Quite Ugly One Morning

LoveReading Says

If ignorance is bliss, then stupidity must be orgasmic.

Brookmyre is one of those annoying authors who can turn his hand to almost anything. He’s written psychological thrillers, police procedurals, a crime novel set in space and his forthcoming book The Cracked Mirror is a frankly mind-blowing detective novel like no other you will ever read. It’s in his award-winning debut novel though, that his genius as a satirist was first showcased. Brookmyre is a man who has funny bones (I’ve seen him bring the house down at the Comedy Store) but as a writer he’s no simple gag-merchant. His humour is scathing, scabrous and often scatalogical, but there’s always a target and, most importantly, he always punches up.

The novel introduces journalist Jack Parlabane, one of Brookmyre’s regular characters and places him at the centre of a plot involving a good deal of murder and mutilation, all of it done (to bastardise a Kenny Everett catchphrase) in the worst possible taste. Did I say it was scatological? The crime scene upon which Parlabane stumbles at the start of the book is not for the squeamish, but Brookmyre ups the ante in brilliantly absurd style by placing what Scottish readers might call a ‘jobbie’ on the dead man’s mantelpiece.  

I’m not sure how Poirot would have coped.

It’s savagely hilarious stuff, but serves above all as a biting satire, highlighting the parlous state of the NHS thanks to the nefarious activities of politicians, media hacks and most notably, big pharmaceutical companies. Yes, Brookmyre has some very serious points to make, but does so in a way that is always wickedly entertaining. Quite Ugly One Morning has all the excitement and suspense you’d expect from a thriller, but with whip-smart dialogue, a charmingly cynical protagonist and jokes that any stand-up would be proud of.

Guest Editor, Mark Billingham

LoveReading

Find This Book In