Customer Reviews
Brilliant - By: D. Brodie, 11 Nov 2008 
Quite frankly one of the funniest books i've ever read.
As usual with Brookmyre there is killing & some gore running through the story but i found it hard to put downin all honesty & some of the school bits had me laughing out loud.
Fantastic
A return to form - By: PJ Sturdee, 07 May 2008 
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. Allin 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 - By: Michael Bolan, 09 Jan 2008 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, & 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 & embarrassingly harshin their reality.
Bonus points for the gratuitous use of the word "jobby".
In my mind, the murder mystery was an add-on, & brought little value to the book. Perhaps this should have been written simply as memoirs of lifein a Scottish primary school?
Brookmyre's last few books have shown that he is trying to expandin other directions than the Hiaasen/ Bateman genrein which Jack Parlabane so firmly rests. More power to him!
takes me back - By: Greg Allison, 29 Nov 2007 Reading Brookmyres description of the Scottish school system of the late seventies & eighties, I found myself transported backin time. Rarely have I read a book which sparks such vivid memories. Couple this with some cracking humour & a decent thriller plot, & it is a book i would thoroughly recommend.
Happiest days of your life....... - By: Tealady2000, 08 Oct 2007 This is my fourth Brookmyre & definitely my favourite so far. The last one I read was 'The Sacred Art of Stealing' & although I enjoyed it I found I was wilfully having to suspend my disbelief on virtually every page because the plot was so outrageous. But this was just perfect!
DS Karen Gillespie has a double murder on her hands, & one the victims & both the suspected perpetrators were school-mates of hers. The unravelling of the crime is interwoven with the story of Karen & her peers as they negotiate their way through their school years - from the first dayin Primary 1 to the senior school leaving dance. Anyone who experienced a British state education will recognise the shockingly accurate descriptions of the feral nature of many aspects of school life but luckily there is plenty of humour to lighten the darker elements of the tale. If you are roughly the same age as Christopher Brookmyre you will love the references to TV programmes & pop records that will instantly take you back to the 70's & early 80's. Brilliant stuff.
