I’ve read Brookmyre before, albeit many years ago, so I was looking forward to Quite Ugly One Evening.
The book features Jack Parlabane (of Quite Ugly One Morning), an aging journo who’s crossed one too many lines, and ends up ‘persuaded’ into attending a cruise so that he can investigate Russian links to a family on board.
The family is a Succession-style wealthy dynasty that created a Thunderbirds-type franchise back in the 60s, now arguing about money as it all threatens to fall apart (or take-off again, no one’s quite sure, but there’s a lot of cash at stake either way).
In the opening pages, Jack’s stuck in the middle of a crime scene. Then we whizz back to how exactly he ended up there. Not just the job he was given, but the rivalries and friendships he’s seen, and the potential motives for murder…
It’s a fun book but also a complicated one with a large cast of characters, who can be quite difficult to tell apart at first. Persevere, and it becomes an interesting locked-room mystery with a satisfying ending.
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