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Jacques Sauna-Lurker, a curator, is found dead in a hallway of the National Art Gallery in London. The murder weapon, you ask? Why, it’s none other than a three-foot codfish that has been inserted into his windpipe. Luckily, before he died, he had time to write a coded message on a mural of the Last Supper.
Robert Donglan, London’s foremost anagrammatologist (expert on codes and anagrams), is called on for his expertise, only to find that his fingerprints are on every one of the fish’s scales. Sophie Nudevue, who is with the Surite, a specialist branch of the French police, comes to his side and helps him escape the scene.
The codes that were left for Donglan to decipher? “CCC” or “COD” and something about a Colt and the Catholic Church. As you can see, it’s going to be a hard nut to crack. Even with the help of a bright, attractive Sophie Nudevue, Robert Donglan doesn’t seem to be able to crack an egg, let alone any deep secrets concerning the Conspiratus Opi Dei, the organization with all the hidden truths. While working together to solve the case, Donglan speaks some bad French, which is translated into bad English. He continues to march to the tune of his own drummer and is persistently clueless.
They call on the help of Father Hook of Our Lady of the Silver Scales and a Baronet, Sir Herbert Teabag, both close friends of the murder victim. Teabag has an odd form of Tourret syndrome and isn’t afraid to use it in one chapter with a bit of slapstick comedy.
The danger that awaits this crew of characters doesn’t stop them from exploring the truth about Leonardo Di Vinci’s sister. Could she hold the key—or, in this case, the fish?
This whodunit and quest to find the answers of the ages is written with a hilarious redundancy that I normally like in small doses—but Brine goes on and on through the whole book, and it gets a little tiring and, well, redundant. Even still, I did find myself laughing out loud at the purposeful, bad writing. What I thought was going to be a page-turner, though, ended up losing my interest halfway through. However, I did finish it and was left a little disappointed, as the plot was weak and the redundancies grew old. The ending may satisfy readers, though, as all of your questions will be answered—and then some.
I wanted something lighter than The Da Vinci Code, and that’s exactly what I got. If you’re looking for some funny dialogue or a silly, nonsensical read, then this one’s for you.
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