304 pages
English language
Published Dec. 22, 2022 by Simon & Schuster, Limited.
My name is Gary. I’m a thirty-year-old legal assistant with a firm of solicitors in London. To describe me as anonymous would be unfair but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity. I did make a good connection with a girl, but that blew up in my face and smacked my arse with a fish slice.
Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was reading: The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.
And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, …
My name is Gary. I’m a thirty-year-old legal assistant with a firm of solicitors in London. To describe me as anonymous would be unfair but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity. I did make a good connection with a girl, but that blew up in my face and smacked my arse with a fish slice.
Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was reading: The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.
And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life…
This was a more fun read than I was expecting, with plenty of Bob Mortimer's absurdist humour sprinkled throughout as you'd expect.
I love a bit of Bob Mortimer, and this book contains his signature absurdist humour and gift for story telling.
That said, it's obvious this is a first foray into writing. It got a bit much / less funny as it continued in the same vein. It's a pretty standard comedy mystery, with some legitimately funny observational gems scattered throughout.
I'm looking forward to the next one which seems to have better reviews and I imagine doesn't suffer from the first-novel-itis.
Also, far too many sweats were got on.
I got really into this. I don't think it's at all ground breaking, you won't be massively surprised by anything that happens and I suspect I will forget all about this relatively soon. However, the main point here is it was just really enjoyable to read, and I did do rather quickly which is usually a good sign. Recommend.
Fast paced. Easy read. A jaunt through an episode in Gary's life. A quirky observational take on a ' feel-good' crime thriller. Read with Bob's voice in your head for added charm.
My review of The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer has just been published at:
www.austcrimefiction.org/review/satsuma-complex-bob-mortimer
"... it's not a particularly bad outing, it's just not a standout, grab you by the throat, this is great stuff outing. And it's definitely going to be better if you can hear Mortimer's voice when Gary's on page. "
This is honestly a fantastic little story, you can tell it is Bobs first attempt at this but it is seriously fun and you can tell he wrote it and enjoyed writing it!
I'm always suspicious of celeb authors ... but then of course there's Richard Osman.
As for Mortimer he does an OK job to be honest. There's a slightly unlikely hero, a plausible plot, a twist which in truth I did see coming, and it all works out all right in the end so that's no bad thing. So yeah, worth a read.
Bob Mortimer speaks my language - I grew up with his humour, catching Shooting Stars and Big Night Out, amongst others, in the evenings after school. I knew what I was in for, and it's exactly why I picked up the book - surreal humour.
But the book is actually pretty tame on this. The decision to make it 'book-like' might have limited Bob in this regard. In the end, you have a perfectly readable 'holiday book'; not too complex, easy to follow, enough to keep you going - but it never tested me as a reader, and it didn't stray into anything challenging.
As the book draws on, the surreal drops away to reveal a light plot - which held my attention to the end, but was only 'satisfying'.
All that being said, I enjoyed reading it! And there are some great little moments in here in which Bob's …
Bob Mortimer speaks my language - I grew up with his humour, catching Shooting Stars and Big Night Out, amongst others, in the evenings after school. I knew what I was in for, and it's exactly why I picked up the book - surreal humour.
But the book is actually pretty tame on this. The decision to make it 'book-like' might have limited Bob in this regard. In the end, you have a perfectly readable 'holiday book'; not too complex, easy to follow, enough to keep you going - but it never tested me as a reader, and it didn't stray into anything challenging.
As the book draws on, the surreal drops away to reveal a light plot - which held my attention to the end, but was only 'satisfying'.
All that being said, I enjoyed reading it! And there are some great little moments in here in which Bob's vision of the world really shines through. His descriptions, at points, are impeccable.
After a bit of a shaky start (it took a few chapters to really get used to the style of writing) I actually really enjoyed this book. The ending felt like a bit of a rush, but generally I enjoyed the characters and the plot. I hope Bob decides to write more fiction.
