Prosfic Rec Advent Calendar - Day 4 - And the Prosfic is...

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Today's rec is a story recommended to me many years ago by someone - I'll tell you who later, too *g* - and one that I liked just as much as she did.

I'm going to try to post a few clues during the day - assuming no one guesses straight away! - and then the rec itself at the end, and we'll see how we get on. I'll screen the comments too, so that everyone who wants has a chance to guess without spoilers.

Please do guess in the comments as we go along!

Clue One (a quote - and no taking the fun out of it with sneaky cut-and-paste-and-searching!):

"'aven't even got a pressie to open," Bodie said dolefully, gazing at his breakfast toast.

"So what makes it any different from any other year?" Doyle retorted, having heard Bodie's less than enthusiastic views on the inevitable socks, ties and aftershaves chosen by a succession of girlfriends.

"Look mate, the day I stop hoping for better things is the day you can bury me."

"Besides," Doyle added, beating Bodie to the marmalade by a fingernail, "you could 'ardly 'ave a better present than gettin' down off that flamin'toadstool, could you!"

Clue Two:
This story begins with Doyle on his own - Bodie vanished several months before, and not a trace of him has been found. Cowley has Doyle working solo, and no one is admitting that Bodie's cover might have been blown to the extent that he's been killed. Then Doyle finds something rather peculiar while searching the last known haunt of the villains they were chasing, and he takes it home with him...

Clue Three:
...it sits on his mantelpiece, looking hopefully and occasionally smirking at him, until one drunken night, in a fit of maudlin, he kisses the familiar-looking face...

A Gnome from 'ome by Una N. Darcy"
It's winter - we start in a "chill November afternoon" - and Doyle is on his own. Bodie is missing, and has been for six months, and CI5 is no closer to either finding him, or tracking down the villains who must have seen him last. So when Doyle finds a garden gnome that looks as if Bodie sat as the model in the overgrown property that still hasn't yielded any clues, and when that gnome's shoulders seem to have a defeated droop as Doyle is about to leave home - well of course he decides to pinch it and take it home with him. And then, one drunken night when he's finally admitted out loud to himself that Bodie must be dead, Doyle kisses the gnome - and what we readers know is inevitable finally comes true for him. Bodie is turned back into a living being - albeit still the same size, and sporting the same shaped ears, as a garden gnome...

It turns out that the villains had a leprechaun working for them, but luckily so does CI5 - although I must admit I winced when Murphy exclaimed in an Irish brogue so broad it would have woken a banshee and put her to flight... Luckily he lapsed back to his generic-posh-lad accent, and I could believe in him again. *g*

probodie recommended this story to me, many years ago, and - silly as it is - it's one that I look forward to re-reading around Christmas time. It's not specifically a Christmas story, but it's set in winter and through Christmas, and it's got a kind of pantomime spirit about it - we know who the gnome is, even if Doyle doesn't!

hagsrus knew that this was "the garden gnome story", and the wooden spoon goes to heliophile_oxon who tried, didn't make it, and then found out for her own satisfaction anyway. *g* And thank you to everyone who commented - it's always good to know that people are reading, even if they don't join in the guessing!

What I do wonder is who the author was - Una N. Darcy seems very much a pseudonym (maybe even an anagram, if I was clever enough - ETA - sussed it! Ray Duncan! *g*) and I suspect it's the pseudonym of someone who wrote under another pseudonym, I'm just not sure who. There's perhaps a touch of the O. Yardleys about the writing - was it her? That would tie in with a guess below... *g* Or am I imagining things entirely?

I'd love to know if anyone else has read this, and what you think of it. Is it a favourite, or do you wince at the idea of leprechauns and gnomes in CI5? *g*

Comments

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

It has OY indications, including the plethora of dropped aitches prevalent in the early work *g*.

This story is great fun, I think. Disbelief happily suspended for the duration!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking even more that it's O. Yardley because of the anagram too, now - the same thing she did for her own pseud!

And yes - much disbelief, but absolutely possible to suspend it! *g*

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Oh, gosh, I did know it! Well, not to guess, but I've read and enjoyed that, but...failed completely to connect the clues. *g* Clearly, a re-read is in order.

I was told it was O Yardley, but I can't now remember who told me, or what the truth of it may be. Still, I bet it is.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Well, it was my first guess-the-fic, so maybe my clues should have been clearer! But a re-read would be fun anyway... *g*

I bet it's O. Yardley too, especially now that I've sussed out what Una N. Darcy is an anagram of... *g* Nice to have rumour to back it up though - cheers!

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

I've been puzzling over the anagram - please share!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, see - I always think I'm the last person to see these things! *g*

Ray Duncan, right? *g*

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

Aha! I could see Ray in there but the rest eluded me. Thank you!

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

I don't know it, but now I like to read it. Where can I find it? Is it online or isthere someone outside who can send me a copy, please?

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

It doesn't seem to be online but I could send you a copy if you'll let me have your e-mail.

proslib at gmail dot com

[macklingirl.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the offer. I've send you an e-mail. :-)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thank you! (stoopid work... *g*)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I meant to put in the link to ProsLib information in my post, but my internet was down this morning... Hurrah for hagsrus! *g*

[heliophile-oxon.livejournal.com]

Heee, stirring my coffee with that wooden spoon even as I type ;-)
It's not my personal cup of teacoffee, tbh (Bodie as thoroughly-pissed-off gnome has charm, but Murphy's OTT Oirishness rather threw me out), but I do truly love and appreciate the fact that the fandom in all its decades-spanning manifestations contains multitudes. Here's to the infinite variety! ::raises coffee:: And thank you for setting us a puzzler *bg*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

There's definitely things about this that make me wince - it's rather soppy in places, and oh, Murphy's accent and all made me want to weep a bit, but there's a fun to it that I liked alot, and that makes it worth reading, I think. Bodie as a frozen gnome - and then a very animated one! - Doyle being travel-sick... *g* It balances out for me in this one, somehow! But as you say - hurrah for the many colours of fandom! *g*

[freetraveller15.livejournal.com]

*off topic*
Please please the spelling mistake of "calender" in so many recent posts in this comm is hurting my eyes 😲😆... Sorry: it's just the nerdy translator/proofreader in me talking! *g*

I think I'd heard of this story a couple of years ago, but never got a chance to read it. You've whetted my appetite :)
Thank you.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol - oh dear, guess how many of us decided to copy and paste the header used by the first (non-English-as-a-first-language) person who posted! And I was certainly not paying attention when I posted, because yes, as an ex-proofreader I should definitely have spotted that! I've fixed my posts, but can't do anything about the other people's - you'll have to gently note the spelling error to them individually I'm afraid. On the bright side, people who copy and paste later on will be getting it right, no matter who they choose... *g*

This is a fun story - there's various things that make me wince, such as being a bit soppy in places, and Murphy's accent, but the fun of it balances out I think, so it's worth tracking down - via ProsLib, which I should have put in the post!

[freetraveller15.livejournal.com]

😊

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

Oops - thanks, I've corrected mine!

[freetraveller15.livejournal.com]

😊