Kill Me Quick! by Paul D. Brazill is #12 in a 13 series list of quality crime novellas published by Number Thirteen Press. The latest Brazill offering goes down like two Alka-Seltzers and spring-water in a crystal  tumbler during day two of a three-day hangover.

Set in less than idyllic Seatown, featuring Roy Orbison lookalikes, this novella is best read during day three of that hangover, with the blinds drawn to keep out the cold of the fog, rather than on a hot day at the beach. The humor is quicker than the sex scenes and stars aging bass player Mark Hammonds, who has been taking a beating lately in more ways than one. A dead one-eyed, bearded biker motors the story down the pot-holed road accompanied by musical references galore. The plot serves more as a backdrop for Brazill’s brilliant characters and shark biting dialog.

In a proper world Paul D. Brazill would live in a big home with a long drive from the gate, have a heavy brass door knocker, with a Peugeot convertible parked outside. We might find Paul standing in the sitting room smoking his pipe having afternoon tea. Brazill writes about a world that is not so proper. Back to reality.

As the can go home again protagonist says, “Life’s all about playing a bad hand of cards well.” The U.K. born Brazill seems to have played his deck perfectly from Poland and has acquired a good and loyal following of fans over the past two decades. A following that has grown along with his talent.

Settings are also top shelf in a call drink sort of way. Like Astro’s Wine Bar “an overpriced up its own arse boozer on the edge of Seatown” where Puff the Magic Dragon may be heard in the background and Jimmy Golden can be seen regularly.

Bonus material like a breakdown of the nursery rhyme, Pop Goes the Weasel, by one of the many rough and tumble characters make the mystery go by at warp speed.

An ending served up as neat as a bourbon in an Old Fashioned cocktail glass does not disappoint. My only complaint with Kill Me Quick! by Paul D. Brazill is the drink of water isn’t long enough.

If you’ve never read anything by this noir connoisseur, flash fiction creator and Guns of Brixton and Cold London Blues author investigate his quirky ways. That’s the way my money goes these days. Brazill is worth a pop.