After You With a Pistol

By Kyril Bonfiglioli

Cult classics in the UK since their first publication there in the 1970s, Kyril Bonfiglioli's wickedly fun mysteries featuring the Honorable Charlie Mortdecai degenerate aristocrat, amoral art dealer, seasoned epicurean, unwilling assassin, and general knave-about-Piccadilly are favorites of Stephen Fry and Julian Barnes, among others.

Charlie's back in After You with the Pistol, along with his new bride, Joanna, and his thuggish manservant, Jock. He's also still drinking too much whiskey and anything else he can get his hands on which makes it all the more difficult to figure out what the beautiful and fabulously wealthy Joanna is up to when she tries to convince Charlie to kill the Queen. Suffice it to say, Joanna is not quite what she seems. Don't miss this brilliant mixture of comedy, crime, and suspense.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Release date: Feb 1, 2005
• ISBN: 9781468307863

Reviews for After You With a Pistol

[sharonmariabidwell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The second Mordecai novel is easier to read and funnier than the first, though I struggled to overlook a distasteful account of what should be a woman’s response to rape. I can attribute this to other times as I’m not one to judge people from the past by today’s standards, but it spoilt an otherwise entertaining read.

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found this more readable than the first one but still by the end I didn't really care about what was happening with the characters or the outcome, the minor rant about feminsts trying to take over was yawnsome and the dialogue was occasionally overwrought with dialogue. Particularly the Chinese. Still Charlie getting caught up in assassination and murder after marrying Johanna Krampf was diverting, but it made me want to read some Saint novels to remind myself why I enjoy this kind of book.

[clq_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After You With the Pistol is the second book in the Mortecai trilogy, and it is no worse than the first one. The story in this book is more coherent than in the first, and makes for a reasonably good genre-parody. Mortdecai has been spared his life in exchange for marrying a slightly crazy, very rich American woman. As part of the deal he also finds himself acting as a double (or triple, or maybe quadruple) agent. His wife then requests something very special from him on their wedding night...The writing in this second instalment is a little more edgy than in the first book, adding to the general style and atmosphere. Most of the humour from the first book is preserved, though I was left with the impression that it has lost some of the playful light-heartedness. Fortunately there is still more than enough left to go around. Overall, a funny and highly satisfying read.

[joeltallman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This sequel to Don't Point That Thing At Me is just that much weaker than its predecessor, but still has twice the zing of most books of its type.