Upon reaching the final page of this book; reeling from a lack of panache, precision and brevity I involuntarily blinked in relief at the blessed release from this “acorned swill of the world”. Contrived and convoluted description bearing none of the carefully constructed forethought, vision and elegance of the Welshman (D.M.T); “The Unbearable …” had worn my patience thinner than would have modelling strudel pastry starring on “The Great British Bake-Off”.

I do ‘get it’. I can see why a number of members of Goodreads have really enjoyed “The Unbearable Lightness…”. I expect they’ll go on to read and enjoy Dylan Thomas, Richard Brautigan, and to watch Ronnie Barker (at, for example, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0q-u_...) and to enjoy the sound of John Lennon’s lyrical drug-fuelled passage through the 1960s.

Fundamentally I really liked Malcolm Pryce’s wicked sense of humour. All I ask is that he should give me time and space to savour his work, rather than be swept off my feet as if by the truly ferocious storm force winds and waves which battered the seafront (and much more) at Aber’ this last winter; and which has given me the metaphor for both my experience of “The Unbearable …” and for Mr Pryce.

It's a good deal of fun with a dollop of cleverness. Unlike conventional mysteries, satires can grate after a while. Still, Pryce is able to wind the cords of the story into a stronger rope and lash his fictional Aberystwyth into a mostly believable construct. I admire Pryce's writing more for Louie's insights away from the main thrust of the cases, where the exposition occasionally ventures towards the lyrical. Still an enjoyable read, but I'll venture on to something else before tackling the next book in the series ...

A cut above the usual run of comedic Welsh crime noir.

A unique trio of novels into an alternate Aberystwyth. There is a something for everyone, wth humor, action, colorful characters, philosophy, a dark and gritty underworld, and the perseverance of the Knight(s) Errant.

getting comfortable with his genre, and having fun with it - suspense dashed at one point by the protagonist falling asleep at the point of a denouement - it's still a lot of fun, with a jaded Welsh seaside twist.

The third in the Louie Knight series, desperate for cash Louie takes on the mysterious case of a missing monkey, but once involved the underworld of Aberystwyth is not prepared to let anyone know its secrets. When Louie’s love, Myfanwy, disappears it really becomes personal. A darker take on the Louie Knight series this time, but the Welsh humour also shines through.

Hilarious fun. Not read any noir before so as a Welsh woman this was a great intro. Gripping stuff with as many twists as a bucket of lug worms.

There’s a story (probably apocryphal) about Elizabeth Taylor’s umpteenth groom lamenting the prospect of his imminent wedding night with the thought: “I know what to do, the difficulty is, how do I make it interesting.”

A similar problem exists with Malcolm Pryce’s THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING IN ABERYSTWYTH. It’s his third foray into private investigator Louie Knight’s brooding strolls through the mean streets of the eponymous Welsh town. And it proves a case of ‘Been there, done that.”

If I’d read this before Last Tango in Aberystwyth I probably would have warmed to it much more. That book was a joyous introduction to Pryce’s outrageous fantasy world; it was a fresh, inventive, bizarre and a hugely funny original parody of the American crime novels of the 40s and 50s set, incongruously, in a place that must be the very antithesis of LA – the eternally Sunday-quiet and sleepily conservative seaside town on the west Wales coast.

Pryce has, understandably, sought to cash in on his dazzlingly innovative cocktail of Raymond Chandler and the Brothers’ Grimm meet Chapel-World. He populates Aberystwyth with improbable speakeasies, good-time gals, vicious hoods and hard-nosed cops. And his Humphrey Bogart protagonist, Knight, wisecracks his way effortlessly through the pages spraying similes like the indiscriminate bullets from a Tommy-gun. Who could blame Pryce for that? But, as clever and colourful as the initial idea was, this is a one-trick pony. A pony that wouldn’t be out of place among Eeyore’s tired and dispirited donkeys that traipse endlessly up and down the sands of Aberystwyth’s beach.

Ultimately, there is an unbearable lightness about this book. Maybe it’s time for Pryce to stop having Knight lick Sospan’s ice creams on the front and, just possibly, reverse the premise: perhaps he could now consider telling us a surreal tale of an Aberystwyth yokel, on his return from the “Patagonian War”, passing through and being bedazzled by the blinding neon lights and seductively swaying palms of Sunset Boulevard, as he seeks some comfort in the Sun-city’s only Welsh chapel.

It could even feature another monkey and an organ-grinder; different accents, of course.

A bit Jasper Ffordish -- black comedy/ comic fantasy. Can't wait for the next one

Book 3 of the series and on a par with Book 2, a complicated, multi-layered story, with flashes of humour, but a very dark side. Oh and lots of shovel wielding. Louie really should get a hard hat!
The usual characters (suspects) are joined by some new, unusual ones, in a great story.

They're still recurring then. Bloody hell. I know it's a small town and everything but there must be more than three or four stock villains in the entire play. And Brainbocs as well, he's starting to get on my nerves a bit too. But still, it's a good little read although - again - not as hilarious as people from the Big Issue, the Metro or the Telegraph would have me believe.

Another (part 3) in the series of Malcolm Pryces' world of noir set in darkest Aberystwyth.