READ: Dead Famous – Ben Elton. PDF, EPUB online free reviews.

Deer Reeder,

Like I said, totally normal book cover!

You might be surprised to hear that I started this article in 2017 and now look, it’s a year later! Okay, so I may be exaggerating with it being 2018 now. Don’t worry, it’s not been a year in the making, but it’s still been far longer than it should have. I started this before Christmas you know. It appears that this little Elf as been very busy this festive season. So what book should set sail this new year? Why, Ben Elton’s No. 1 Bestseller, Dead Famous of course. If you find the title intriguing, just have a look at what’s on the front cover. Unhappy gold fish in a bowl, odd right?!

So, I’m going to be honest here and say that this book didn’t blow me away and have me itching to read the next line. However, nor do I want you to totally dismiss this book as rubbish because it really isn’t, I promise. It just took a bit of time for me to get into.

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Now the book is set in a reality TV show called House Arrest where 10 contestants are made to live in a house with each other, while being filmed continuously.Each week a contestant is voted out and the last one left is the winner. Remind you of anything? So basically, it’s like reading a series of Big Brother, but with a twist (for those not in the know, Big Brother is a UK reality TV show, which basically is like watching a human zoo for a month or two. All very odd, but the arguments can be fascinating!).

So, what’s the twist? Well, let’s just say there is a murder, its filmed and yet the police have no clue who did it.

“One house, ten contestants, thirty cameras, forty microphones, one murder…and no evidence.”

What I find clever with this book and is one of the things that stopped me from giving up on it despite the slow start (can you say it’s a slow start in a murder case?), is that until the murder is shown (just over halfway through), you don’t even know who is actually murdered let alone who committed this crime. Their identity is kept from you so that while your guessing who the killer is, you’re also guessing who gets killed. Elton, doesn’t make this easy either as he implies several contestants as both the murderer or the murdered, and sometimes goes as far as to put them in both categories.

Now I’ve got a relatively good track of guessing plot lines and twist, but Elton’s still came at a relative surprise, though I did have an inkling about the identity of the murderer. Tip, question what everyone does or says in this book and you may guess it before the police do, but I’d be surprised if you did.

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The characters in this book are on point (Urban Dictionary: “to be perfect; to satisfy; whatever it was, it met the person’s standards”). I think this is what adds the comedy to the book, because the characters are so close to accurate portrayals of what people who go on these shows are like, that you just can’t help but laugh at some of the things they say. You get the quiet ones, the knobs, the sunny but slightly thick ones, the bitches and that one person who leave you sitting there wondering, why are they are on this show in the first place, because they are relatively normal. Like, did they get lost and think this was a hotel and are now stuck on a reality TV show, sort of situation.

The stereotypes don’t stop at the contestants but also envelop the old-fashioned detective and greedy TV show producers. Basically, almost everyone is a caricature which is why this book works so well. They needed to be louder than life to add pace and tension.

So, as you can see, I think it is worth a read. Though maybe when your relaxing on a deckchair on holiday and are needing a mild thrill to keep yourself entertained.

So, recommendations time. Sorry this weeks is looking a little poor as I don’t really know any humorous ‘who done it’ books other than this one; though I have an inkling that its just me not thinking hard enough! But if you like a good detective book than I would recommend the author Simon Kernick. His books have got that right mix of tension and captivating plotline that sweeps you up in the detective’s case. Its worth having a read of my previous review on one of his books, Deadline.