A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil - Christopher Brookmyre

~ ~ I've been a fan of the Scottish author Christopher Brookmyre ever since I read one of his early books "Boiling A Frog" a few years back. His irreverent style of writing and his constant use of Scots vernacular in his prose appeals to me, although how someone not schooled in the intricacies of Scottish slang ever manages to wade their way through one of his books is as much a mystery as some of the crime/comedy novelist's yarns. (Hence ...
...couple of writing awards; "Boiling a Frog" (2000) won the "Sherlock Award for Best Comic Detective", and his latest novel "All Fun And Games Until Someone Loses an Eye" (2006) was the winner of the "Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction".
So the 38-year-old Scots author from Glasgow with a passion for Saint Mirren football club (poor soul!) can spin a good yarn, of that there is no doubt. ... more

~ ~ I've been a fan of the Scottish author Christopher Brookmyre ever since I read one of his early books "Boiling A Frog" a few years back. His irreverent style of writing and his constant use of Scots vernacular in his prose appeals to me, although how someone not schooled in the intricacies of Scottish slang ever manages to wade their way through one of his books is as much a mystery as some of the crime/comedy novelist's yarns. (Hence my title)

~ ~ Brookmyre has been feted as one of the UK's finest novelists ever since his first novel, "Quite Ugly One Morning" (1996) won the "Critics' First Blood Award" for "Best First Crime Novel of the Year". He followed up this success with another couple of writing awards; "Boiling a Frog" (2000) won the "Sherlock Award for Best Comic Detective", and his latest novel "All Fun And Games Until Someone Loses an Eye" (2006) was the winner of the "Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction".
So the 38-year-old Scots author from Glasgow with a passion for Saint Mirren football club (poor soul!) can spin a good yarn, of that there is no doubt. Along with another Scots crime writer, Ian Rankin, (of Rebus fame) he is currently an author whose novels I devour avidly as soon as I can get my hands on them.

~ ~ So when I succeeded in getting my hands on not one, but two, Brookmyre novels at the one time at Amazon I thought it was my Christmas and birthday all rolled into one. The two novels were his latest offerings, "A Tale Etched In Blood and Hard Black Pencil" (2005), which I'm reviewing here, and his latest award winning novel, "All Fun And Games until Someone Loses an Eye". (2006)
I'd love to be able to say that "A Tale Etched In Blood and Hard Black Pencil" was yet another literary masterpiece from the pen of one of my favourite authors, but unfortunately this isn't the case. In fact, if this was the first Brookmyre novel I'd ever read, I think I'd be disinclined to ever part with my hard earned dosh and buy another.

~ ~ So what's the novel about, and why did I think it wasn't anywhere near as good as his any of previous books?
It's a crime novel (of sorts) right enough, with a murder to be solved and with a few twists and turns in the tale. But it's the method that Brookmyre chooses to unravel that tale that had me totally confused and wondering just what the author was trying to achieve.
Lots of you have probably heard of a website called "Friends Reunited", where you can look up long lost school chums and find out what they are up to all these years later, whether they are alive or dead, who they married (or didn't marry) and whether or not they've made a success of their lives. Well, I think Brookmyre probably had this website firmly in mind when he wrote this novel.
What he does is introduce us to a class of Primary One Glasgow schoolchildren as they enter their first year in Catholic Primary school, and then alternates his Chapters with what these self-same schoolchildren have turned out like in adult life. He takes us right through from when they are snot nosed five-year-olds crying for their mammies and wetting their pants, up to the time they attend their "Leaving Disco" after doing their "O" and "A" levels. (Or "Highers" as they are called in Scotland) Of course, there's a murder involved. In fact the victim is one of the self-same class of school kids, as are the two prime suspects, the investigating police Superintendent, and a high flying lawyer from London.

~ ~ I can appreciate the idea behind the book. In theory, it sounds like a brilliant new concept for a crime novel. Where it falls down is that all Brookmyre manages to achieve is to totally confuse his reader as to who is who, who is doing or has done what, who likes who and hates somebody else, and so on, ad infinitum. The list of characters and bit players in the novel is so complex, and the switching between when they were schoolchildren to their present day adult lives is so confusing, that the reader is left with their head in a whirl.
With a smaller cast of characters perhaps Brookmyre could have made the concept work. As it is, all you actually have is a confusing mish-mash of underdeveloped characters, along with an equally underdeveloped plot line.

~ ~ To say I actually disliked this novel would be an overstatement. It's well written from a technical point of view, and because of the Scottish theme and background it did manage to sustain my interest right up until the end. But I found it self indulgent, confusing, underdeveloped, and God help any non-Scottish readers with no knowledge of Scots vernacular!
Brookmyre has always used Scottish slang liberally in all his novels, and this is no bad thing as generally the device works well, and adds realism to his characters. But in this novel he goes WAY over the top. Even for a Scotsman like myself some of the use of slang was so extreme that even I had to refer to the glossary at the end of the book to figure out what the characters were saying. (That's right folks, there's a glossary of Scottish slang at the end of the novel for the uninitiated reader!)

~ ~ I've read a good few reviews of this novel online since I finished reading it, and generally the reviews have been highly complimentary and full of praise. (With one or two exceptions) Well sorry Christopher, but here's one reader who thinks that you made a total hash of this book. Please God "All Fun And Games Until Someone Loses an Eye" (which I've been saving to read over Christmas) will see you return to your usual scintillating form.
As always, the way to get the best possible price for this book is to shop around on the Web at sites like Amazon and eBay.

~ ~ Not recommended to anyone except the hardened Brookmyre fan, and even then try to borrow it from the library rather than spend any money on it.

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© KenJ

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