A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil
The latest Brookmyre to hit paperback is both about a murder case in modern day Scotland and a group of people growing up together as they go through primary and high school.
It seems to me to be about how our school days shape the rest of our lives and how hard it is to see people for who they really are in the here and now when you spent every day of your childhood building up an idea of who they are.
Like everything Brookmyre touches this is a fun, quick read. The problem lies in the fact that the little details about playground life are so much better drawn that the actual characters of the schoolkids. So you have to be told that everyone knows that this character isn’t a bad kid rather than him actually showing it through actions and attitude.
Also as he really does fall in love with the sections in the past the contemporary story seems a bit lightweight, more of an excuse than the actual point of the whole thing. Though I did like the banter between the hotshot lawyer and the pub landlady.
Better than the mountain of dross than can be found in the crime section in most bookshops/libraries I’d say it’s well worth a read. Just don’t expect prime Brookmyre