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Kim M. Watt

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Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries: Cats, snark, & a plague of niceness - a complete Yorkshire urban fantasy series (Gobbelino London, PI Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Kim M. Watt (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 1,146 ratings

Book 1 of 7: Gobbelino London, PI

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“What’ve we got?”

“Tigers. Snakes. Alligators. Tears in the skin of the universe.” Susan shrugged. “I think I saw a kraken in the sink, too.”

Find a missing book. That was the job the woman in the Doc Martens gave us.

Easy money, right?

Only now it seems she’s actually an ancient, powerful sorcerer, and the book is a Book of Power that doesn’t want to be found.

It wants to tear reality apart at the seams, and it’ll use anyone it can to do it.

So now we’ve got one spectacularly displeased sorcerer, a hungry, still-missing book, a dentist with bad hygiene, and a neighbourhood having some reality issues to deal with.

Plus about a day before the book turns our world – and us – inside out.

We’ve totally got this.

I hope.

This is the first book in the Gobbelino London, PI urban fantasy series, centred around the adventures of a mercenary feline PI and his human sidekick. It contains snarky cats and other gods, many bad jokes and terrible puns, plus a large serving of mythological and real creatures behaving badly. It will appeal to anyone who likes their fantasy funny, modern, and filled with friendship rather than romance - and also to those who suspect their cat may be living a great and secret life when they're not looking.

A Scourge of Pleasantries contains some violence, particularly toward furniture, but none of it is graphic. It contains no sex and only mild language. It does, however, contain blasphemy.

The final book in the Gobbelino London, PI series will be out 28th July 2023.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a rampaging, frightening, funny story of magic which is run through with laugh-out-loud humour." -Carolyn, GoodReads reviewer

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B084P4W195
Publisher ‏ : ‎ (February 28, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 28, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1643 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 326 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #251,430 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #126 in British Humor & Satire Literature
- #256 in British & Irish Humor & Satire
- #620 in Dark Humor

Customer Reviews:
4.3 1,146 ratings

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Kim M. Watt

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Hello lovely people!

I’m Kim (she/her), and I write funny fantasies and off-beat cosy (or cozy, depending where you're from) mysteries set in a world not so dissimilar to ours - and in fact sharing many locations.

And in this not-dissimilar world you'll find mystery-solving dragons with a strong affection for barbecues and scones, and snarky feline PIs with human sidekicks. You'll run across baking-obsessed reapers running petting cafes stocked with baby ghouls, Apocalyptic riders on Vespas, and women of a certain age Getting Things Done. There may even be the odd born-again troll redefining troll-ness for the modern age about the place.

You'll find myth and reality clashing in small and spectacular ways, and discover the healing magic of tea and a really good lemon drizzle cake.

But, most of all, there will be friendship, and loyalty, and people of all species looking out for one another. Because these, above all things, are magic.

And you can find me rambling on about all this (and more) over on my website (www.kmwatt.com), or join me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for bad puns and many, many cat memes. Many.

Come join me!

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

1,146 global ratings

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AitchGee

Wonderful first book in a wonderful series

Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2021

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Okay, so I forgot who said it (or which book was being reviewed, for that matter). But the statement I’m about to misquote still holds true for every book in this series so far: “By the time I reached page 10, I relaxed, knowing that I was in good hands.”

I’ll try not to restate the whole storyline. If you’ve gotten this far, you know the basics. Plus now I can recycle this review for the entire series. Huzzah! But seriously, folks (or Folk), I liked these books so much that I even forgot to be annoyed that our slightly battered heroes are down-on-their luck PIs.* Here’s why:

- Excellent writing (occasionally great, with bits of lyrical imagery studding the unfussy prose like chocolate chips in top-shelf cookies. Ugh, okay: biscuits.)
- Delightful characters, good and bad, great and small - you’ll want to spend time with these folk/Folk. Well, maybe not the dentist with poor dental hygiene and delusions of magical grandeur...
- Laugh-out-loud funny: not just the requisite snark. You’ll find some terrific physical humor and some plain hilarious situations, too
- Wonderfully wild flights of imagination
- Well-done and consistent world-building: you can feel the cold Leeds rain, smell Callum’s awful coat, taste the bacon in their favorite cafe, see the scrawny tree dying outside their window, and feel the carpet between Gobbelino’s toes - which makes it easier to buy into the greasy, muscular stench of old magic
Safe space for those uncomfortable with sex or bad language (“You Tupperware lid!”). I’m not against either, especially if the plot calls for it and not just jammed in wherever, like a certain kitchenette I could mention
- I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors, which tend to ruin the flow of reading for me. I’d rather read gratuitous swear words, unless they’re misspelled, of course.

Buy this book if you can. We need to support Ms. Watt so she can write more!

* You can’t throw a rune stone at the urban fantasy section without hitting a book about a down-on-their luck PI.

15 people found this helpful

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Philip Roland Jarnhus

Good for a light summer read

Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2023

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A lovely magical noir detective story about a snarky cat and his human partner.

It is a pleasant story about your everyday apocalypse set in Leeds.

It is a well-crafted story, though nothing extraordinarily new - and that is alright. It does its job of entertaining and does not overstay its welcome.

I am probably going to pick up the second one to see, if the series improves.

3 people found this helpful

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Harlequin

awesome and funny, I love the main character

Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2024

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I’m not giving anything away but if you like the urban PI set up , you like this. It funny, kind of fast paced and not predictable nor does it have a clean ending.

Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2023

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The author, Kim Watt asks us nicely at the end of her book to write a review. So, I am.

I loved the concept of this book- a cat who is a Private investigator.Gobbelino is the senior partner- Callum is his human, who acts as the face of the company and drives Gobbelino around. I loved the cat- smart, smart aleckly, and fun.

But there the problem - Callum. I despised Callum. First of all, he is a gormless nebbish. Second of all he doesn't treat Gobbelino very well, calling him "Gobs" which the cat hates.

Next Callum smokes. I had to double check the date of the book- yeah 2020. Back in the 50's everyone smoked, and editors actually used to insist authors had their character smoke. Weird, huh? But in 2020 the only reason to have a character smoke is to show him or her as a villain. Not to mention he smokes while the cat and him are in enclosed spaces, which is animal cruelty.

So, yeah I really liked Gobbelino the cat, but I despised Callum.

2 people found this helpful

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Ruth

You'll enjoy it even if, like me, you are sick of cat stories

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2023

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If there is one description that will put me off of a book, it is a combination of "cats and witty banter." I am sick up to here (picture old woman over 6' tall holding her hand over her head) of stories that are obsessed with cats. (Followed by stories of other animals as characters but cats are really at the top of the list.) But since I'm essentially very shallow, I was drawn in by the cover art on the book. To my utter astonishment, I liked the story and have now read the second installment which I also liked and am about to download the third one. That is because the character is well enough written that I could pretend most of the time it was just some random magical creature.

Also the dialogue is actually dialogue and not something that tries way too hard to be witty banter. It's much more natural than that. My only criticism is that the battle scenes that ended both books go on way too long without containing any detail that was necessary to the story line. Just more battling. I can live with that though because it is easy to skim right through it at high speed to get to the resolution without missing anything important. And it does come at the END so I could enjoy the mystery and the character development, both of which were excellent.

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Well written, entertaining, smart

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2021

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Stumbled upon this in the usual late-night compulsive Kindle-browsing way and am very pleased. The story is good, the characters are well-drawn, and the writing is smart and funny (and literate, thank you). I'm looking forward to reading more of this series and other books by Ms. Watt.

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2023

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I can't recommend this entire series strongly enough. It has everything you would want in a book with amazing characters, action, humor and heart. I love the entire world that this wonderful author Kim M Watt has created. She has such a beautiful turn of phrase that I will often read a passage again and again because it's so beautifully written and felt. Plenty of great characters to fall in love with and once you start you'll definitely want to read the entire series, as the world just continues to build and you desperately need to discover what happens to everyone. I'm so happy that I found this gem of an author!

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Top reviews from other countries

Roger Anderson

Fun Read

Reviewed in Canada on June 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

Bought the Beauford books and quickly moved on to Gobbrlino . Great story telling and reads . Enjoyed them all . Keep up the work as I haven't found anything new in awhile !!!!

Kindle Customer

The best feline PI in the business (in Leeds)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 10, 2022

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This is one of those hidden gems: an urban fantasy/paranormal mystery that's neither obnoxiously boyish (y'know, our male narrators goes on about how clever he is, doesn't bother telling us things about the world he inhabits that'd mean we could play guess the plot) nor one of those heated, panting paranormal-romance-in-disguise-es ("oh, the hot cop's muscles filled out his shirt so well even as he cuffed me for breaking and entering I couldn't help but swoon!"). It reads like a very good pilot episode, though not in that disappointingly vague written for TV way.

It takes every paranormal PI trope and runs with them. It is pure unadulterated, slightly snarky (but not acidly so), mildly humorous (in a cat-loving British way) good old fashioned fun. Also: set in Leeds. Yorkshire ftw.

Our PI in question is the cat Gobbelino and his sort-of trusty sidekick Callum. Did you know cats can talk and are slightly magical? Well, they can and they are. Humans are just very good at not noticing these things because They Don't Exist. Gobs makes a very good, if mercenary, PI because who suspects the cat? That is until a strange woman comes to ask Callum to hunt down her ex and a weird old book he took from her. Simples. Except it's no ordinary client, and no ordinary book. It'll take an extraordinary PI and his collection of odd contacts to find the book and stop it from, y'know, destroying the world or whatever before the paranormal Powers That Be start getting involved. No pressure.

Down and out PIs in ratty offices? Sarcastic, mercenary narrator? Two characters with mysterious pasts hinted at but not revealed quite yet? A whiff of potential love in the air? Oh yeah, it has all the cliches and then some, but cooked up in such a witty and wonderful way that even a cynic like me could enjoy it. Throw in cat and Brit jokes, and dang, I was sold. A couple of internationalisms here and there (dentists have surgeries, not offices as a general rule, and aren't Doctors unless they also have a different kind of qualification; hey, even we who lived UK-wards get confused!) couldn't put off the nitpicker in my because it honestly was such a fun read full of weird imaginings and witty ideas. G and his stoic human Callum are wonderful foils for each other, and the rest of the cast are as mad as a box of monkeys in the best possible way.

It's like someone took the bones of a modern snarky Paranormal PI novel and blended it up with the slightly ridiculous metaphysical meanderings of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently, threw in a dose of Doctor Who back when it was good and mixed like crazy.

Basically, if my book budget ever allows given it's looking to be quite a series, I can't wait to read more.

If you've ever thought that neighbourhood cat was up to something, what with it's magical ability to appear out of nowhere and that look it gives that says it's having more than just Cat Thoughts, then this is the urban fantasy for you.

9 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

A different angle.

Reviewed in Germany on May 25, 2020

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Cats always were a bit mysterious and this one certainly is. A story well worth reading.

Karen

Ha ha an enjoyable adventure

Reviewed in Australia on July 20, 2023

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I read to be entertained and Gobbelino was just the cat to do the job. The physics and relativity were an added bonus. Thanks for what promises to be an excellent adventure to follow with this series and I believe the author has more for me to explore. Did I hear something about baking? Yes please.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Start of a series

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

Lets start with the bottom line(!): Well worth reading.
To be honest, I didn't find this quite as much to my taste as the Beaufort Scales series but as it is the first of the series that may just be how much was setting-up what are clearly going to the very varied cast for the future. Gobbelino is a cat and the primary protagonist. He and his partner are very downmarket PIs who get hired for a task that is even more dangerous than they suspect. Shortly before the end of the book we are in a near end-of-the-world situation with most of the other characters still squabbling. Read the book and find out how this came about and how it is resolved.

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Gobbelino London & a Scourge of Pleasantries: Cats, snark, & a plague of niceness - a complete Yorkshire urban fantasy series (Gobbelino London, PI Book 1) Kindle Edition

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Kim M. Watt

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