An Original Dutch Master

Book excerpt: An Original Dutch Master is an amusing fictional story and enjoyable read with an unexpected plot, and a big cast of interesting diverse well-rounded characters. Narrated in the first person, we follow a group of middle-aged people who use a social club where they indulge in numerous activities: crown green bowls, snooker, darts, cribbage, and other indoor activities played in pubs and clubs around the country. They interact with other members of the club. By interact I mean fallout, squabble and battle usually over petty incidents, often with raw realism. Other times they party, laugh and joke with these same people. They attend special events such as holidays, high days and award nights, and their wives play Bingo while the guys are indulging in their activities. In lots of these activities incidents arise, often resulting in comical farce. A weekend in Blackpool to attend the Waterloo, the 'Wembley Cup Final of Crown Green Bowls', results in hilarious incidents from start to finish. Dutch, a member of this group, is deemed to be a semi-hero at the club and everywhere else that he's known, also carrying this status at work. He is the main protagonist of this story and a workmate of the narrator. At work he would frequently spin yarns regarding his exploits - usually of a triumphant sexual encounter, sometimes with disastrous conclusions but more often than not with comical overtones. His life is always at full tilt and this is extremely exciting to the narrator. He begins to experience a medical problem, which seems to worsen over time and curtail his adventures. Then a large amount of Money gets filched from a Bank, supposedly by a former bowls player who has now gone missing. The story ends in a surprising complex unusual way and all mysteries are revealed in the Epilogue. Or are they?