false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176190789m/602693.jpg 289172 5 Of all writers practising what might loosely be called crime fiction today, Christopher Brookmyre is the one who lends himself least easily to categorisation. There are those eccentric titles, for a start: such as the latest one: <i>A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil</i>. This unwieldy title (as often before) gives an indication of the sardonic quality of his writing, and in that, Brookmyre is reminiscent of his great American colleague, Carl Hiaasen. Like Hiaasen, too, Brookmyre favours eccentric and outrageous plots, but there is always a strong grounding in reality, which gives the humour a decidedly bitter edge. <P> Internet contact between ex-school friends these days leads to some disturbing encounters, and Brookmyre's version of the scenario is typically murderous. Brookmyre is interested in whether or not the index to future of violent behaviour might be discerned in the school playground. DS Karen Gillespie is bemused by a cack-handed attempt at burning a pair of bodies; this takes place outside Glasgow (in fact, in the area in which she grew up). And in a nearby lodge, strange attempts have been made to clean up what appears to be the same crime, but (as a pathologist points out), everything here is handled as maladroitly as the murder. Two suspects appear, but when Karen discovers that they were at primary school together (along with one of the murder victims), things begin to look like a grisly version of Friends Reunited.<p> Brookmyre readers will know exactly what to expect from this scenario, and they won't be disappointed. If the level of invention is not as delirious as in previous books, Karen Gillespie is as quirkily characterised as ever. <p>--<I>Barry Forshaw</I> 2712214 25 5 2006 A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil total:142|5:4|4:9|3:0|2:1|1:0| 142 537 198 24 602693 0349118809 9780349118802 23 8 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176190789m/602693.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/602693.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 4 1 false Thu Aug 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 01:56:55 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 01:56:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 602693 0349118809 9780349118802 23 8 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176190789m/602693.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/602693.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 4 0 false Sun Jul 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 10 12:21:57 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 12 12:02:34 -0700 2009
It was not totally rando...more...]]> 602693 0349118809 9780349118802 23 8 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176190789m/602693.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/602693.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 4 2 false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 05 12:17:57 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 05 12:20:52 -0700 2007
very sharp on the short lifetime of the vernacular in schools - I'm old enough to remember the arrival and departure of "is it chook" as an expression of disbelief, and smiled fondly on seeing it in print.
...more...]]> 602693 0349118809 9780349118802 23 8 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176190789m/602693.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/602693.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 4 0 false Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 06:02:05 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 01:08:26 -0700 2009
I defy anyone not to identify with aspects of this book. The feelings and emotions are painted so well they are palpable.

The plot line itself almost seems second...more...]]> 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 5 0 false Wed Sep 30 07:05:47 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 01:04:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 4 0 false Thu Oct 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 13 10:46:09 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 24 08:55:08 -0700 2008 more...]]> 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 4 0 false Tue Nov 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Oct 31 11:23:59 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 10 12:28:47 -0800 2009 Murder (or Morrdurr) books aren't a fave of mine, but I did like the 'now dilemmas' parried against the school flashbacks which rounded the characters.
...more...]]> 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 4 1 false Mon Jul 21 10:43:18 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 14 00:00:02 -0700 2009 In a small rural community, most of the adults have known each other since they were children at school together.
The book travels back and forth between the adults, their reactions to the murder and attempts to find out what happened, an...more...]]> 602693 0349118809 9780349118802 23 8 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176190789m/602693.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/602693.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 3 1 false Sun Oct 07 10:57:12 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 13 06:09:46 -0700 2008
...more...]]> 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 3 0 false Sun Mar 22 09:00:02 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 09:02:32 -0700 2009 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 4 0 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Sep 06 16:32:16 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 06 16:39:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 4 0 false Fri Nov 14 05:44:15 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 05:30:17 -0800 2008 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 2 0 false Fri Nov 20 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Sep 13 02:26:50 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 20 12:59:39 -0800 2009
Maybe its because I read this straight after Pandaemonium (which I loved) but this has definately been my least favourite CB novel. In fact I even nearly stopped reading 4 or 5 times - something I...more...]]> 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 3 0 false Thu Oct 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 10:22:57 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 23 14:51:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 4 0 false Tue Sep 02 03:28:53 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 03:31:35 -0700 2008 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 3 0 false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 03 19:37:40 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 03 19:42:47 -0700 2007 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 4 0 false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 20 05:43:29 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 26 09:33:00 -0700 2008 289172 0316730106 9780316730105 117 16 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173447889m/289172.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289172.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 4 0 false Fri Nov 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Sep 09 08:38:35 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 13 00:39:11 -0800 2009 602693 0349118809 9780349118802 23 8 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176190789m/602693.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/602693.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 3 0 false Fri Mar 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 12 01:53:23 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 14 05:18:57 -0700 2008 602693 0349118809 9780349118802 23 8 3.78 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176190789m/602693.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/602693.A_Tale_Etched_in_Blood_and_Hard_Black_Pencil 0 0 false Thu Oct 18 20:19:05 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 18 20:19:05 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=602693