Past Mortem - Tapa dura

With old friends like these, who needs enemies? It’s a question mild mannered detective Edward Newson is forced to ask himself when, in romantic desperation, he logs on to the Friends Reunited website in search of the girlfriends of his youth. Newson is not the only member of the Class of take back ’88 who has been raking over the ashes of the past. As his old class begins to reassemble in cyberspace, the years slip away and old feuds and passions burn hot once more. Meanwhile, back in the present, Newson’s life is no less complicated. He is secretly in love with Natasha, his lovely but very attached sergeant, and failing comprehensively to solve a series of baffling and peculiarly gruesome murders. A school reunion is planned and as history begins to repeat itself, the past crashes headlong into the present. Neither will ever be the same again. In Past Mortem, Ben Elton – previous winner of The Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger Award for Popcorn – delivers both a heart-stopping thriller and a killer comic romance.

Ben Elton’s career as both performer and writer encompasses some of the most memorable and incisive comedy of the past twenty years. His work as a stand-up comedian hosting such ground-breaking television series as Saturday Live and The Man from Auntie has been hugely influential, as have his hit television sitcoms The Young Ones, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line. Elton has written three hit West End musicals, including the global phenomenon We Will Rock You, which he also directs, and three West End plays, including the multi-award-winning Popcorn. His internationally bestselling novels include Stark, Inconceivable, Dead Famous and High Society. In 2000 he wrote and directed the feature film Maybe Baby, based on his acclaimed novel Inconceivable.