Sticking it

I gave up reading Ben Elton quite a few books back. Not funny enough and not good enough without the laughs. But the lure of remaindered books with extra discounts for group purchase meant that I ended up buying and now reading Past Mortem. What is more, I enjoyed it. Elton has moved from attempting to be funny to the more subtle but rewarding field of wit. The wit is woven into a detective story. A serial killer is on the loose leaving a trail of inventively despatched corpses and a Scotland Yard detective is on the track while trying to get his love life back on track. It isn't deep, the murderer is obvious from the start and as usual Elton mixes lashes of political comment into the work, so nobody would mistake this book for something from the serious names in the crime fiction field. But it is fun and easy to read. A pleasant diversion on a rainy day.