Where The Bodies Are Buried by Chris Brookmyre

 

Christopher Brookmyre’s latest novel is something of a departure from his previous work – the ‘satirical crime’ genre – into something a little more serious. Before getting into why this works superbly, here’s a pet peeve: passages like 'he turned left off Tollcross Road before it became Hamilton Road, heading north past Tollcross Park and east again on Shettleston Road…' seem unnecessary, when ‘he circled round past the park onto the main road’ etc would do. Streetmap geography slows a book down, and isn’t really effective at evoking Glasgow, or anywhere else. Strange that Brookmyre falls into this (overly common) trap, especially as the book is genuinely excellent at evoking place through describing economic factors that affect districts, or, more pertinently, the general way that Glaswegians speak and act. Having moved away from comedic characters, Brookmyre proves excellent at creating grounded ones, who do make jokes but to make each other laugh, not to play to the gallery. The plot involves Jasmine Sharp, actress turned private detective, Catherine McLeod, actual police detective, and Glen Fallan, killer the detectives pursue. Ignoring the geography thing (probably just my problem anyway) and absorbing the clever unfolding of characters and plot reveals a superbly balanced tale, expertly told. [Ryan Agee]