Sometimes, people's kindness astounds me. I have a friend, one who'd better remain nameless (I know she reads this blogs and I don't want to embarrass her), whose thoughtfulness and generosity has made me almost speechless.
She was reading a book and said: "I think you'll enjoy this. I'll put it in the post…"
The book in question is Murphy's Revenge by Colin Bateman. I hadn't heard of the book, I hadn't even heard of the author, and I'm ashamed to say that the TV series, Murphy's Law, more or less passed me by. (I'm not sure how that happened.)
The book duly arrived and, while I made myself a coffee, I read the first page. Okay, so I read the first couple of chapters. I was hooked. It is exactly the sort of book I love. The prose is sharp and witty, the story is wonderfully well plotted, I've had several laugh out loud moments and, even more than that, it's a book that makes you think.
On Colin Bateman's website, the book is described thus:
Back to Murphy again, and more fun with the depressed detective. You see
the age thing coming in again here, where Murphy becomes quite obsessed with the fact that he might be losing
his hair or be overweight.
All this personal stuff you can't really get into in a TV series which is relentlessly
driven by plot, plot, plot. It pisses me off a bit, because once you take the personal stuff out you're in danger of
becoming The Bill.
In this one Murphy goes undercover into a victim support group which is suspected of being
behind the killing of several killers, only to have his own past revealed and be offered the opportunity to murder
the man who murdered his child.
I can't tell you how much pleasure this book is giving me. It's one of those I shall be sorry to finish. It's also one of those where I have to rush out and buy everything Mr Bateman has written.
So aren't friends wonderful? I am overcome with gratitude and amazement.
Today's message is simple: Go hug a friend!