Maskerade by Terry Pratchett

Terry  Pratchett isone of my all-time favourite authors. It is true that some of his books miss the mark for me where laughs are concerned but I am glad to say that this is not one of those books. This hit all the right places and had me sniggering from beginning to end.  

There are strange goings-on at the Opera House in Ankh-Morpork. A ghost in a white mask is murdering, well, quite a lot of people, and two witches (it really isn't wise to call them "meddling, interfering old baggages"), or perhaps three, take a hand in unraveling the mystery.

I loved this book, but for some reason I can’t think of a lot to say about it…Weird.

It is such a fun read with some of the best rounds ups of opera that I have ever read and some of the most brilliant twists.

We have Christine who, although being gorgeous, just can’t sing and is as dim as a broken torch.

Agnes – who has a lovely personality, nice hair and CAN sing, but unfortunately just doesn’t look the part (I love Agnes).

The rat catcher who is reincarnated as a rat – karma really sucks!

Two witches - hoping to soon be a trio once again – ready to solve the mystery at The Opera House.

A ghost who can be in two places at a time – or can he.

And lots more. 

As I said this is such a fun read and kept me turning the pages. Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax jumped out the page at me with their larger than life approach at things. And their side story had me giggling like crazy – Nanny Ogg’s “The Joye of Snacks” isn’t an ordinary cook book.

Agnes’s practical attitude to life was great to read along with her attempts at being more…flighty with her alter ego Perdita. I would rather have a heroine like Agnes over a Perdita any day.  

Agnes on Christine - Not liking Christine would be like not liking small fluffy animal. And Christine was just like a small fluffy animal. A rabbit, perhaps. It was certainly impossible for her to get a whole idea into her head in one go. She had to nibble it into manageable bits.

Nanny Ogg on Opera - Well, basically there are two sorts of opera,' said Nanny, who also had the true witch's ability to be confidently expert on the basis of no experience whatsoever. 'There's your heavy opera, where basically people sing foreign and it goes like "Oh oh oh, I am dyin', oh, I am dyin', oh, oh, oh, that's what I'm doin'", and there's your light opera, where they sing in foreign and it basically goes "Beer! Beer! Beer! Beer! I like to drink lots of beer!", although sometimes they drink champagne instead. That's basically all of opera, reely

The wooden stairs gave way to stone.
Perdita said: he’ll have a vast cave somewhere under the Opera House. There will be hundreds of candles, casting an exciting yet romantic light over the, yes, the lake, and there will be a dinner-table shining with crystal glass and silverware, and of course he will have, yes, a huge organ-
Agnes blushed hotly in the darkness.
-on which, that is to say, he will play in a virtuoso style many operatic classics.
Agnes said: it’ll be damp. There will be rats.