Unabridged Opinions

Christoper Brookmyre’s latest offering, A Snowball in Hell, delivers all of the aspects expected in a Brookmyre novel: excellent plotting, occasionally hysterical villains, and a dose of Scotland and Glasgow.  Snowball also has the return of  Angelique de Xavia, one of Brookmyre’s most kick-ass heroines, and she is quickly joined by the magician and disappearing artist, Zal.

The stakes are high this time with a truly psychopathic serial killer targeting celebrities and creating inventive and sadistic ways for them to meet their end in the public eye. As the deaths become more elaborate, and the pressure on the police force mounts, it becomes clear that the killer is no ‘ordinary’ man. Soon, de Xavia is back in Glasgow and searching for a man she hoped was dead. Simon Darcourt has returned to Scotland, and the stakes for de Xavia ratchet up as the book continues, until she needs someone to work one of the bigger disappearing acts of all time.

There are the usual Brookmyre shenanigans with the added bonus of some cynical observations on pop culture and reality television. It is clear that the questions that Brookmyre poses are ones that he thinks should be on everyone’s minds.  What do we do with our culture of celebrity? Of what worth is a reality tv star or people who are famous for being famous? When does the search for the next big thing become so false as to be useless? Darcourt’s identity is revealed early on, but the question of what he would do next serves as an excellent substitute–this is one killer who always looks for the next original idea in mayhem.

One aspect I found myself missing, actually, was Brookmyre’s spot on rendition of Glaswegian speech. I enjoy ‘hearing’ the accents in my head, and those characters are usually the most fun to be following around. De Xavia, whatever faults and foibles she may have, is quite seperate from Glasgow, and the book suffers, just a bit, from not having someone more connected. At times, the book just feels like an excuse to put Zal and de Xavia back together, but they are an excellent pair, and the book is a fun read, so in the end, it’s all worth it.