This is the most gruesome book of Ben Elton's that I've ever read (which I shouldn't really have been surprised about, I suppose, after reading the "policeman searches for serial killer" blurb.) Most of Ben Elton's books seem to have a central "issue" - environmentalism in Stark and This Other Eden, fame and celebrity in Dead Famous and Popcorn, and drugs in High Society. In Past Mortem, the issue of the moment is bullying, by both children and adults.
Elton's dialogue is pretty terrible in this book - stiff and clumsy, which makes it hard to connect with the characters. I was semi-involved - I did want to find out who the killer was, and whether Newsom would finally tell his sergeant Natasha about his passionate and secret love for her - but I polished it off with a certain amount of relief that I wouldn't have to go plunging back into the clunky writing. Elton's done much better - in fact, Stark probably remains my favourite of his books, although I liked High Society a lot as well.
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