''Mortdecai'' is a series of comic thriller novels written by English author

Kyril Bonfiglioli Kyril Bonfiglioli (born Cyril Emmanuel George Bonfiglioli; 29 May 1928 – 3 March 1985) was a British art dealer, magazine editor and comic novelist. His eccentric and witty '' Mortdecai'' novels have gained a following since his death. Biograph ...

. The book series deals with the

picaresque The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for ' rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrupt ...

adventures of a dissolute aristocratic art dealer named Charlie Mortdecai, accompanied on his adventures by his manservant Jock. The books consisted of ''Don't Point That Thing at Me'', ''After You with the Pistol'', ''Something Nasty in the Woodshed'' and ''The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery''. The books have been translated into several languages including Spanish, French, Italian, German and Japanese. First published in the 1970s, the novels have been described as having

cult status A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, book ...

,"Don't Point That Thing at Me by Kyril Bonfiglioli"
Sunday Times. Retrieved 17 October 2014
The independent. Retrieved 17 October 2014 although a writer in ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

'' said that "readers are pretty much evenly divided between those who relish the books' unflinching, un-PC meanness, and those who are appalled".

Synopsis

''The Mortdecai Trilogy''

''Published out of chronological order''

''Don't Point that Thing at Me'' (1972)

(Reissued 2015 as ''Mortdecai'' in a film tie-in edition) Mortdecai embroils himself in a plot with a stolen

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, an ...

and the blackmail of a highly placed social figure. He manages to get Martland to have him issued with a diplomatic

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

in order to secretly take the Goya to his buyer, Krampf, in

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. However, Krampf is dead, and Mortdecai is in over his head. The book ends with Mortdecai apparently killing his manservant Jock and going out in a shoot-out with Martland and Martland's men. The book was awarded the 1973 CWA New Blood Dagger for the best crime novel by a hitherto unpublished writer.

''After You with the Pistol'' (1979)

Johanna coerces Mortdecai into marriage and a plot to assassinate the

Queen of the United Kingdom The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British cons ...

''Something Nasty in the Woodshed'' (1976)

Mortdecai travels to the isle of

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

amidst his increasing unpopularity, and becomes embroiled in the manhunt for a

rapist Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person wh ...

Related books

''All the Tea in China'' (1978)

A historical prequel about one of Charlie's Dutch ancestors, Karli Mortdecai Van Cleef. Partly inspired by ''The China Clippers'' by

Basil Lubbock Alfred Basil Lubbock MC (9 September 1876 – 3 September 1944 at Monks Orchard, Seaford) was a British historian, sailor and soldier. He was a prolific writer on the last generation of commercial sailing vessels in the Age of Sail. He was an e ...

''The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery'' (1999)

Unfinished due to Bonfiglioli's death, the book was completed by Craig Brown. Another international chase climaxes in a showdown in Buckinghamshire.

Publication

The first three novels were collected as ''The Mortdecai Trilogy''. The book was published by Black Spring Press in 1991. Bonfiglioli's second wife Margaret Bonfiglioli wrote and compiled a posthumous anthology of works and anecdotes, called ''The Mortdecai ABC'' ( UK: Penguin / Viking, 2001). Three of the Mortdecai titles are also featured in ''Fish Who Answer the Telephone'', a compendium of bizarre books & titles.

Film adaptation

The book was adapted into a feature film by

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

, with

Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...

in the title role.

David Koepp David Koepp (; born June 9, 1963) is an American screenwriter and director. He is the fourth most successful screenwriter of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a total gross of over $2.6 billion. Koepp has achieved both critical ...

directed the film on a script by Eric Aronson. The film was released on 23 January 2015, but was a critical and commercial failure.

References

External links

Mortdecai page
at Clerical Detectives
Article on the trilogy
at

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

* {{IMDb title, qid=Q15103254 British novels adapted into films British thriller novels Clerical mysteries