Who Killed Nessie?

Wow, so Paul Cornell has two books in this issue. Sometimes that’s just how publishing goes.

Who Killed Nessie is a graphic novel, with art by Rachel Smith. It is not from Cornell’s new comics publishing company. That won’t come for a while yet. Rather it was crowdfunded through Zoop, a platform that specialises in the comics industry. I backed it ages ago, and am delighted to finally have the book in my hands.

The story is fairly straightforward. In a country hotel in Wisconsin there is a convention for monsters. No, not a convention for serial killers. That’s a completely different comic you are thinking of. This is a convention for actual mythical creatures: the minotaur, medusa, a mermaid, a unicorn, the yeti, and, of course, Nessie. Lyndsay Grockle, fleeing an unhappy relationship, takes a job at the hotel and, as the new girl, is left to tend to the monsters all by herself.

Which, you know, would not be that hard. Monsters are OK people. They just have very bad press. But not this time. This time there is a murder, and poor, wee Nessie is the victim. Bob, the Beast of Bodmin, suggests that Lyndsay be asked to investigate as she’s the only human present and therefore untainted by inter-species rivalry between the various monsters.

So Lyndsay gets to channel her internal Miss Marple and, surprise, will eventually solve the mystery. I should note that I twigged who did it early on. There are some fairly obvious clues. But I did not get the why of it, so kudos to Cornell there.

Having said that, the mystery is not entirely the point. Rachel Smith’s bio says that she is known for “making comics with warm, relatable humour”. The script very much matches her drawing style, and much of the enjoyment of the book comes from meeting the various attendees at the convention and reading their stories. My favourite was the unicorn who is obsessed with virginity because he can’t abide any mention of sex, not even a chaste kiss. He’s a terrible prude.

This book isn’t going to win any plaudits for ground-breaking comics work, or for tackling serious themes. Indeed, despite it being a murder mystery featuring monsters, I think it is fair to describe it as cosy. Certainly Smith’s art fits that ambience well. If you like that sort of thing, this may be the comic book for you.

Title: Who Killed Nessie?
By: Paul Cornell & Rachel Smith
Publisher: Zoop
Purchase links:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Bookshop.org UK
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