A Wee Review - The Delegates' Choice by Ian Sansom

The Delegates’ Choice is the third of Ian Sansom’s wonderful Mobile Library Series, set in the fictional town of Tumdrum, Northern Ireland. It was recently re-released as The Book Stops Here and given a funky new cover. Sansom fans may have noticed that Amazon.co.uk have marketed The Book Stops Here as part four of the series. They’ve even got an offer in which you can buy it and The Delegates’ Choice together at a reduced price. This is a mistake. Buy one or the other, but not both.

Whatever the title, the third of The Mobile Series is another fine example of Sansom’s wit and incredible writing ability. These novels just get better and better.

It’s been six months since Israel Armstrong arrived in Northern Ireland to take up the post of Tumdrum’s mobile librarian. And now he’s going home! Linda Wei, Israel’s boss, has nominated him and the mobile library driver, Ted Carson, to attend the Mobile Library Meet in London, where they can take part in conferences and network with colleagues. But more importantly, they’ve finally enough in the budget to see about a new mobile library. Israel is, of course, over the moon at the prospect. Ted... has reservations about the whole idea. Namely, he doesn’t like the English, and he doesn’t think they need to upgrade the old Bedford library. A lick of paint, a new clutch, some brake pads, an engine overhaul and a wee bit of a clean, and she’s as good as new. But Israel won’t miss this opportunity, so he strikes a deal with Ted, involving a £1000 bet, and they’re off on their next adventure. England bound! The stuff of Israel’s dreams. But the dream doesn’t last. For one, the mobile library gets nicked within twenty-four hours of their arrival.

And so, it’s a new job for Israel and Ted, our amateur detective duo.

The relationship between the crime-solving pair seems to reach a new level in this instalment of the series. In The Case of the Missing Books and Mr Dixon Disappears, Israel spends a lot of time on his own. However, due to the travel arrangements, first to England, then up and down the country, Israel and Ted spend most of the book joined at the hip. And this situation lends ample opportunity to some of the snappiest dialogue they’ve exchanged to date. I love how Sansom gives each character a chance to mount the soapbox and browbeat the other. From lessons on political correctness from Israel to lectures on plain common sense from Ted, I could read about these two getting on each other’s nerves for another three books. So hurry up and get book four on the shelf, Mr Sansom!

And it’s not just the humour that hooked me in. Israel, as usual, is forlorn. But he seems to have a little more reason to complain than usual. Life is moving on. Or he is. Either way, I can identify with a lot of what the twenty-nine-year-old is going through. He’s gotten to a stage in his life where he needs to take a good look and see what’s working and what isn’t. Naturally, Gloria, the girlfriend he hasn’t seen for six months, is long overdue a visit.

At times, I found myself rooting for our librarian/detective. At others, I’d to refrain from screaming at the pages. It’s a frustrating thing to witness, but ultimately rewarding, as by the denouement, Israel has advanced a few steps in sorting out his life. And yet, he still has a fair way to go.

As I suspected, The Delegates’ Choice (and The Book Stops Here) is an engaging, hilarious, fun-filled read, and I’m willing to bet Ian Sansom will only get better. In writer-years, he’s barely a pup, but already a master of his craft. Having read three Sansom books at this point, I have to say, he’s proved himself a worthy alternative to Bateman. Is there room for two giants in the NI comedy crime fiction arena? There better be, because they both deserve to be recognised as the talented scribes that they are.

A Wee Review - Mr Dixon Disappears by Ian Sansom

Mr Dixon Disappears continues where Ian Sansom’s The Case of the Missing Books leaves off. Israel Armstrong, the latest and not-so-greatest Northern Irish amateur detective, gets himself caught up in another case. The second of The Mobile Library series takes place once again in the small Antrim Coast town, Tumdrum, and all the ingredients that made the first instalment work so well are all present. And there’s an extra pinch of comedy in there, if I’m any judge.

When Mr Dixon, the man at the helm of the legendary Dixon and Pickering’s department store, disappears, Israel finds himself the chief suspect. Having arrived to the store early to set up his five-panel touring exhibition dedicated to the Dixon and Pickering legacy, he happens to be first on the scene when the store’s caretaker discovers that both Mr Dixon and £100,000 have gone missing. And because he’s rather clueless in the ways of thievery, he manages to get his fingerprints all over the safes that have been relieved of their cash. And so, despite the fact that Israel’s co-worker and almost-friend, Ted, insists that Israel couldn’t be trusted to go for a loaf of bread, Israel is lifted, bundled into a cell, interviewed by the police, suspended from his job and forced to investigate the case to prove his own innocence.

Again, Israel takes to amateur detection like a duck to rollerblades. No matter how many crime fiction novels he attempts to read he just can’t get into the right frame of mind. Perhaps it’s the lack of whiskey and dames? Maybe it’s the fact that he’s a mobile librarian? Or is it because he’s a young Jewish man from north London, lovelorn, misunderstood and hapless, who couldn’t be more out of his element? Whatever the reason, his hard-line questioning of suspects usually leads to a guilty admission of overdue books and little more. So, he has to swallow his pride and ask his co-worker, Ted, to help him out of bother again. Together, they are a crime solving dynamic duo... well, sort of.

I truly enjoyed this trek through fondly familiar territory. The first instalment of The Mobile Library series set the bar high, and Mr Dixon Disappears has pushed it up another notch. Sansom’s sometimes dithering and sometimes razor-sharp prose elegantly reflects Israel’s not-so-elegant personality. There’s a slightly harder edge to the “crime” the plot is based around. Part one seemed a little soft as the main drama revolved around a heap of missing books. In this one a person and a goodly amount of money vanishes into thin air. You can see how that might create a little more tension, can’t you?

My favourite part of the book? The thinly veiled Stephen Nolan character. I truly hope Sansom sent a copy of the book into the Nolan show. If not, I might be tempted to tip them off with an anonymous email. I’m sure the star of the biggest show in Ulster would take it in good humour. I did notice that he included the portly BBC Radio Ulster DJ in the book’s acknowledgements, so, you know, there’s an element of respect there. Ahem.

So, you’re looking for a fresh spin on Northern Irish comedy-crime fiction? You really need to check out The Mobile Library series. Mr Dixon Disappears is further proof; Ian Sansom is a comic genius!