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Scottish novelist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Christopher Brookmyre (born 6 September 1968) is a Scottish novelist whose novels, generally in a crime or police procedural frame, 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; subsequent works have included All Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses an Eye (2005), Black Widow (2016) and Bedlam (2013), which was written in parallel with the development of a first-person shooter videogame, also called Bedlam. He also writes historical fiction with his wife, Dr Marisa Haetzman, under the pseudonym Ambrose Parry.[2]
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Chris Brookmyre | |
|---|---|
Brookmyre at "Bloody Scotland", Stirling 2013 | |
| Born | 6 September 1968 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Occupation | Novelist |
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 Dr. Marisa Haetzman, 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 a member of the Fun Lovin' Crime Writers,[4] a cover band also comprising crime novelists Mark Billingham, Doug Johnstone, Val McDermid, Stuart Neville and Luca Veste. Between April 2008 and December 2015, he was the President of Humanist Society Scotland.[5]
Eight 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, Black Widow and Want You Gone) 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. Parlabane also appears in Fallen Angel
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.[6][7]
Three of Brookmyre's novels feature the characters Jasmine Sharp, a private detective, and Catherine McLeod, a senior police detective: Where the Bodies Are Buried, When the Devil Drives, and Flesh Wounds. McLeod also features in the short story Siege Mentality, and The Last Siege of Bothwell Castle, and has minor roles in Dead Girl Walking and Black Widow, and a minor reference in Fallen Angel.
Bedlam was released in 2013. The book has been turned into a video game, also written by Brookmyre.[8]
In 2018, Brookmyre wrote The Way of All Flesh with his wife, Dr. Marisa Haetzman. It was published under the pseudonym Ambrose Parry.[9] In 2020, the team followed up with The Art of Dying,[10] and in 2021, A Corruption of Blood.[11]
With the possible exceptions of Pandaemonium and Bedlam, 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:
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."[13] 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.
Music is heavily featured in several books. Quite Ugly One Morning is taken from Warren Zevon's album Mr. Bad Example - the last chapter title continues the song's chorus. Zevon and Bruce Springsteen feature in the second novel, Country of the Blind. The band 'Savage Earth Heart' in Dead Girl Walking share their name with a song by The Waterboys.
Art Alexakis of the band Everclear has been thanked by Brookmyre inside the front cover of two of his books – Be My Enemy and The 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. De Xavia is stated by her brother to spend her evenings alone "drinking supermarket merlot and listening to that depressing Mogwai rubbish" in The Sacred Art of Stealing. The first name for Innez, as well as the inspiration for the costumes worn by his gang of bank robbers, are taken from Zal Cleminson, guitarist for The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, who always wore Pierrot makeup on stage. Parlabane is a fan of Skids and Big Country and Jasmine Sharp goes to see Twin Atlantic perform live in one of her books.
The character Jane Fleming in All Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses an Eye visits King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, witnessing a performance by Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli's side-project The Twilight Singers which references lines from the Twilight Singers' song "Teenage Wristband". Dulli is also the rock-star on whose NME-emblazoned face Matt Black signs an autograph in One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night.
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.
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