Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2892 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-05
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Of all writers practising what might loosely be called crime fiction today, Christopher Brookmyre is the one who lends himself least easily to categorisation. There are those eccentric titles, for a start: such as the latest one: A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil. This unwieldy title (as often before) gives an indication of the sardonic quality of his writing, and in that, Brookmyre is reminiscent of his great American colleague, Carl Hiaasen. Like Hiaasen, too, Brookmyre favours eccentric and outrageous plots, but there is always a strong grounding in reality, which gives the humour a decidedly bitter edge.

Internet contact between ex-school friends these days leads to some disturbing encounters, and Brookmyre's version of the scenario is typically murderous. Brookmyre is interested in whether or not the index to future of violent behaviour might be discerned in the school playground. DS Karen Gillespie is bemused by a cack-handed attempt at burning a pair of bodies; this takes place outside Glasgow (in fact, in the area in which she grew up). And in a nearby lodge, strange attempts have been made to clean up what appears to be the same crime, but (as a pathologist points out), everything here is handled as maladroitly as the murder. Two suspects appear, but when Karen discovers that they were at primary school together (along with one of the murder victims), things begin to look like a grisly version of Friends Reunited.

Brookmyre readers will know exactly what to expect from this scenario, and they won't be disappointed. If the level of invention is not as delirious as in previous books, Karen Gillespie is as quirkily characterised as ever.

--Barry Forshaw

Sunday Express
`Brookmyre has lost none of his wit and panache'

Irish Examiner
`A deviously clever crime novel...If you're looking for a breath
of fresh air in this genre, then look no further'

Customer Reviews

A return to form
Just finished this, really enjoyed it. I'd kind of given up on this author, started well, got better (Country of the Blind still his best), carried on for a bit then became very formulaic. But I thought I'd give this a whirl, qualifying my purchase for free delivery as it did. Very glad I did, real cracking stuff from start to end. The memories of school days are spot on, though sadly they have to end at some stage as we catch up with the present. But that's no bad thing, the story of the present is very good too. All in all a great read.

(For some reason, every time I do a review on Amazon there's always a line that comes up asking why people can't rate how helpful they found my review. I'll tell you why, because I can't see where to click to facilitate this feature. Anyway, hope it was helpful, more to the point, hope you enjoyed the book.)

We've all been there
This is a book that can very easily divide opinions, perhaps because our own school-days are such an emotive subject.

I loved it, my wife was underwhelmed.

From the descriptions of teachers, break-time football matches, and general (mis)behaviour, I was catapulted back a couple of decades, into the thick of the playground jungle. The feelings shown by the central characters are excellently depicted and embarrassingly harsh in their reality.

Bonus points for the gratuitous use of the word "jobby".

In my mind, the murder mystery was an add-on, and brought little value to the book. Perhaps this should have been written simply as memoirs of life in a Scottish primary school?

Brookmyre's last few books have shown that he is trying to expand in other directions than the Hiaasen/ Bateman genre in which Jack Parlabane so firmly rests. More power to him!

takes me back
Reading Brookmyres description of the Scottish school system of the late seventies and eighties, I found myself transported back in time. Rarely have I read a book which sparks such vivid memories. Couple this with some cracking humour and a decent thriller plot, and it is a book i would thoroughly recommend.