2019 view: Another Four Star Elton read, seems to say that his writing improves with time :) A seemingly calculating very clever killer manages to subdue a large bully and quasi-gangster... and stab him over 340 times with a small instrument... until he dies! Yep you read that right! Short and ginger, but a leading Scotland Yard detective Edward Newsom and his second-in-command, whom he's secretly besotted with, Sergeant Natasha Wilkie find themselves caught up in a case that's feel to be centred around bullying, tortuous killing and multiple suspects! A weird mix of a book, with an interesting murder case, explicit sex, rom-com stylish romance, dark comedy, child abuse, domestic violence, the power of online chatter and a real good look at bullying! It could be said that the way Elton satirises, dissects and parodies the modern age, in time this could become a barometer of this age! This book is enjoyable and though provoking on so many levels! 8 out of 12.

2011 view: The man I loathed as a comic continues to write books that I really like! The main character is a short (for a policeman) ginger haired copper who was bullied at school and is infatuated with his female underling. They both work at Scotland Yard and are sent to investigate a murder of a bullying man from a big anti-social family... this turns out to be the first of many murders. An interesting books that manages to really look at school bullying at its effect on the victim's development and later life.. yet manages to be quite funny at times... and most of all, a thoroughly gripping whodunit! 7 out of 12.

Ben Elton is really original and funny.
When some of my friends asked me "what is this book about?" I couldn't answer. Maybe a black novel, maybe a romantic one with a lot of perversion, maybe a little bit of everything... I don't know how to classify this novel, but I don't think it is necessary. It is a great one, with very complicated characters and with a cool story.

I love the writing and the speed of the events. I have hated some of the characters, yes, I have hated them not because of the writer; I thought they were really stupid! I think this is a good thing because I don't like books in which you are supposed to have feelings for someone because that's what the writer wishes. I want to be free in my decisions!


Ben Elton, you are great! :) I will continue with your novels.

"Time, of course. That was all it took. Time."
"If you love someone you try to make them strong, you don't endorse their weakness"
"It's the world, isn't it? Everything's the same. Same crap, different toilet."

Edgier, funnier and better than a lot of Ben Elton

I enjoyed reading this. It didn't particularly made me think deeply or change my view on things, although it was probably meant to be a little deep as it was very heavily themed on school bullying and how it can impact people for the rest of their lives. I had my own school bullies but nothing that scarred me for life - merely the icing on top of the cake that was moving countries, school systems and climate, leaving friends behind and culture shock of course. Funnily enough, one did try to add me as a friend on Facebook a few years out of school but I ignored her request and haven't really looked back. Now I think of it, I don't actually even remember which one it was, only the fact that one of them did!

Maybe I'm going too deep here but I guess one thing the book didn't really do was look at what's behind the bullies. Most of the bullies featured bullied because, we are told, they were mean people. But there are often stories behind that, as, I guess there were with my bullies. We did get a potential bully being bullied, but that falls through. I guess we can't have too much sympathy for the bullies if we're to enjoy them being tortured to death, or their victims reveling in them being tortured to death.

The humour was dark - perhaps a bit too dark for me and the book would very quickly turn from darkly funny to grim.

The murderer was (I thought) a bit obvious by the middle of the book so the fact that the protagonist was suspecting everybody else was a bit annoying for me. Also, having been made by my boyfriend to watch Hot Fuzz I couldn't help but imagine the main character as Simon Pegg, which probably ruined it a little for me.

I did like the protagonist despite the Pegg-iness and I thought the relationship with his colleague was well-handled, and I liked that the author showed that there was a thin line between being the creepy and the sweet colleague who fancies their colleague. Ending to that was a little too easy though! Without spoiling, the cliche end to the other relationship did annoy me.

Good but I worked out who the villain was early on

I picked the killer aboit half way through but didn't stop me from enjoying the book. Another great Ben Elton book

Well-written in places. It made me laugh, but not always with the book, if you know what I mean.

The bullying message and Internet weirdos themes still ring true. As does the sad school reunion thing. Great combination of topics strung together skilfully as a murder mystery.

I have avoided Ben Elton's books, even though I know he has published A LOT I have always written him off as an author because of my own prejudices. He will always be the 1980's, sequin besuited, mouth whose politics I didn't agree with but who could still make me laugh. I fully expected his books to both tout his personal politics and have that very clear Ben Elton stage persona voice. I WAS SO WRONG! A work colleague advised me to try his books as she has read all of his output and hasn't had a bad one yet, so this one was on sale and I figured "why not?".

As she would say - WHAT A BOOK!

It has everything going for it. A bit of a police procedural, a bit of a thriller, a bit of a romance and a lot of grit. Edward Newson is our hero and a more self-deprecating chap you couldn't hope to meet. The humour is dark and wry; Newson certainly has few illusions about himself but he comes across as charming in an unlikely way. Couple this with his unrequited obsession with his Sergeant, Natasha and his insecurities about his appearance, his ability to do his job and, well just life really; you can't help but fall a little in love with his gingerness. When a brutal murder takes place and it is assigned to his Murder Team you know things aren't going to run smoothly for Edward and with little to go off forensically or by way of motive they appear to be at a dead end, until there is another murder just as bizarre.

The investigation is also set against Newson's decision to revisit his past and he joins, the now defunct, Friends Reunited website. Oddly his secondary school years coincide with mine so all those nostalgia references really hit home. Not only does it bring back bad memories of school, it also brings back warm ones of one Christmas Disco and catapults him on to the radar of two women from his past; two women who are soon to be instrumental in the murder enquiry.

This isn't a book for the squeamish as some of the murder scenes are described in lurid detail. There are also a couple of graphic "intimate" scenes - now, normally I find these a real nuisance but I have to admit as weird as the acts described are they are written exceptionally well. Unfortunately, I did figure out who did around 3/4 of the way through but I really enjoyed watching Newson and Natasha flounder about trying to get there - and they do a fair bit of floundering.

Fun, frightful and relentlessly gripping. Seperate the Stand-Up from the Author and you are in for a genuine treat!

What a shame I knew who the killer was from the beginning. It was not as funny as I expected one if his books to be.

DNF. I couldn’t get past page 10 because the way the women characters are written is nauseating.

Pas pour moi