Zunächst tat ich mich etwas schwer mit dem Buch und wollte schon fast aufgeben. Zum Glück habe ich es nicht getan, denn nach und nach kam ich immer mehr rein und fand es schließlich höchst vergnüglich.
Es geht um zwei Auftragskiller, die einen dubiosen und skrupellosen Literaturagenten so lang drangsalieren, bis er sein Oper, die arglose Schriftstellerin Cindy Sella schließlich in Ruhe lässt.
Das Buch hat ausgesprochen witzige Gestalten, es ist einfach ein großer Spaß! ( )

I just last week read Martha Grimes' The Way of All Fish. While I probably prefer her Jury mysteries, that book is pretty special. For one thing, it's so funny with two underworld hit men who are bound by principle and only take jobs that they feel are justified. They remind me of many of Elmore Leonard characters, except they are funnier. The puns get more and more outrageous (and more clever) as the story moves along, and Grimes shows off a little now and then with some stellar writing, especially in metaphoric descriptions. She really demonstrates the range of her talent, which is great, in this book. Somewhere along the way, I started thinking "enough already," but overall, it was highly recommendable.
Cassie Wilson ( )

Martha Grimes pokes fun at both the "hit man" and the "mystery" novel in this one, where Karl and Candy investigate whether to take on a case to kill a literary agent, and end up framing him for importing tropical fish illegally. ( )

I'm a huge Martha Grimes fan, and have read all of her books. Somehow I missed Foul Matter though but this book is a sequel to Foul Matter. Because I hadn't read the first book, I wasn't familar with the characters and that made the book puzzling to me right off the bat. But I'm afraid the book remained puzzling to me throughout. This series is supposed to be a spoof on the cutthroat publishing business. The two main characters are contract hitmen by the name of Candy and Karl. These two are the funniest hitmen you'll ever run across. For some reason they have a good reputation in their chosen field of employment, but they don't always kill every person that they receive a contract on. They have to determine if they think the person is reprehensible enough to warrant killing. And they don't hesitate to help someone who they feel needs help. The book is actually quite funny and Ms. Grimes has a wicked sense of humour, but to me the various cons orchestrated by this precious pair throughout the book just got a little nonsensical. I did enjoy the very colourful characters though. ( )