The Better Mousetrap

By Tom Holt

Book Overview

'Tom Holt's comic fantasy is a great, uplifting read, fit to grace any reader's book collection' - Waterstones Books Quarterly

'Holt's quirky characters and whimsical voice successfully infuse life into this entertaining romantic comedy' - Publishers Weekly

It touches all our lives; our triumphs and tragedies, our proudest achievements, our most traumatic disasters. Alloyed of love and fear, death and fire and the inscrutable acts of the gods, insurance is indeed the force that binds the universe together.

Hardly surprising, therefore, that Frank Carpenter, one of the foremost magical practitioners of our age, felt himself irresistibly drawn to it. Until, that is, he met Jane, a high-flying corporate heroine with an annoying habit of falling out of trees and getting killed. Repeatedly.

It's not long before Frank and Jane find themselves face to face with the greatest enigma of our times: When is a door not a door? When it's a mousetrap.

A madcap comic fantasy from one of Britain's funniest writers.

Books by Tom Holt:

Walled Orchard Series
Goatsong
The Walled Orchard

J.W. Wells & Co. Series
The Portable Door
In Your Dreams
Earth, Air, Fire and Custard
You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But It Helps
The Better Mousetrap
May Contain Traces of Magic
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sausages

YouSpace Series
Doughnut
When It's A Jar
The Outsorcerer's Apprentice
The Good, the Bad and the Smug

Novels
Expecting Someone Taller
Who's Afraid of Beowulf
Flying Dutch
Ye Gods
Overtime
Here Comes the Sun
Grailblazers
Faust Among Equals
Odds and Gods
Djinn Rummy
My Hero
Paint your Dragon
Open Sesame
Wish you Were Here
Alexander at World's End
Only Human
Snow White and the Seven Samurai
Olympiad
Valhalla
Nothing But Blue Skies
Falling Sideways
Little People
Song for Nero
Meadowland
Barking
Blonde Bombshell
The Management Style of the Supreme Beings
An Orc on the Wild Side

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0058M7UPI
• ISBN13: 9781841495040
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Orbit UK
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.9" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Very imaginative, funny tale

This is the second book by Tom Holt that I have read. The first was "Falling Sideways" and I'm grateful that the plot of this one was easier to keep track of. Frank Carpenter owns a portable door and goes about his life zipping through time and space at will, occasionally making millions of dollars working for an insurance company. Frank is sent to prevent the death of (and therefore payout of life insurance for) a pest control worker (dragonslayer) named Emily Spitzer (I'm not sure why the Product Description says her name is Jane) who doesn't seem to have much luck staying alive, no matter how many times he goes back to save her. From there the story becomes interesting, with lots of laugh-out-loud punchlines involving big business, Americans, and true love. The ending seems a bit rushed and thrown together, but that's fine since the story as a whole is paced well and keeps you guessing. I keep mentally comparing Tom Holt to Douglas Adams, and I think fans of DNA will appreciate this author. Thumbs up!