There is so much clever writing, sarcasm and wit in this book I wanted to applaud it half the time but then I wanted to keep reading. A cracking book this one and this one is a locked room set in the middle of the ocean. A brave man to take this on and a darn good writer. Chris Brookmyre is the man!

This is a fascinating read. It jumps about in time a bit and starts with a self-deprecating flashback that sets up the tone of the rest of the book.
Jack presents as a slightly washed-up journalist, or at least one who is getting a bit fed up of babysitting new journalists when they come on board. He goes a little rogue and ends up on a cruise ship digging into an old murder and somehow getting caught up in a new death.
The book is well written with a level of sarcasm and humour, as well as some self-mockery by Jack, and great descriptions of the other characters on the boat and their backgrounds. He surprises himself with what he uncovers in terms of news, who he is as a person, and what his family means to him. The reveals are many as the book unfolds, links are made, and people are exposed, and even as you think you have the answer and the ground is firm, something new comes out, and things are all shaky again.

The first half of this book is largely setting up the story, then it really takes off! I particularly liked the way real life politics and political figures were woven into it, and some action scenes are breathtaking (and would make a great movie). The cruise ship setting is beautiful, and had me Googling cruises again!. I found it hard to keep a grasp of all the characters, I would have liked more descriptions to help with this (or maybe it’s just me). All in all, a thrilling read.

I just loved this book, Chris Brookmyre can weave such a great plot, twist & turns, amazing. I would recommend this book.

Family sits right at the heart of this story. Not just the family you are born into, but the sprawling and sometimes messy constellations of loyalty and debt that form around you over a lifetime. The book understands the weird chemistry of family, that mix of tenderness and exasperation, and it uses that insight to drive choices that feel both surprising and inevitable. It is a thriller, yes, but the aftertaste is emotional truth.

Jack’s return is a delight. He has always been one of crime fiction’s most charismatic narrators, equal parts nerve and need, the sort of character who can talk his way into trouble with the same flair he uses to escape it. In this outing you can feel the miles on his clock. He is still quick with the quip and sharp as a tack, but there is a new steadiness in how he reads a room and a new honesty in how he reads himself. Fans of the earlier Jack adventures will catch little shifts in tone and posture that speak to growth without losing the swagger. It is great to see him evolve through the series while staying recognisably Jack.

One of the most resonant threads is the simple idea that people never really change, not in the ways that count. The book keeps bumping Jack and others up against their long standing patterns. The gifted hustler still hustles, the idealist still tries to do the right thing even when the right thing is fogged by risk, the ruthless player still pushes the same buttons. Yet Brookmyre finds nuance in that truth. People may not change at the core, but they can become more honest about who they are, and they can choose what to do with that knowledge. That is where the growth lives, and the book treats that recognition as a kind of grace.

This took me quite some time to get into, not because of the main plot but because I struggled to understand about ‘Imaskynation’ which is a family company that made its money from a TV show which it frequently references but I never felt like icy,ly understood what it was about. The actual family behind the family company however are very interesting and complex characters and there was such a tangled web of conflicting loyalties that they really did add a solid element to the story, more so after a death raises more questions than it answers, I found the main character brilliantly flawed but actually decent and definitely in way over his head which made it all the more interesting. It was well plotted with some interesting twists and turns and buy the second half I was quite engrossed however the first half does serve to set it all up well. I might have seen the direction some of this was heading in but some twists are never saw coming so overall it did surprising me at quite a pace.

I love Chris Brookmyre's books and it's great to see another in the Jack Parlabane series. This time Jack almost gets himself into deep water as he investigates a rich family at war with themselves. Set on a cruise across the Atlantic he finds himself in impossibly tricky situations but also finds an unexpected bonus.

What I liked: First of all, the setting. A cruise ship is the ideal setting for a 'locked room' mystery. Brookmyre captures well the claustrophobia of such a setting and the bewilderment of someone trying to navigate their way round one of these vast ships. I also enjoyed the references to the so-called present day 'culture' wars and the scathing way he deals with these. The book has a multitude of baddies: Russian oligarchs, billionaires, spoilt rich people, MAGA thugs inter alia. There's also a happy ending of sorts for Jack.

What I wasn't sure about. I loved it all except for some of the names. I found the unusual names a bit hard to keep up with but that's just a me thing and everyone else will no doubt be fine with it.

Overall, a fine return for Jack Parlabane. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Please see the link for the review.

I have reviewed this title for book sales and recommendation site LoveReading.co.uk. I’ve chosen it as a LoveReading Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month.

When solving a case become necessary not only to hopefully keep your job but also not get framed for committing a crime yourself. Brookmyre effortlessly skippers the reader through an elaborate plot while also revealing the humanity in even the most unlikable characters. The singular protagonist, Parlabane, being forced to navigate his own emotional voyage along the way.

Brilliant storytelling on so many levels.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

4-5 stars rounded up
His name is Jack Parlabane and he’s a journalist, currently somewhere in the North Atlantic in the middle of a storm. What’s more, whoever is banging on the door will believe he’s just killed someone. Has he? Where does it all start? Possibly with an interview with Chloe Morgan a.k.a. ‘Hard Yards Chloe’, whose responses go viral on reality TV but then it all gets a bit toxic and so he’s offering her a rebrand?? Or maybe it’s at his mother’s funeral, a graveside encounter with MI5 agent Genevieve Glass who tries to recruit him many years ago. This time, she wants him undercover investigating the 40-year-old death of an agent – Simeon Wickham – who was investigating the Maskyn family and she’s promising a BIG story. The Maskyns will all be in one place on a seven night voyage on the Atlantic Queen, sailing from Southampton to New York celebrating the 60th anniversary of their iconic puppet show, The Imaginators. Irresistible, right? Well, there is a bit of a threat from Genevieve to accept the assignment… So that’s how he’s in his current dilemma. How will it all play out??

Although I haven’t read a lot of Chris Brookmyre, I’ve come to believe he has his own unique style and I love it! Although I haven’t read the first Jack Parlabane it doesn’t make any difference to my enjoyment of this as it can easily be read as a standalone.

As per usual, this novel has multiple layers, it’s definitely complex but the writing is clear, it’s easy to follow and very well written. Spooks, politics, moguls, culture, counterculture, media, murder and mayhem. What’s not to love especially as it’s all delivered with some of the authors trademark sardonic humour. Who to trust and who has traitorous and murderous intent? Who are the duplicitous liars? So many big questions for Jack to find the answers to and it won’t be easy as many aboard this cruise ship are a deceptive, devious lot. It becomes very intriguing, immersive and the plot strands are well connected.

Jack is a fascinating character and I find myself rooting for him. He’s smart, observant, he can be charming but equally elusive and hard to pin down. All the skills necessary for journalism and much more. As for the rest of the characters and there are quite a lot of them, many are deeply flawed within intriguing often combative dynamics between them. Acrimonious doesn’t quite cover it at times and Jack has to sift through that and try to peek beneath the mask wearing Maskyns to get his answers.

It builds well, there’s plenty of action, some cat/mouse antics and a good conclusion which feels just right.

Overall, another winner I’d say.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Little Brown Book Group for the much appreciated early copy.

Review will be published on Goodreads and social media on 23/4/26.

Jack is back!
Chaotic journalist Jack thinks he can save his career with an article on the Maskyn family, famous and rich thanks to a puppet themed TV show they created in the 1960s. Coerced, he joins the dysfunctional family celebrating the show on a cruise ship with a boat-load of super-fans! What could possibly go wrong? With the family business in disarray, a takeover bid and mounting bodies, Jack typically gets himself into some tricky situations. He's not learned much since his last disaster but his charm and sheer bloody-mindlessness keeps him ahead of being thrown in the brig, for a while... Utterly brilliant!

A reporter Jack Parlabane is in trouble with his boss. Going on board a liner to dig for information regarding an old case is his last chance to redeem himself. A family fighting to keep their rights and ownership of a sixties TV show and their fans are all there for a convention.
This is a story of corruption, secrets, lies and murder. How far will a family go to keep their secrets? When Jack finds a family member dead is his cabin he starts to realise just how much danger he is in and how far someone will go to keep the past hidden.
An interesting read, took me a while to get into it but then I could not put it down.

‘Quite Ugly One Evening’, by Chris Brookmyre, is the long awaited second book in the Jack Parlabane series.
This time around the rogue journalist is pressurised through the threat of losing his job into boarding a celebrity type cruise to New York,with the task of digging into a disappearance many years ago.The media family at the centre of his journalistic snooping are hosting a floating celebration of their puppet led sixties TV series that is currently adrift in muddy politically incorrect waters and sinking in dire financial straits.
This all makes for a complicated investigation as Jack deals with his own issues from the past and present combining to make his sense of isolation overwhelming among a variety of duplicitous characters focused on their own agendas.
The author skilfully draws the reader into caring deeply about the cast of characters as Jack tries to make sense of the flawed individuals at the centre of this intriguing mystery that crosses political and international borders.Here’s to hoping that we don’t need to wait as long for the the next instalment in this thoroughly enjoyable series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK ,for an Advance Readers Copy.

Brookmyre again hits the spot with this Parlabane adventure on the high seas.

Parlabane is on the verge of being sacked when he is recruited to help solve the murder of a spy 30 years earlier. The task requires that Jack take a cruise dedicated to a longstanding puppet show (definite Gerry Anderson vibes) where the members of the family firm have all congregated.

Like a version of Succession at sea, Parlabane uses his natural charms and devious nature to explore the complex relationships within the family and avoid incriminating himself. All told in Brookmyre’s typically laconic style.

A real page turner, proving that, even at the age of 60, there’s still plenty of life in the old hack.

Made my reading year! A new Jack Parlabane thriller from Chris Brookmyre. It's been a while since we've had the chance to go on a rollercoaster adventure with journalist Jack and I do appreciate that this one is called Quite Ugly One Evening after Jack's first outing Quite Ugly One Morning. I do hope that this does not signal the final encounter with Jack however. Parlabane is definitely out of his comfort zone in this story, finding himself on a cruise ship crossing the Atlantic, having been pressured by MI5 to find out whatever happened to agent Simeon Wickham. There is suspicion that Wickham's death had something to do with the Maskyn family who have chartered this ship for a celebration of the 60th anniversary of their successful, but somewhat politically incorrect, children's television programme. Jack has to don unaccustomed suits and assume a pseudonym, Jack Braeside, to mix with the three generations of Maskyns aboard the liner. The family have many secrets and a variety of reasons to engage or not with a journalist. The action takes place over only seven days but the twists and turns are as multiple as the pitchings and rollings of the ship. This was another gripping read from Brookmyre who keeps the reader guessing and gulping while taking direct potshots at social media, celebrity influencers and current world politics. Loved it and highly recommend and it encourages me to return to the earlier Parlabane stories to remind myself of all the references to his earlier adventures.

Enjoyable tale of murder and mayhem in a cruise ship. Written with wit and a dash of panache we are told the tale by journo Jack Parlabane who is trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on,
Recommended

Jack Parlabane is journalist for an online magazine who is reaching the stage of his career known as "dinosaur"

Returning to Scotland for his mother's funeral,he is collared by an old aquaintance, Charlotte Glass who works for the Security Services. She wants him to investigate the death of Simeon Wickham last heard of in the company of the Maskyn family,inventors and curators of a TV classic "The Investigators"

Embarking on a theme cruise to New York with the family and the show's fans,he tries to solve the mystery with varying degrees of success.

This is quite a good book with two faults in my mind, a sneering attitude to cruising (either from a lack of knowledge or bad experience) and a contempt for Brexit Leave voters.
Neither of these should exist in a novel.

I would like to thank Little,Brown Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Mayhem in an enclosed space

‘The mission, should I choose to accept it, would be to put myself on board a vessel I can’t get off for a week, in the company of several hundred emotionally stunted fanboy incels alongside an over-remunerated family of nepo babies, trust-fund pukes and outright fascists?’

Follow up to Quite Early One morning, Jack Parlbane is back causing trouble. It’s wonderful when a writer can revisit a character later on in life. Ian Rankin does it memorably with Rebus. And Chris Brookmyre does it here, just as memorably.

Some character traits don’t change. Parlabane can’t resist a potential story, no matter if he’s being set up, or the danger involved. Vale, the MI5 spook, also makes an appearance, adding to the drama.

There’s a fond look at the animated series of the 60s such as thunderbirds. I didn’t know Barry Gray wrote the soundtracks for all the animated series, but enjoyed hearing them all again. And Warren Zevon. ‘Listen along’ is another dimension to Chris Brookmyre books.

There are large themes: death; ageing; the poignancy of being an orphan, at whatever age; the culture wars; influencers and covert operations.

He’s suitably scathing of influencers ‘creating an image of an experience she’s not actually having and making other people jealous of it.’

His sarcasm remains razor sharp

Chris Brookmyre is a master of the twist. I have never anticipated any of them and this book is no different.

It’s a completely satisfying book, exciting, danger filled, and funny. And redemptive. What more could you want?

Wow. I was still up reading at an obscene time of the morning. This had well-developed, three-dimensional characters, an abundance of twists and turns, and suspense wrapped around an intriguing mystery. But all good crime novels have that. What really stood out for me about this book was its compassion.

I'm not usually much of a crime reader, but Brookmyre's The Cracked Mirror is my favourite crime novel of all time, so that prompted me to give this a shot. The reason crime doesn't usually appeal is that it tends towards a rather dispiriting view of human nature, but this novel breaks the mould by showing flawed characters who are inspired to change for the better, and how family bonds can restore our humanity and shift entrenched and polarising views. I particularly loved how the protagonist's journey of grieving his mother's death, a minor subplot, was integrated as one of the novel's major themes.

Masterfully navigating big discussions about politics and culture with a humane and balanced hand, this is a compelling and fun mystery with an uplifting conclusion.