Bad Faith

I have faith. Gillian Philip’s first first book is marvellous. I’m glad I read it second. This is how it begins; ‘Before I slipped on the mud and fell over the Bishop, our family didn’t have a lot to do with murder.’ You can see what I mean, can’t you?

This is funny and exciting and scary. And funny. If it weren’t for the humour it’d be a bit grim. Bad Faith is set in a time like ours, and probably in a country like Scotland. An independent Scotland ruled by religious fanatics. Just the same, but a little different.

Cassandra – luckily – is the daughter of a man of the church. One who may have lost his faith, but anyway. She has a rebel aunt, a brother who plays computer games, and her best friend Ming, who is the son of ‘trouble-making’ dissidents. It almost sounds like Noughts & Crosses, doesn’t it?

Anyway, the Bishop is a little dead, but how did he get that way? And what to do with the body? How can you tell if someone very near and dear to you has committed murder?

Because this isn’t a straightforward whodunit, you can’t just solve the puzzle of the Bishop, and then all is well again. It’s much worse than that.

As I’ve said repeatedly, I can’t bear things that are too grim. I need funny. Here we have grim and amusing. Can’t get better than that. Recommending reads for the beach can become a little tedious, but this novel would do well on that kind of list, so if you haven’t already packed..?