A particularly nasty case by Adam Kay

With A particularly nasty case, comedian Adam Kay launches into a riotous opening rich in smart repartee and ludicrous situations. It’s a full-on assault, setting the tone for the book. First of all, Eitan Rose is in a phone box trying, and failing, to report a double murder, and then with a switch back in time we read about his foray into Purgatory, a gay nightclub come orgy, where he ends up half naked performing CPR on a passed-out participant. This is his life. He is actually a doctor, good at his job, but clearly struggling with chaotic thinking and erratic impulses. It is this behaviour that makes his friends and colleagues question his mental health, and doubt his whole murder investigation. Only his new boyfriend Cole seems to be on his side.

Part Two switches to Coles’ viewpoint, and the writing is completely different, more straightforward and sensible. It is only then that the reader realises that until this point they have been inhabiting the perspective of someone with bipolar disorder and a drug addiction. But while Eitan may be manic, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the murders are a wild figment of his overworked imagination. And just how reliable is Cole anyway, the side-kick that always seems to let him down?

Adam Kay’s book obviously sets out to be a laugh a minute. But it also has a serious side; the stigma attached to mental health; how once a person has mental health issues on their work record, all their subsequent behaviour is viewed within that framework and their professionalism is undermined. Despite his personal failings, Eitan shines as an empathetic doctor who relates well to his patients. But working within the National Health System, he constantly battles to have his concerns taken seriously.

If you are a reader that can handle the often crude dialogue, Kay’s combination of crazy humour and murder mystery could make for enjoyable holiday reading.

Themes: Murder, Mental health, Bipolar disorder, Deception, Hospital system.

Helen Eddy