Aberystwyth Mon Amour by
Malcolm Pryce
Schoolboys are disappearing all over Aberystwyth and nobody knows why. Louie Knight, the town's private investigator is approached by Myfanwy Montez, the gorgeous star of Wales' most notorious nightclub, the Moulin, to ask him to track down her missing cousin, Evans the Boot. Fuelled by a diet of double ice-creams with extra ripple from Sopsan, philosopher cum Mr Whippy, Louie delves deep into the murky goings on. Lovespoon, the Welsh teacher and grand Wizard of the Druids, seems to be implicated. Is he more than just a sinister bully? And what of the sadistic games teacher and the mysterious Gwenno Guevara?
This version of Aberystwyth is set in a slightly skew-whiff Wales where the Druids run the show and the populace is still haunted by the legacy of the war in Patagonia. Pryce's black comedy is a greatly affectionate homage to the tradition of the hard-boiled private eye novel rewritten to include all the sights, smells and sounds of a Welsh seaside town (donkeys, seafood stalls, Punch and Judy), redolent with - often hilarious - references to Welsh culture and eloquent on the terrors of school life. Refreshing and funny, with moments of emotional depth that take us beyond the pastiche, Aberystwyth Mon Amour should be snapped up by the Welsh Tourist Board and sold throughout the land. Brilliant.
Manchester Evening News 27.07.01
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