Quite Ugly One Morning
 | |
| Author | Christopher Brookmyre |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Satire, Crime, heist, detective, black humour |
Publication date | 1996 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback and Paperback) |
| ISBN | 0-316-87883-9 (Hardback first edition) |
| OCLC | 35844309 |
| 823/.914 21 | |
| LC Class | PR6052.R58158 Q58 1996 |
| Followed by | Country of the Blind |
Quite Ugly One Morning is Christopher Brookmyre's first novel which introduces Jack Parlabane, the writer's most used character.
It was published to popular and critical acclaim, winning the inaugural First Blood Award for the best first crime novel of the year.
Jack Parlabane is a Glaswegian journalist, who has just returned to Scotland from LA after finding out the hard way that someone wanted him dead.
Plot
After renting a flat from a friend in Edinburgh (which just happens to be opposite a police station), investigating the unpleasant murder of a gambling medic in the flat below proves too much to resist and Parlabane soon finds himself involved with a number of characters including Darren, a hit-man from Essex, the dead doctor's ex-wife, a lesbian detective constable with attitude and a crooked hospital trust administrator, Stephen Lime.
The book takes its name from a song from Warren Zevon's 1991 album Mr. Bad Example.
It was followed by the best seller Country of the Blind in 1997 which again involved Jack Parlabane.
Television adaptation
In 2003 the novel was adapted into a television film by Clerkenwell Films for the ITV network. It was dramatised by Stuart Hepburn and directed by Sam Miller. Irish actor James Nesbitt played Parlabane, and spoke with his own accent instead of Parlabane's Glaswegian one. The producers had originally wanted Scottish actor Douglas Henshall to play Parlabane, but they were overruled by ITV's commissioners[1] (Henshall had previously played Parlabane in a radio adaptation of the short story "Bampot Central"). Eddie Marsan, Annette Crosbie, Daniela Nardini and Mark Benton also starred. The drama was broadcast by ITV on 5 September 2004.
References
- ↑ Staff (16 February 2004). "Star is set to be Quite Ugly One Morning in TV drama". Edinburgh Evening News (Scotsman Publications).