Deadbeat - Makes You Stronger by Guy Adams

9/10

Max and Tom are old, old friends, who used to be actors. Tom now owns a jazz nightclub called Deadbeat which, as well as being their source of income, is also something of an in-joke. In a churchyard one night they see men loading a coffin into the back of a van. But, why take a full coffin away from a graveyard and, more importantly, why is the occupant still breathing? Tom and Max are on the case.

This latest novel from Guy Adams has all his usual trademarks: cracking dialogue, banter and observations. There are also plenty of laugh aloud moments in this original and thoroughly entertaining novel about two amateur sleuths with a difference (I won’t reveal what that is as it will ruin the surprise).

The two main characters, Max and Tom are excellent raconteurs, and the story is told in the first person, alternating between them both as the drama unfolds. This is packed with anecdotes and strange unusual happenings. The two old friends soon find themselves in deep uncharted waters as they investigate a very dark, mysterious case.

The unlikely crime fighting duo, confront the horrific, bizarre and plain terrifying whilst traveling around London. These locations are excellently evoked as Adams gives his own stylistic touches and brush strokes to bear. This is an alternative view of the Big Smoke.

I found Deadbeat – Makes You Stronger thoroughly entertaining and very, very funny. This has plenty of unexpected twists, nasty shocks and surprises. It is also ambitious, yet grounded, macabre, yet funny. Reading like a twenty first century Raymond Chandler novel with a supernatural twist... I cannot wait for the next one!

Deadbeat - Makes You Stronger by Guy Adams
Published 2013 by Titan
ISBN: 978-1781162514

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