Snuff

Starred review from August 15, 2011
Pratchett’s 39th Discworld novel (after 2010’s I Shall Wear Midnight) brings back fan favorite Sam Vimes, the cynical yet extraordinarily honorable Ankh-Morpork City Watch commander also known (if unenthusiastically) as His Grace Sir Samuel, the Duke of Ankh. Vimes faces an onerous task: two weeks off in the country at his wife’s family estate. It’s not the thought of spending time with his beloved Sybil or precocious six-year-old Young Sam that bothers him; it’s just that a copper can’t stop being a copper. Fortunately, even in this conservative hamlet, there’s plenty of skullduggery to investigate, beginning with the brutal murder of a goblin girl. With the help of untried local constable Feeney Upshot and gentleman’s gentleman Willikens, Vimes takes on a fiendish murderer as well as the case for (in)human rights and social justice in this lively outing, complete with sly shout-outs to Jane Austen and gritty police procedurals.

Stephen Briggs has a long history with the Discworld series, having narrated Sam Vimes through many adventures. Here Vimes is on a forced vacation. No matter where he is, however, he's a "copper" who finds crimes to solve. Some familiarity with the series will be useful and, more importantly, will add to the fun. Briggs's sardonic delivery augments the dry humor and the wordplay that is one of Prachett's trademarks. Briggs's versatility is called upon as Vimes's vacation brings him to the country estate of his wife's family, where they hobnob with country society's elite and powerful. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine