The Franchise Affair

5/10

This harmless and good-humoured mystery runs out of stream towards its conclusion with a contrived, simplistic, and awkward ending.

Not a book that I would be likely to choose in isolation. For that reason, I recognise and appreciate this selection even more. I really enjoyed the understated comedic parts of this book and how the author finds humour in simple musings or interactions by or between moderately well-developed characters. “It was with a feeling of escape that Robert drove in to Larborough. He wondered if Mr Tilsit had always been away ‘ten days at a time’ from his home, or if he had got the travelling job as an alternative to flight or suicide.” What I initially thought was a stoopid name for a newspaper, Ack Emma, I later learned is an apparently well-known shorthand way of saying, a.m. I also thought it was incredibly interesting how Robert began to challenge all aspects of his routine and world view and grows as a person by breaking away from what was so familiar to him throughout the story. For example, at one point the text reads, “Robert was dimly aware that his own deep-seated respect for established authority was a handicap to him rather than an asset”. Asking these difficult questions of himself must have been exciting and challenging for Robert, though following Marion to the airport did not feel consistent with the logic of the character, though it made for a nice and funny ending. Though a little heavy-handed, I also appreciated how the text dealt with the distinctions between a verdict and justice. However, I found the book very one-sided and I never once questioned whether the Sharpes were guilty. The late appearance of Mr. Einar Lange from Denmark really challenges the reader’s suspension of disbelief and was a convenient plot device for a writer who is out of ideas for tying a story up in a clever way. I also predicted the conflagration of The Franchise paragraphs before it happened as this event was signalled too obviously for anybody who has experienced a plot in the past. Finally, Sheffield gets a mention. “Robert carried the tray with four flat bowls of soup, and Marion came after him with a large dish under a Sheffield plate cover, and that seemed to be all.”