Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Abacus (1997), Paperback, 320 pages
Description
Yeah, yeah, the usual. A crime. A corpse. A killer. Heard it. Except this stiff happens to be a Ponsonby, scion of a venerable Edinburgh medical clan, and the manner of his death speaks of unspeakable things. Why is the body displayed like a slice of beef? How come his hands are digitally challenged? And if it's not the corpse, what is that awful smell? A post-Thatcherite nightmare of frightening plausibility, QUITE UGLY ONE MORNING is a wickedly entertaining and vivacious thriller, full of acerbic wit, cracking dialogue and villains both reputed and shell-suited.
User reviews
LibraryThing member AllieW
For a book which opens with the discovery of a mutliated corpse surrounded by all manner of bodily emissions and excretia, this is very funny indeed. Brookmyre manages the possibly unique feat of marrying a murder mystery plot with politcal satire and a touch of romance. It may also give you a
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touch of deja vu, since it is lamenting the NHS "reforms" of the Primary Care Trusts and the focus on money & efficiency over and above patient welfare. Read it and weep. With laughter. A superb little novel. I will definitely be looking out for more by this author. Show Less
LibraryThing member eldiablo1977
This read like a lot of other books of it's ilk and time, enjoyable in a throw away kind of way, not a story that's really going to stay with me. Having said that I think the character of Jack Parlabane has promise and may check out some of his further exploits. Brookmyre's writing was good with
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occasional brilliance and I hope, with this being his debut, that the brilliance starts to outshine the average in his later books. Show Less
LibraryThing member princessponti
Christopher Brookmyre stands alone on my shelf, and I'm sure on all other shelves in the world; I don't know any books quite like his. He is uniquely unsettling, warped, funny and mindbogglingly clever in his writing of crime fiction (a genre that I would normally never pick up).
Quite Ugly One
Quite Ugly One
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Morning is the first book containing Scottish detective Jack Parlabane. It is a fulfilling murder mystery, with scenes so twisted it will have you grimacing through your fingers, trying to work out the case. This book is a departure from the books I would normally read however it was thoroughly captivating and joyfully horrible! I wholeheartedly recommend Christopher Brookmyre to anyone that likes to figure out the story and that has a very dark sense of humour (and strong constitution!). Show Less
LibraryThing member frank_oconnor
Very predictable and featuring a lot of slack prose. The tale went well enough, but the telling leaned heavily on one-dimensional political thinking, and dated thinking at that. The author's tendancy to confuse vomit with wit didn't help.
LibraryThing member bruce_krafft
Read by David Tennant, need I say more, and with his 'normal' accent. David Tennant has totally spoiled me for audio books read by someone else. And not just becuase I am a HUGE fan of Doctor Who. The depth that he gives it is amazing. I found the story to be quite interesting, the characters very
DS
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well done. I have enjoyed listening to is at work quite a few times.DS
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
When a neighbour of Jack Parlabane is gruesomely murdered and he is found wandering through the murder site by the police, the investigative reporter explains that he’s a dedicatedly, professional noisy bastard. With the help of DC Jenny Dalziel and the victim’s ex-wife Dr. Sarah Slaughter, he
Jack himself is in Edinburgh as he is running from trouble he got into in Los Angeles, and he was in LA hiding out from trouble he got into in London. When a story catches his interest, he loses track of everything else in order to follow the scent, even if he has to break a few rules or laws to do it.
Quite Ugly One Morning is the first book in the series by Christopher Brookmyre and it’s a humdinger. I found myself laughing out loud and being grossed out at the same time. The first chapter set the tone for this wildly entertaining ride. I found the fast paced plot to be both witty and irreverent. Perhaps not for the weak-stomached, but I can hardly wait to get my hands on the next Jack Parlabane book.
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is soon on the trail of the killer of Dr. Jeremy Ponsonby and eventually exposes a much deeper plot to enrich a slimy businessman at the expense of the public’s health and taxes.Jack himself is in Edinburgh as he is running from trouble he got into in Los Angeles, and he was in LA hiding out from trouble he got into in London. When a story catches his interest, he loses track of everything else in order to follow the scent, even if he has to break a few rules or laws to do it.
Quite Ugly One Morning is the first book in the series by Christopher Brookmyre and it’s a humdinger. I found myself laughing out loud and being grossed out at the same time. The first chapter set the tone for this wildly entertaining ride. I found the fast paced plot to be both witty and irreverent. Perhaps not for the weak-stomached, but I can hardly wait to get my hands on the next Jack Parlabane book.
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LibraryThing member Darrol
Fun story buildup, but only ok ending. Interesting bits about the National Health Service in this time of debate about health insurance reform. Although witty both in writing and in character, plausibility makes this just an average book.
LibraryThing member JonArnold
I've never been a fan of crime fiction, it tends to be about leading to definitive answers, and that's not what I like in my literature. Brookmyre's my one great exception. He kind of sneaked up on me, constantly mentioned by friends who shared similar tastes as a top read. SO I picked up a copy of
A word of warning, Broomkmyre's as proudly and defiantly Scottish as Irvine Welsh. It permeates Brookmyre's outlook, from his politics, through the humour and right through to the language. With the often phonetically rendered slang this couldn't happen anywhere but Edinburgh, an Edinburgh that's more colourful and vivid than Welsh's more self-absorbed books allows.
Brookmyre's an energetic writer at the best of times, and Quite Ugly One Morning turns up that energy to eleven. It's got the unpredictability, vitality and occasional crudeness of all the best debuts have, the sheer glee of someone finally let loose in a literary sandpit. It's in your face from the start, with a vivid description of a horrific crime scene, the horror undercut by judicious employment of human bodily waste. And Brookmyre's caustic humour's there from that start, the police officers almost slapstick in their attempts to get through a huge puddle of vomit. Quite literally stomach churning but an instant hook, and welcome light years away from the trend for forensic descriptions that leave you feeling nothing. Brookmyre's demands that you care, that you at least get a sense of horror from the gore he often employs (the macabre mutilations inflicted on Mortlake here are wince inducing, almost making the character sympathetic despite his actions).
Other familiar Brookmyre tropes are present and correct. My views on the Margaret Thatcher's Tory regime chime with the author's, so I'm happy to go along with the richly deserved kicking he hands to the Thatcherist ideology and those who follow it. The anti-Tory rage (namechecking Thatcher, Tebbit and Virginia Bottomley) dates the book a little, but it's always good to have a reminder of what a vile self serving regime it was. Main villain Stephen Lime is the grotesque villain embodying Establishment cancers that Brookmyre excels at, from his name (Stephen Lime, S Lime, geddit?) to his ultra capitalist outlook. Brookmyre's exceptional at getting inside his mindset and imbuing him with a certain humanity without ever leaving the reader in any doubt that he's Thatcherite scum. In that sense Brookmyre's almsot a Biblically moralistic writer, with the good and bad guys clearly labelled up and ending up receiving their just desserts. It'd be preachily simplistic but for the pissed off black humour that gives the book its energy.
Parlabane himself isn't a memorable creation on the face of it, a slightly seedy bundle of one liners and handy abilities who acts as the Angel of Vengeance to Brookmyre's authorial God. But it's the flashes of background we get that brings him to life, hangovers, hitmen and hotel room shagging. It's the details, the texture that make him memorable. He's a moral journalist who's learned the hard way that things are not always as they seem and powerful people are, by and large, absolute bastards. Like Roger Cook, but likable and with added hubris and understanding of the bigger picture. Sometimes his resources strains credibility, such as his former shag from Companies House, but Parlabane's undoubtedly a man who'd exploit every possible asset and have all sorts of strange contacts. In a Brookmyre book, what might seem outlandish is just part of the circus.
And one more reason to love it? If you take the 'One' in the title in Roman numeral form the initials of the title spell 'quim'. Yeah, it's not big but it's clever and, most importantly, funny
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A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away and... yeah, you know where this is going. Smart, snarky, lurid, pop culture literate, angry and energetic - it was wonderfully bracing, a jolt to the system, a literary defibrillator. Probably too lowbrow to be considered for high faluting literary prizes but sod that, this was relentlessly entertaining stuff. And I've been dawdling through his back catalogue ever since, eventually working my way back to the start.A word of warning, Broomkmyre's as proudly and defiantly Scottish as Irvine Welsh. It permeates Brookmyre's outlook, from his politics, through the humour and right through to the language. With the often phonetically rendered slang this couldn't happen anywhere but Edinburgh, an Edinburgh that's more colourful and vivid than Welsh's more self-absorbed books allows.
Brookmyre's an energetic writer at the best of times, and Quite Ugly One Morning turns up that energy to eleven. It's got the unpredictability, vitality and occasional crudeness of all the best debuts have, the sheer glee of someone finally let loose in a literary sandpit. It's in your face from the start, with a vivid description of a horrific crime scene, the horror undercut by judicious employment of human bodily waste. And Brookmyre's caustic humour's there from that start, the police officers almost slapstick in their attempts to get through a huge puddle of vomit. Quite literally stomach churning but an instant hook, and welcome light years away from the trend for forensic descriptions that leave you feeling nothing. Brookmyre's demands that you care, that you at least get a sense of horror from the gore he often employs (the macabre mutilations inflicted on Mortlake here are wince inducing, almost making the character sympathetic despite his actions).
Other familiar Brookmyre tropes are present and correct. My views on the Margaret Thatcher's Tory regime chime with the author's, so I'm happy to go along with the richly deserved kicking he hands to the Thatcherist ideology and those who follow it. The anti-Tory rage (namechecking Thatcher, Tebbit and Virginia Bottomley) dates the book a little, but it's always good to have a reminder of what a vile self serving regime it was. Main villain Stephen Lime is the grotesque villain embodying Establishment cancers that Brookmyre excels at, from his name (Stephen Lime, S Lime, geddit?) to his ultra capitalist outlook. Brookmyre's exceptional at getting inside his mindset and imbuing him with a certain humanity without ever leaving the reader in any doubt that he's Thatcherite scum. In that sense Brookmyre's almsot a Biblically moralistic writer, with the good and bad guys clearly labelled up and ending up receiving their just desserts. It'd be preachily simplistic but for the pissed off black humour that gives the book its energy.
Parlabane himself isn't a memorable creation on the face of it, a slightly seedy bundle of one liners and handy abilities who acts as the Angel of Vengeance to Brookmyre's authorial God. But it's the flashes of background we get that brings him to life, hangovers, hitmen and hotel room shagging. It's the details, the texture that make him memorable. He's a moral journalist who's learned the hard way that things are not always as they seem and powerful people are, by and large, absolute bastards. Like Roger Cook, but likable and with added hubris and understanding of the bigger picture. Sometimes his resources strains credibility, such as his former shag from Companies House, but Parlabane's undoubtedly a man who'd exploit every possible asset and have all sorts of strange contacts. In a Brookmyre book, what might seem outlandish is just part of the circus.
And one more reason to love it? If you take the 'One' in the title in Roman numeral form the initials of the title spell 'quim'. Yeah, it's not big but it's clever and, most importantly, funny
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LibraryThing member iftyzaidi
This was Brookmyre's first novel and it definitely shows. Earlier this year, I read my first Brookmyre book, 'One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night' and really enjoyed it. Its fine blend of humour, energy, satire and action can all be glimpsed in this book as well, but generally the grain is much
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coarser. The writing is not as polished, the characters not as interesting and the plot seems rather more simplistic. This is an engaging and entertaining murder mystery novel, but little about it really stands out (other than the overused scatological humour). Show Less
LibraryThing member Clurb
Jack Parlabane sets out to uncover the mystery of the dead body in the flat next to his with the help of a handful of friends and some unlikely talent. A fast paced plot, an exciting conclusion and a number of comic interludes to die for. This is gritty, Scottish realism taken with a very big pinch
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of salt. Show Less
LibraryThing member Zack_Anthony
Full of wit and humour, Brookmyre does it again. A seamless merging of mayhem and smart ass characters. In Quite Ugly One Morning readers indulge the incorrigible Jack Parlabane, free lance journalist/crime investigator/Big time peeping Tom, as he returns to England his mother land to escape an
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assassination in the USA, only to come face to face with some cold blooded country men in high places. Show Less
LibraryThing member SimonW11
Enjoyable murder romp with larger than life characters and some great lines not to be take to seriously, thankfully as suspension of disbelief, especially when it came to the circumvention of the computer system, was a big problem.
LibraryThing member BillPilgrim
I recently read some of Brookmyre's books, a recent series featuring Jasmine Sharp and Catherine McCleod, and Glen Fallon. I enjoyed those very much, so here I read what I think is the first book in his Jack Parlabane series. I didn't take to it immediately and almost decide to stop reading it very
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early on. But, I finished the book and ended up enjoying the read quite well. I did not like it quite as much as the other series, but I think I will try another one of these Jack books sometime soon. This one was quite funny and well constructed, mostly. Show Less
LibraryThing member mstrust
The Edinburgh police find a horrible mess in Dr. Ponsonby's flat, including the doctor's mangled body. When the new upstairs neighbor is caught tip-toeing thorough the crime scene the police believe they have their suspect, but he turns out to be Parlance, an investigative journalist with a knack
This one started off really well with an unusual crime scene, and gruff police Inspector McGregor and his detectives are pretty funny. I think the story lost some of the spark as it went on to have some run of the mill romance and a baddie who had few layers, but it was still pretty good.
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for making people so angry they put out hits on him.This one started off really well with an unusual crime scene, and gruff police Inspector McGregor and his detectives are pretty funny. I think the story lost some of the spark as it went on to have some run of the mill romance and a baddie who had few layers, but it was still pretty good.
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LibraryThing member asxz
Satisfyingly nasty if a little dated. Parlabane is a Fletch-alike cheeky journo, unable to resist a good story and irresistible to women. I'll probably try another one at least.
LibraryThing member pgchuis
I enjoyed (most of) the humour in this book, but struggled with all the Scottish vocabulary/slang. The introduction perhaps set me up for noticing this, but it was a bit of an 'issue novel', with heavy-handed references to the tragic state of the NHS. Then the tone in other places was quite coarse,
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and the villains verging on the cartoonish. I liked Jack and Sarah and their police officer pal Jenny, but I think I'll wait before reading the next in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member SharonMariaBidwell
I have to admit some of the Scottish colloquiums escaped me, though I got the gist. This humorous thriller set in the shady world of the NHS is so perfectly plausible and entertaining, it’s almost a must-read. I loved the character of Parablaine and would definitely read more work by Brookmyre if
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not for my to-be-read mountain. Highly recommend. Show Less
LibraryThing member Fiddleback_
I enjoyed this, for unspecified reasons. I shouldn't have, but I did.
Will read more.
Will read more.
LibraryThing member burritapal
What an entertaining read! Reminds me of when my father went into the hospital for the last time and the ICU dr said why bother, he's going to die anyway. Or words scarcely cloaked to that effect.
LibraryThing member greppers
Effortless fun. Caustic, angry but thoroughly enjoyable all the same. Chapeau.
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
This novel introduced Jack Parlabane, who joined the ranks of Tartan Noir with quite a bang. On the run from a hit man in Los Angeles, where he had been working as an investigative journalist looking into financial crime, Parlabane returns to his native Scotland, and takes refuge in an Edinburgh
After such a spectacular and gripping start, the novel goes from strength to strength. I have always had a strong liking for any books set in Edinburgh, and this is a worthy addition to that already large genre. The plot is too convoluted for me to attempt a worthwhile synopsis, but it gripped me from the beginning, and never let go.
There is a strong element of the grotesque throughout the novel, although this does not detract from a very sound story.
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apartment loaned to him by a friend. His timing is not great as while he is struggling to recover from the combined onslaught of a monster hangover and major jetlag, someone is murdered in the flat below. Still disoriented, Parlabane wanders out to see if he can borrow aspirin or something similar (and preferably much stronger) from a neighbour, and inadvertently locks himself out. Seeing that the door of one of the other flats is open, he wanders in, and finds himself in a particularly messy crime scene, with the resident murdered and the flat in mayhem. Just as he is attempting to climb through the widow back to his own flat, he is apprehended by the police, and taken in for questioning.After such a spectacular and gripping start, the novel goes from strength to strength. I have always had a strong liking for any books set in Edinburgh, and this is a worthy addition to that already large genre. The plot is too convoluted for me to attempt a worthwhile synopsis, but it gripped me from the beginning, and never let go.
There is a strong element of the grotesque throughout the novel, although this does not detract from a very sound story.
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Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1996
Physical description
320 p.; 7.6 inches
ISBN
0349108854 / 9780349108858
Local notes
Jack Parlabane has a perfectly good hangover to be getting on with before he finds the corpse of Ponsonby - scion of a venerable Edinburgh medical clan. But his instincts as an investigative journalist (morally ambiguous or not), commit him to the case with an unusual tenacity.