Meantime

Boyle, Frankie

£14.99

Marina Katos’s body is found in a park and the police don’t seem to know or care who committed the crime. In a haze of tranquillisers, hallucinogens and Valium, her best friend Felix McAveety decides to solve the murder. To break through his drug-induced fog and get closer to the truth Felix enlists the help of a dying crime novelist, Jane Pickford, and his crisis-ridden friend Donnie. Their quest takes them into the dark heart of Scottish politics, the orbit of drug dealers, and the matrix of AI, encountering Independence activists, the intelligence services and stalkers, as they seek justice for Marina.

Available on backorder

Publish Date: 21/07/2022
ISBN: 9781399801157 Category: Tag:

Description

*THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*

*A SUNDAY TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTH*

‘A gloriously funny mystery’ Telegraph

‘An enjoyably dark and entertaining tranche of Glasgow noir . . . Imagine Withnail and I stumbling into a Bond movie co-written by William McIlvanney and Mick Herron . . . [A] deft, engaging thriller’ Observer

Glasgow, 2015. When Valium addict Felix McAveety’s best friend Marina is found murdered in the local park, he goes looking for answers to questions that he quickly forgets. In a haze of uppers, hallucinogens, and diazepam, Felix enlists the help of a brilliant but mercurial GP; a bright young trade unionist; a failing screenwriter; semi-celebrity crime novelist Jane Pickford; and his crisis fuelled downstairs neighbour Donnie.

Their investigation sends them on a bewildering expedition that takes in Scottish radical politics, Artificial Intelligence, cults, secret agents, smugglers and vegan record shops.

Meantime is a picaresque detective story set against the backdrop of post-referendum Scotland. Frankie Boyle’s compelling debut novel is a tale of murder and revenge, and of personal and political loss.

‘A darkest noir, unputdownable crime novel that swerves and surprises, with a gut-punch ending. I loved it!’ Denise Mina, author of The Long Drop

‘Reads like a twisted Caledonian take on Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye. Inherent vices and scalpel-sharp jokes vie with a very human concern for those least garlanded in the rat race of life’ Ian Rankin

‘Part whodunnit, part social safari, part extended stand-up monologue . . . the novel is full of scintillating sentences and perfect lines of dialogue’ Sunday Times

‘A surprisingly moving and beautiful journey through one man’s shitshow of a friend’s death / hangover’ Lucy Prebble, executive producer and writer of Succession

Additional information

Weight 480 g
Dimensions 220 × 144 × 34 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

336

Language

English

Edition

Hardback original

Dewey

823.92 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K