I have read quite a few of Ben Elton's novels and with the exception of Blast from the Past have enjoyed them, some of them (High Society, Chart Throb) very much so.
Past Mortem is an okay mystery very heavy on the message about bullying. It's an important issue and I presume it was personal for Elton. An enjoyable read it is not, but then I suppose it's not meant to be.

Really enjoyed it. Have read a number of Ben Elton books this is by far the best.

First book of 2022 was a Xmas gift picked up at the Op Shop and it was great! Ben Elton is such a brilliantly comedic writer even when the genre is crime / thriller. Started Dec 25th and finished on New Year's Day, it was a great way to start the year :)

Ben Elton is unashamedly into the groove of selecting themes of popular culture and satirising them. This is a typical offering, this time centring round a Friends Reunited-type website, and contains a lot of humour as well as some rather startling sex scenes. The whodunnit was weak, I thought, as I guessed the perpetrator pretty early on. There was still a minor twist I didn't guess, though, so top marks to him there. Not his best, but not his worst by any means.

This was so cool man.

This was given to me by my Scottish friend who bought it in a UK charity shop. I hadn't ready any Elton before, and I'm really enjoying this. It's basically a police procedural, albeit a more lighthearted one (though the crimes are not at all lighthearted). It's sort of a veddy serious procedural crossed with a Kingsley Amis novel.

I really like Ben Elton's style. Being a multi-talented actor/director/playwright/comedian/everything, I could tell he was a good story teller. The murders are gruesome and creative, although anyone who has read a few murder mystery novels I feel would have guessed in the middle of the book who the culprit was.
Regardless, I loved the theme of exploring the past especially around the traumas and bullying from high school that sticks with you your whole life. It is cringey and uncomfortable but a lot of people did not enjoy high school did they.

Let me first say that the plot and the pace are very good. So why the low rating? The characters. This is one of the most sexist books I've ever read with bat-shit crazy women and submissive idiots who love the bad boy while the main male character is so slimy it makes reading this book almost unbearable. He reinforces every fear that women have about all men being shallow, sex-focused, disgusting perverts at their core. Not worth the read.

"Past Mortem" is a mystery which takes place in contemporary England. Edward Newson, a detective inspector from Scotland Yard, together with Natasha Wilkie, a detective sergeant, trace a thread of murders in which victims die from lengthy torture. The scenes of each crime are connected only by a single common element -- the meticulousness and elaborate planning to avoid quick death.

On the surface this would have been a mystery about the psychology of the perpetrator, there is that, but what this book brings above others is the two additional lines of development -- Newson's infatuation with Natasha, and the episodes of Newson's memories from high-school and him attempting to connect with his objects of puerile adulation from the end of the 80s.

Unrequited love is pain, Newson is a confidante into which Natasha's vents frustrations from her boyfriend. A position from which Newson believes he would never manage to graduate, him being simply a good friend is emasculating. Could a revival of old high-school passions bring the vigor he needs so desperately to demonstrate.

I found Ben Elton by checking out the credits on the BBC comedy "Black Adder", where he figured as one of the writers. The outstanding black humor of the series prompted me to reach out and try one of his books. To this I give enthusiastic 5 stars. The book is a mastery of pace, plot and style, it manages to not only entertain by the methods of typical good mystery -- keeping you on the edge -- but during the slow moments actually engaged my own memories about what high-school was, the good and the bad of it.

Predictable ending. Other than that, a fun read.

A lot of this book feels very outdated today (Friends Reunited, dial up Internet) but overall its a very enjoyable read. There are a few uncomfortable scenes and Elton continues to use the word "cool" far too often. I managed to guess the killer quite early on (think it was pretty obvious due so I can't claim to be a crime solving genius) spite a few obvious red herrings but that didn't spoil the enjoyment of the story.

2.5 Stars. This is my first Elton book. Clearly he is a talented writer, and this book was well written and enjoyable. Even though I don't read mysteries, I found the other plot line of unrequited love engaging enough to continue reading. I can't say the resolution was surprising or that the mystery itself was well done, but there is enough here to recommend. I hope that his other books are more rewarding.