Once Upon a Crime cover art

Once Upon a Crime

The hilarious Detective Roger LeCarre parody 'thriller'

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Once Upon a Crime

By: Fergus Craig
Narrated by: Fergus Craig
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About this listen

 THE ABSURD CRIME FICTION PARODY BY FICTIONAL AUTHOR 'MARTIN FISHBACK' - AS SEEN ON BBC TWO

'What's better than a good crime novel? I'll tell you - a spoof crime novel, by the absurdly funny and clever Fergus Craig'
MIRANDA HART

'We all need more laughs like this'
AISLING BEA

Exeter: a city in decline, East Devon's capital of crime.

Detective Roger LeCarre: a man on a quest to rid the world of crime (starting with Devon and Cornwall and then working outwards) so he can concentrate on his watercolours.

LeCarre runs 10km a day but probably burns more calories shaking his head at what has become of his city. Now Exeter is set to become the UK Capital of Culture and the ambitious Lord Mayor wants to turn things around. But when a young man's (dead) body is found in the centre of town, things get murky.

Detective Roger LeCarre is a character never seen before in modern fiction - a tough but troubled detective with a drink problem and a marriage in trouble. Can he find out who killed the young man, save the city and change his energy provider before the new more expensive tariff kicks in?

Filled with drama, eroticism and very specific Wikipedia-sourced information on Devon, Once Upon A Crime is a thriller that takes itself very seriously and that should not, on any account, actually be taken seriously.©2021 Fergus Craig Crime International Mystery & Crime Literature & Fiction Mystery Fiction Witty Detective Suspense

Critic reviews

What's better than a good crime novel? I'll tell you - a spoof crime novel, by the absurdly funny and clever Fergus Craig
Fergus Craig is one of the funniest people I know and this book proves it. I can't wait for you to get involved in his VERY silly thriller. We all need more laughs like this
Laugh out loud funny. Detective Roger Le Carre is a crime-solving comedy GOD
Tea-spittingly hilarious. Shades of Spike Milligan, Douglas Adams and Alan Partridge
Funny and gripping
A book so funny it makes you wish you were the subject of a murder investigation in Exeter
Exceptionally funny... crime writing (in the Exeter area) will never be the same
All stars
Most relevant
Having read this a lot whilst running, you get some strange looks as you start laughing apparently for no reason.

Do not listen to it in public

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I loved this, and sniggered throughout. I'm paraphrasing slightly, but these are the kind of giggles you can expect. "They called New York the city that never sleeps, but Exeter had a 24-hour Tesco, so LeCarre knew he could cope" After talking about the features in his car ""It was sexy AND safe, and, like all safe sex, low on carbon emissions" "A million droplets of rain fell - which, if you think about it, isn't that much rain really, just a shower" "She was still beautiful. Not in a traditional sense, but like an abstract painting or a well-made fish pie are beautiful"

Fabulous fun!

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funny from the start to the very close. loved it and the reading of it. was exactly what I hoped it would be,just wanted more le carre

Hilarious & gripping

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This quirky book won’t be to everyone’s taste, but it appealed to my sense of humour, I really enjoyed following Roger Le Carre’s adventures on the mean streets of Devon (and New York,), as he investigates a double murder. The story is expertly narrated by the author, Fergus Craig.

An enjoyable spoof

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Frankly it's a CRIME that more people haven't purchased this audio book, although it's not actually a crime not to buy it. As that would be impossible to police, you really should buy it because its really rather good and its a book about crime, which is why this is really a brilliant review.

A novel worthy of Exeter's man of the year. .

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