The Kellerby Code by Jonny Sweet: A Book Club Discussion

whatcathyreadnextLeave a comment

About the Book

In a world he can’t afford, Edward is just about getting by. He spends his days scurrying after his friends, doing everything to prove his value. But not to worry; the attention of his beloved Stanza and the respite he finds in her ancestral home, Kellerby House, provide all the reward he needs.

Until he realises that Stanza is in love with his best friend, Robert, forcing Edward to re-evaluate what those closest to him are actually worth. No price is too high to stop the life he has strived for slipping from his grip. Especially when he won’t be the one paying.

Format: Paperback (384 pages) Publisher: Faber and Faber
Publication date: 27th February 2025 Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Crime

Find The Kellerby Code on Goodreads

Purchase The Kellerby Code from Bookshop.org [Disclosure: If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops]

The Discussion

The Kellerby Code was the April pick of the book club run by Waterstones in Reading.

Everyone agreed the book was very funny. As you’d expect from an author who started out as a comedian, there are great one-liners, witty dialogue and acerbic observation. For example, when Edward is introduced to one of Stanza’s schoolfriends, Dinita.

They were told immediately that she was heading up inclusivity, diversity and outreach at Hendepul, a global television firm, and that her employers didn’t at all understand black youth. Dinita had moved to London from Iran, where her father was involved in oil, been educated at public school and now lived in a large house in Notting Hill, but still: ‘These people just do not understand the average immigrant experience.’

There are some very amusing scenes. One I’d pick out is a dinner party hosted by Robert at which, as a parlour game, each guest is handed a folded piece of paper describing a personality trait or conversational tic they must perform. At the end of the evening others must guess what it was. Edward adopts his given persona so enthusiastically it causes alarm to other guests. However, there was a point in the book (involving a horse) where people felt the humour tipped over into absurdity.

Quite a few of us found pretty much all the characters unlikeable. Personally that meant I couldn’t really care what happened to them whilst others absolutely rejoiced in a book with so many unlikeable characters. There were mixed opinions about Edward. Some felt sorry for him. Others (me included) felt his original actions had unintended consequences meaning he increasingly lost control of events. One person, drawing on the comparisons to Patricia Highsmith’s character Ripley, thought Edward was a portrait of a psychopath. And they had a point because events turn increasingly macabre with Edward displaying an unexpected, or perhaps up until now repressed, capacity for violence.

The author is a devotee of P. G. Wodehouse and there are plenty of nods to the Jeeves stories. For example, Edward’s surname is Jevons and he acquires a sort of inner voice he names Plum, which was Wodehouse’s nickname. Edward performs butler-like duties for his friends, Robert and Stanza, such as picking up their dry cleaning, organising birthday presents and preparing meals. Desperate to retain Robert’s friendship, he’s happy to act as ‘fixer’ but the problems he’s asked to tackle for Robert go way beyond anything Jeeves might have had to sort out for Bertie Wooster. And although Bertie may have been hapless at least he was amiably hapless. I felt Robert was completely self-absorbed, sucking up to Edward when he needed something and then ghosting him when it was done, or even denying he’d asked Edward to do it in the first place.

I was surprised, bearing in mind the cover, that Kellerby House doesn’t actually feature much until near the end of the book and that, considering his supposed devotion to the place, Edward’s final act seems rather bizarre. There was a lot of discussion about the ending which I’m not going to detail here but safe to say there are a few ways you could interpret it and the motivations of those involved.

Our discussions often lead to thoughts about similarities to other books. People came up with (obviously) The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith but also The Secret History by Donna Tartt and the film ‘Saltburn’.

Although I was more lukewarm about The Kellerby Code than some other book club members, I still found a lot to enjoy in it. It was definitely a great choice for a book club because it provoked a lot of different views. In fact, the discussion could have gone on for much longer than the allotted hour.

The Kellerby Code is an entertaining mystery/thriller with a generous helping of black comedy. If you’ve seen the film ‘Wicked Little Letters’ (for which the author wrote the screenplay) you’ll have an idea what to expect.

About the Author

Author Jonny Sweet

Jonny Sweet started out winning the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer in 2009, and in the intervening years, his work as a writer and actor has been varied and exceptional. His first feature was Wicked Little Letters, starring Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley. Alongside writing and acting, he develops and produces TV and film through his award-winning company People Person Pictures. The Kellerby Code is his debut novel. (Photo: Amazon author page)

‘Writing the Saint, Selling the Lies: the Poisonous Pen of Thomas of Monmouth’ – An insight into Hoodwink! by Susan Ekins

whatcathyreadnextLeave a comment

My guest today on What Cathy Read Next is Susan Ekins, author of Hoodwink!: A ‘true’ medieval whodunnit which was published by The Real Press on 1st December 2024 and is available in paperback from Amazon. Readers have been enthusiastic, describing it as ‘a real page turner’ and ‘a cracking read’.

Intrigued? Then read on…

‘Writing the Saint, Selling the Lies: the Poisonous Pen of Thomas of Monmouth‘

Have you ever come across an unsolved mystery?  The author has. In 1144 the body of a 12 year old apprentice was found on Mousehold Heath outside Norwich. To this day, no-one knows who the murderer was, although it was not long before the local Jewish Community was being accused of some barbaric ritual murder, the so-called evidence appearing in a book called the Passion and Miracles of Saint William. Thanks to the vivid imagination of its author, Thomas of Monmouth, and other credulous people, the boy was declared a saint while the Jews lived in fear for their lives.

What would it have been like to live amid this turmoil of these lies? The author has recreated the mystery – fiction, she admits, although based on what few facts there are. Can you guess who did it?  Why not read the book and find out. 

Two tasters from Hoodwink!: A ‘true’ medieval whodunnit by Susan Ekins

At home, Wlward was grumbling.  Where was that boy? Always slipping off somewhere – never to be found. Bed empty – although made, he had to give him that. His daughter calmed him down. “Just fishing. You know what he is. And you wouldn’t object to a nice fat trout, after forty days of nothing but herring.”

“Chance would be a fine thing, Elviva. If that’s really what he’s doing. If he doesn’t get a move on, he’ll be late for work. His father had to pull quite a few strings to get him that apprenticeship, and Daniel’s not a bad master. And people tip well. He says the Jews are particularly generous. Well, time I was off. I don’t want to miss the service. By the way, what was that you were telling me about the cook?”

“Nothing much. I’m not even sure I believe it.”

“What?”

“Some man claiming to be the archdeacon’s cook, called here yesterday afternoon and spoke to Leviva. He said he could get William a job in the kitchens. Offered her thirty shillings if I were to let him go – which I couldn’t, of course. Why didn’t he approach you, I wonder? Or me?”

“Quite right. The boy’s indentured. And the man must have known, or why offer her money? Did William say whether he’d been approached?”

 “He said not. And he’s generally a truthful lad. But he did ask his aunt what the man looked like, and when she told him, he didn’t seem that worried, rather more puzzled. The man was well dressed apparently – some sort of high class servant, if not a noble – rode a fine black horse. And a large gold ring. Far too fine to be a cook.”

The plot thickens…

Coming from the garden to access the dark entry, he heard a tremendous commotion, and the noise of squealing, then raised voices and shouts. Several of the Brothers had already reached the bottom of the stairs, among them some worried-looking novices. Tapers flickered in the blackness. The Prior strode across the green, his cloak floating in the breeze.

“What is this commotion? Brothers, pray keep silence. Stop this noise at once.”

Suddenly past him ran a large black, snorting, pig, trying to evade those Brothers who were trying to catch it, some of them waving crosses in its face. They had no success, and it barged through a hedge and ran towards the gate, several novices in hot pursuit, others fallen to their knees, praying. One or two were sobbing.

 “The Devil, the Devil come among us,” shouted a voice. “He smells our sin. He comes by night to steal our souls. His stench is all around us.”

Surely not, thought Anselm. Surely not.

But it was indeed Brother Thomas, who stood in a dramatic pose, as if holding back the Red Sea.

“Brothers, you will all calm down. Now. Then file in an orderly manner into your places. There is to be no more of this nonsense. Brother Thomas, see me when the Office is over.”

But Brother Thomas seemed to be the old Thomas, the excessive Thomas, the fanatic, the fantasist. At one point, Anselm thought he was going to refuse. However, he lined up with the first person he saw, which happened to be Anselm, and they filed into the church. Anselm noticed that Thomas was muttering under his breath. He several times caught the words: “vade retro me Satana,” and his heart sank. He feigned a stumble, and sharply nudged Thomas in the ribs. There was a gasp, and the muttering stopped.

However, he had recognised the pig, from the white spot on its rump. It was Bors, the favourite boar of Boduc, a neighbouring pig farmer. But the credulous would still have to be convinced, and from the hysteria this night, that might not be so easy. He found himself sighing again. During the service he saw Brother Dunstan in his stall opposite. His face told a story. No words necessary.

About the Author

Author Susan Ekins

Susan Ekins was born just outside London, and after a cheerful post-war London childhood, and five years at school at the Grey Coat Hospital, she began her studies to become a librarian. But music called, and she then trained as a classical mezzo-soprano, performing for music societies, orchestras and light opera companies in England and Europe, under the name of Susan Lofthouse, for over 45 years.

She is deeply involved in local issues in Battersea including the campaign to save Battersea Park from electric motor racing. For her, community is deeply important. Other interests include history, theatre and Italian. She is married to an environmental economist and their son is a classical pianist.

Connect with Susan
X/Twitter | Facebook