AH, CAN you feel that, dear readers? The excitement in the air? I have not felt so much excitement in the air since the time I took a hot-air balloon ride over an all-female nudist camp. I shall never forget that day, nor the look on the ladies’ faces as I dropped my bags over the side, and gently descended into their neatly-trimmed compound.

Ah, such wonderful memories.

Anyway – where was I? Oh yes – EXCITEMENT!

Yes, there is plenty of excitement abounding to-day, for I am about to reveal the five lucky winners of my curious conjuring contest, each of whom shall be winning a copy of Mr. Darren Craske’s excellent Victorian mystery, The Equivoque Principle – in hardback, and signed by the good fellow himself!

As you may recall, last week I showed you the above illustration, and asked you – my dear, firm-bottomed readership – to answer a very simple question – is this your card?

The response was truly fabulous, and the creative approaches to answering the question in question made my balls tingle with delight. In a way, you are all winners to-day, but in another entirely more accurate way, only five of you are ACTUAL winners, who shall be bagging the aforementioned book. And here are those five…

The first to respond, was Mr. Capricorn, who penned this witty retort:

“Certainly NOT my Lord, as soon I tried to seize it using my trusty battle scissors, I realized I was in need of a new screen.

Card it is certainly NOT!”

For having caused poor Mr. Capricorn to blunt his battle scissors, I am sending him a copy of the book. Apologies, sir!

Next up is Pseudonymph, who had this enticing proposition:

“Is it my card?
I believe not. Whilst I would dearly love to have a firm reproduction of His Lordship about my person at all time, I am not in a position to possess one. However, if his lordship would like to contact me about the position he would like me to be in, we could come to an arrangement.”

Oh-ho! I shall be in touch to arrange you later, m’dear!

Lady Catherine, meanwhile, wrote:

“Oh, that that were my card! The Lord beats all other court cards hands down – why, he certainly saw that Jack off. I shudder to think what he might do for me during an enthusiastic Poker bout!”

For including an excellent masturbation reference, and because I want to see her Poker face, and indeed poke her face, the lady also snares a copy of the book. Hoorah!

The next winner is BeBe, who wrote this touching entry:

“Surely you jest, I would not be the Queen that I am with such a card. No, kind sir that is definitely not my card. My card would be the Queen of Hearts for it is hearts that break when thou doth not measure up to a Lord such as yourself.”

Ne’er a truer word ever spake, and for that reason a copy of the book shall be forthcoming to you, m’dear!

And finally, we come to Mr. Ian Alexander Martin, who submitted the longest entry by far, and we all know that size really does matter when it comes to a good entry. Behold!

“To get right to the point of the matter; the matter’s point, if you will; the purpose of the thing; the thing’s purpose; to wit and to woo (and Your Lordships knows a thing or two about how to woo; woo-hoo!); to…

Sorry, what was the question…?

Ah yes: card. Is that mine?

Sadly, no… Were I to be so blessed — BLESSED, I tell ‘ee — to have a card bearing not one, but two images of that sterling visage (that of the very Lord Likely Himself) then I should have a life which was complete in all things! Oh yes!

Although a bottle of whisky as well would also be quite fine, thank you for asking.

Were I to have a card with that double-headed profile of Stunning Masculine Glory, and a bottle of whisky, and a willing chamber maid with a firm bottom and a generous flying buttress, well then all would be a brilliant series of day-upon-days!

However, since many things cannot be provided willie-nilly (no, not your willie, m’Lord; it would make me feel so ashamed of mine own), such a thing which I refer to as a ‘life’ is my sad lot upon this thing we call Earth. Woe — oh woe! — is me. [sniff]

One might, however, find some cheer with the reading of a copy of some fine book of magical murder, mystery, and intrigue. Have you got one of those about, perchance…?”

Fine work, sir, and well worthy of a free book! Hooray!

Congratulations to each and every winner! Be sure to contact me by electrical mail and give me your names and addresses, so that I may send your prizes out to you all by first-class courier pigeon!  And a hearty slap on the back to all those who entered – jolly good show, everyone! Also, may thanks to my smooth-thighed chums at The Friday Project for supplying these marvellous prizes – many thanks indeed!

If you did not win to-day, do not forget that Mr. Craske’s fine adventure is available to purchase in paperback from the Amazon, and can also be downloaded in electrical form for less than three pounds from hither. Treat yourself – ’tis a grand romp indeed!

Rightio, I am off to go and saw a lady in half. I simply cannot wait to thrust my large tool into her box!

Be back here at the end of the week for further excellence, and then next week shall see the commencement of my latest adventure – Lord Likely and the Bloody Nuisances!

Until then, toodle-pip, dear readers!

- Lord Likely.

PEOPLE often seem to doubt that I ever take the time to read books. ‘Tis true that being an aristocratic adventurer and gentle-man of action is incredibly busy work, which thus leaves me with very little free time. And the free time I do secure, I usually spend romping with dusky maidens, or drunk out of my noble skull.

That is not to say that I am a dim-witted poltroon who shuns all forms of literature. Why, I have read the Karma Sutra several times over (and, indeed, submitted several extra positions), and only the other day I was happily leafing through ‘Strumpets With Trumpets‘ magazine, a fine read indeed.

However, once in a while I will sit down to tackle a novel of some description, especially if it promises rip-roaring adventure and lashings of intrigue – which brings me to Mr. Darren Craske’s fine début, The Equivoque Principle, which I completed reading very recently. ‘Tis a book The Times news-paper declared to be full of, ‘boisterous comedy and hairpin plot twists’, which is nice – but of course, the only opinion really worth hearing is mine, and it is that opinion I shall be sharing with you, in this my very first book review!

And then, as if that was not already thrilling enough, I shall be giving YOU – my dear, loyal readers – the chance to win one of FIVE copies of this very tome! Huzzah, and then huzzah some more!

But first, let me tell you more about the fiction in question. The Equivoque Principle is an adventure set in London, in 1853. It follows the exploits of a group of performers hailing from Dr. Marvello’s Travelling Circus, who find themselves embroiled in a terrible mystery after one of their number is killed, with another – the strongman Prometheus – accused of the murder.

As the bodies pile up, and the plot thickens, it is up to the circus’ leader, the master conjurer Cornelius Quaint, to get to the bottom of the whole sorry business, and clear Prometheus’ name. But it quickly transpires that there is much more to this affair than Quaint had ever hoped – or indeed feared…

(It is at this point you should imagine some deeply ominous and incredibly dramatic chords being played).

So, did I – Lord Likely, Aristocratic Adventurer and Gentle-Man of Action -  enjoy this tale of murder and mystery? In a word, yes. In two words: oh yes!

The Equivoque Principle is a highly enjoyable read, which rolls along at a furious pace, barely letting up at all. The chapters are remarkably short, which is perfect if, like me, you are reading the book in between bouts of vigorous intercourse, or whilst embroiled in a round of fisticuffs with a nefarious blaggard. However, as the mystery deepens, and the danger increases, I found myself reading many chapters in a row, wilfully succumbing to that old ‘just one more chapter…’ syndrome synonymous with the page-turning adventure (a feeling I am sure all of you are familiar with as well, eh?)

I was rather surprised to see Mr. Quaint accompanied on his mission by an Eskimo assistant named Butter, who I first assumed to be some sort of distant relation to my own man-servant, Botter. However, after reading about how very intelligent, resourceful, and utterly non-repellent Butter was, I realised that such thinking was pure folly on my part.  Butter is like the anti-Botter, a valet one would be delighted to have on one’s side, rather than a valet who speaks from his backside.

The main protagonist of the piece is the aforementioned magician Cornelius Quaint, whom I warmed to very quickly. An older gent of impeccable breeding and good manners, Quaint also has a nose for a jolly good adventure, and is not afraid to wade into battle when the need arises, and break some noses.

I liked Mr. Quaint greatly, and found him to be a most agreeable chap whom I would happily accompany to a nearby tavern for a few beers…although I dare say that I would politely refuse to partake in any card-games with the quick-handed conjurer. Heaven knows I have lost enough in card-games before now.

Anyway:  yes. I thoroughly enjoyed The Equivoque Principle, and reckon it to be a ridiculously readable and remarkably rousing romp, resplendent with ribald repartee, ruthless rogues and rollicking risk-taking. Which is not easy for me to say, I can tell you. Especially when sloshed.

If I might make two small complaints, they would be that there should have been illustrations throughout (or at least at the part where a beautiful woman exposes her ample cleavage to a pub landlord) and I would also request lashings of nookie (or at least at the part where a beautiful woman exposes her ample cleavage to a pub landlord).

As I understand it, further Cornelius Quaint adventures are in the offing, and I look forward to reading more exhilarating escapades, with hopefully more cleavage shots.

Good show, Mr. Craske!

Now then – to business! My good chums at The Friday Project (the wondrous HarperCollins imprint who published this book) have generously donated five copies of The Equivoque Principle to me, to pass onto five lucky readers. Not only that, but they are five copies of the limited-edition hardback, each one signed by Mr. Darren Craske himself! Only the best for my loyal readers, you know.

To win one of these excellent prizes, just answer this simple, magic-related question:

Is this your card?

The five most witty, interesting, inventive, or imaginative responses shall secure the prizes, so get thine thinking-hats on, and then leave a comment below, or contact me by electrical missive at hislordship@lordlikely.com

My decision is final, no correspondence shall be entered into, sexual favours, however, may well yield results.

The closing date for entries is Monday the 24th of August, at 1pm British Time (i.e the correct time). Good luck, chums!

Alternatively, if you wish to buy yourself a copy right this instant, then you can purchase the recently-released paperback through Amazon (although why anyone would choose to purchase books from a jungle I shall never know – you might get bitten by a monkey or something.) Alternatively,  you can even buy it for a remarkably reasonable price in Electronic Book form, from Waterstone’s. Hooray!

Good luck again and toodle-pip for now!

- Lord Likely.