 59 - 90! In case you hold a copy (that you haven't of course read) or are planning to obtain one please note it was the H/B First Ed. by Andre Deutsch Ltd. 1996, and printed by Clays Ltd. St. Ives plc. I'm now looking for a replacement; it's out of print at CARLTON Books (of 20 Mortimer St., London - who now own the rights) and they have zero stock.
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Well below par.
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Very dissapointing offering from the 'master of the british farce'. Some clever comic situations and the usual mad characters but a little predictable. Could it be that he is not as 'Sharp'as he once was?Far funnier is Conduct Unbecoming by Chris Gaynor.This in a similar vein to Sharpe but a completely different style; however, the laughs are there by the truckload so it is well worth reading if you like this kind of book. Sorry but The Midden did not win me over.
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Good - but not the usual 'sharpe' standard
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This book tells the story of a depressed, middle-aged, battleaxe who suddenly finds herself the victim of the cruelest of frame-ups as a result of the local Police Chiefs hatred of her and her family. The characters are of the usual crisp Sharpe style, with their little idiosynchrasies and foibles, and the plot is as wonderfully bizarre as any of Sharpe's previous works. And yet I felt a little disappointed at the end - mainly because the usual dozen or so 'absolute-belly-laughs-with-tears' weren't present. I don't think that this book is upto Sharpe's usual standard. If you're a newcomer to the works of Sharpe, choose Ancestral Vices or Wilt or one of his other hits first - come to this one only when you've tasted Sharpe at his best. Nevertheless, The Midden still ranks way above the works of many other so-called comedy novelists.
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