So pleased to help introduce new readers to this series. If you haven’t read the first book in this series, The Weap and The Fruit: Four and Twenty Blackboards, I highly reccomend reading that one first. You can read my full review of that one here.
About the Book
Title: The Weapon and the Fruit: Any Body Can Murder
Author: L E Bendon
Series: The Weapon and the Fruit, Book 2
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 337
Publisher: Aneurysm Cupcake
Blurb
A serial killer with a taste for classic crime. Murder scenes staged all over West London. An invitation to play.
Private Detective Lance Pomegranate has received an amusing email. At first it appears to be a typical scam. But unlike every other fraudster sullying his inbox, this one isn’t asking for his bank details. The sender knows exactly who Lance is and is demanding that he play a dangerous game.
Taking inspiration from Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders, unhinged emailer Malcolm Dombattu has meticulously constructed a pattern of deaths designed to confuse and mislead. The victims don’t realise they’re playing, but Lance, barefoot as always and unwilling to abide by anyone’s rules but his own, wades towards the deep end.
As the bodies mount, the case turns personal, and when the killer strikes at Lance’s deepest vulnerabilities, the detective is forced to question not just the nature of the game, but whether solving the case will cost him more than he can afford to lose.
Beloved characters make a welcome return to assist Lance – some more willingly than others – in this sharp, suspenseful sequel to Four and Twenty Blackboards. Any Body Can Murder is a gripping crime novel where fiction meets reality, secrets refuse to stay buried, and every step closer to the truth comes at a price.
“It’s not my job to punish at all. My job is to gather evidence and provide it to those whose job it is to dispense justice. May I ask how many tokens collected from packets of crisps you had to send off to get your PhD, Dr Call?
– Owusu
My Thoughts
In an unusual twist, this book is set several years after the first, which I liked. You don’t see that extremely often in books, but realistically one would hope that especially in small towns (which many mystery series are set) that people aren’t being bumped off on the regular. I think this one is set in a town big enough to have a high capital rate, but that is beside the point. Lance Pomegranate is a unique detective, and he is only called out for unique cases. Of course, this isn’t exactly unique – it’s distinctly a copycat case. In fact, it’s a copycat of one of our great crime minds – Agatha Christie.
Lance starts receiving emails reminiscient of Christie’s ABC Murders, and of course, some of them start coming true. So, it’s a race against the clock to save lives. And, eventually, one of them is extremely too close to home! Just like the first one, this book was fascinating and really entertaining. I enjoyed every minute, and I can’t wait to see more of Lance’s adventures – blue nail polish and all. And I can’t wait to see how many more people he converts to the no-shoe agenda. Of course, as a diabetic, I can’t go around with no shoes, but it does see incredibly freeing.
I still enjoyed the cast of supporting characters, especially Lance’s best friend – a friendship I love to see growing and flourishing. I won’t talk more on the friendships, because many of them play a big part in this story, so I don’t want to include any spoilers! But Lance’s quick wit and unique perspective works to save the day! But not without a few murders along the way. So be sure to check the content warnings before reading.
Lance is such a charming, unique character, and I really enjoy reading about him! I can’t wait for more adventures, and I’m so grateful to the author and LBT for including me on this tour.
Content Warnings: This is a non-exhaustive list of topics included in this book that may distress some readers, including, but not limited to, Murder, Death, Violence, Animal Cruelty (but in a mild and unusual way), Stalking, and Probably More.
About the Author
L. E. Bendon was born in 1983 and wishes Terry Pratchett were still not dead.
He had built quite a satisfying musician’s life for himself up until 2020 when it was suddenly on hold, for reasons we can all remember, and so he put the compulsory free time to use in an attempt to discover whether he could indeed write, polish and publish a novel.
In creating irreverent detective Lance Pomegranate, along with his friends, associates and acquaintances, Bendon took to writing a mix of what he knows, what he’s merely read about, and a few ideas he just likes.
L.E. Bendon is from London, living in South India, where most people know him as a musician who spends an awful lot of his spare time writing novels on his laptop in cafés. Prior to his debut novel in 2025 all of his published work has been sheet music. He speaks a few languages well enough not to be confused or misled while abroad though not well enough to translate his own books just yet. He loves cats but really prefers tortoises.
He hasn’t settled on what L.E. stands for. It is just a pen name after all. Perhaps he’ll give a different response each time he is asked, always choosing names that are significant to him. For now, it can be Ludwig Elderberry.
Links
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Weapon-Fruit-Any-Body-Murder-ebook/dp/B0F8PHDTDH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2VSINHPLAJCN9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1cN6CRlqekDp5jXStyelLzSkICcHuRh_4NLLPn6c0cg.EUa3QGgQw1cM7bfnf6yCfZuRXUVQmT5qbwRjVFSu_Wo&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+weapon+and+the+fruit+any+body+can+murder&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1791486670&sprefix=the+weapon+and+the+fruit+any+body+can+murder%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-1#averageCustomerReviewsAnchor
Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/0dJrY3Ff
Bookshop US: https://bookshop.org/a/25511/9781068573828
Bookshop UK: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-weapon-and-the-fruit-any-body-can-murder-l-e-bendon/bd1f5e6f30232a89?ean=9781068573835
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/231254358-the-weapon-and-the-fruit
Author’s Website: https://www.lebendon.com/lebendonindex.htm
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