Lead Review (I Thin We should Kill Other People)

The novel opens in a tiny airport on a tiny Norwegian island in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. Marc and Hazel were matched on the ‘social experiment’ set of TV’s Love Synced, powered by an AI wristband called CILLA. Their ensuing wedding was to be filmed, but Hazel has just pulled out of the ceremony leaving the Van Batten family angry and upset. There is only one way out and that is via the airport, where they all unfortunately have to congregate interminably because the weather has come in and the flight is hugely delayed. The Van Batten mother has a sharp and cutting tongue aimed at Hazel, but Mark is up for trying to get along for the duration of the delay.

The trouble is, the film of their aborted nuptials will soon be in the public domain, causing all round humiliation and profound embarrassment, it proved to be a right bust-up with accusations levied and punches thrown. The film company is rubbing their hands in glee, the family is not.

And then one person associated with the wedding is found dead at the airport, slumped on the toilet with a Toblerone rammed down their throat. There will be no outside help, given the weather, so Hazel, who still has her AI CILLA wristband, knows what she has to do. And then there is another body to deal with…

Much of the story is set in the isolated airport which is atmospherically described. Other chapters are set in the South of England.

The author has clearly hit on a successful formula, to wit a young woman who finds herself embroiled in a situation and then tasks herself with getting to the bottom of the inevitable deaths. His stories are written with wit and bounce and are very easy to read.