★★★★☆ In which we learn about swozzles

Theatre of Cruelty

Terry Pratchett

Theatre of Cruelty is a short story in or attached to Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. You can read it for free on the L-web. Goodreads lists it as #14.5, that is, between Lords and Ladies and Men at Arms. It serves to re-introduce the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, whom we last (and first) heard from in Guards! Guards!. It is a useful reminder of who Sargent Colon, Corporal Nobbs, Captain Vimes, and Constable Carrot are. Nobby and Colon discover a suspicious death. Being constitutionally incapable of taking any constructive action, ever, they bring the problem to Captain Vimes, who assigns it to Constable Carrot to investigate. The mystery involves a swozzle, an object I had never heard of before.

This was pretty good. Funny, in the usual Pratchettian style (unlike the tedious Death and What Comes Next), and quite short -- about a thousand words. It definitely helps to know the characters in advance.

Theatre of Cruelty on the L-Web

Goodreads review

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