Christopher Brookmyre

Christopher Brookmyre (born 6 September 1968) is a Scottish novelist whose novels mix comedy, politics, social comment and action with a strong narrative. He has been referred to as a Tartan Noir author.[1] His debut novel was Quite Ugly One Morning and subsequent works have included One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night, which he said "was just the sort of book he needed to write before he turned 30", and All Fun and Games until Somebody Loses an Eye (2005). Since April 2008, he has been President of the Humanist Society of Scotland.[2]

Brookmyre at "Bloody Scotland", Stirling 2013

Biography

Brookmyre was born in Glasgow and raised and schooled in Barrhead, attending St. Mark's Primary School and St. Luke's High School, before attending the University of Glasgow.[3] Brookmyre is married to an anaesthetist with whom he has a son, and supports St Mirren F.C., references to Scottish football ('fitba') frequently featuring in his books. Brookmyre is also a regular on BBC Scotland's Sportscene Results programme during the football season.

Novels

Jack Parlabane

Seven of Brookmyre's novels (Quite Ugly One Morning, Country of the Blind, Boiling a Frog, Be My Enemy, Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks, Dead Girl Walking and Black Widow) centre on the investigative journalist Jack Parlabane. Parlabane also stars in the short stories Bampot Central, Place B. and The Last Day of Christmas with the latter serving as a short prelude to Dead Girl Walking.

Angelique de Xavia

Three of Brookmyre's novels feature the character of counterterrorism officer Angelique de Xavia: A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away, The Sacred Art of Stealing, and A Snowball in Hell. A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away and A Snowball in Hell pit Xavia against international terrorist-for-hire Simon Darcourt. A Snowball in Hell was originally due to be titled The Great Grease-Tailed Shaven Pig Hunt.[4][5]

Jasmine Sharp and Catherine McLeod

Three of Brookmyre's novels feature the characters Jasmine Sharp, a private detective, and Catherine McLeod, a police investigator: Where the Bodies Are Buried, When the Devil Drives, and Flesh Wounds.

Bedlam

Bedlam was released in 2013. The book has been turned into a video game, also written by Brookmyre.[6]

Bibliography

Influences

Brookmyre has said that the inspiration for Jack Parlabane was Ford Prefect from Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series; he said "I always adored the idea of a character who cheerfully wanders into enormously dangerous situations and effortlessly makes them much worse." [7] The name Parlabane is taken from the works of Robertson Davies as are the names of several other characters in Brookmyre's works, indicating another of the author's influences.

Art Alexakis of the band Everclear has been thanked by Brookmyre inside the front cover of two of his books - Be My Enemy and Sacred Art Of Stealing. Brookmyre has said that Sacred Art was inspired by the Everclear song 'Unemployed Boyfriend' from the album Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile. This is the song which the lead character, Zal Innez, discusses with Angelique De Xavia.

In other media

In 2003, Quite Ugly One Morning was dramatised in two parts by ITV, with the lead played by Irish actor James Nesbitt. None of Brookmyre's other novels have been adapted for television, but his short story Bampot Central was rewritten as a radio play by the author for BBC Radio 3.

In 2004, actor David Tennant narrated the audiobook of Quite Ugly One Morning.

In 2007, actor Billy Boyd narrated the audiobook of Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks.

Recurring characters

Brookmyre's books are all set in the same "universe" and contain a number of recurring characters, especially the appearance or mention of major characters (such as Parlabane) in incidental roles in other stories. Some of the recurring characters are listed below:

Awards

References

External links

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