The storyline is of a conscientious objector policeman being sent into the frontline to investigate the murder of a prominent war hero/poet and aristocratic gay man, Viscount Abercrombie.

The depiction of the first world war trenches and front-line environment seemed realistic. But some of the scenes of the novel were rather far-fetched: such as performing forensics under fire in an enemy trench, which stretched credulity somewhat. Ahem.

Elton leans a little too much towards the didactic in his depiction of the history and politics of the time, which was a trap he fell into with his comedy too. There were aspects which felt squeezed in, so he could cover all the issues he wanted to talk about, such as the suffragette's justified hatred of policeman (the Cat & Mouse Act etc). I also felt that although Elton tried to depict a free-loving feminist, there was some unfortunate slip-shod thinking in the way he portrayed her.

I liked the self-conscious questioning of the investigation of one man's murder in the context of mass-slaughter in the trenches and the futility of war. But it was difficult to tell whether some of dialogue was meant to be funny or po-faced, so I felt the book didn't quite work as well as intended. The protagonist himself wasn't particularly likeable and the ending seemed a bit rushed and too neat.

Overall, it was a reasonable thriller/crime novel. A decent read. ( )

A very different read for a ben elton novel.. I enjoyed it immensly.. it's sad and seemingly realistic in the landscape painted of teh trenches in WW1 ( )

This is the first ben Elotn book I have read and I was really impressed. It was a good whodunnit but with lots of descriptive detail about WW1 and the conditions in the trenches. ( )

An excellent novel with interesting characters. ( )

This was an enjoyable read, and it made me think about soem aspects of the war, like when killing is ever right. However, it did not have the same emotional impact that others such as regeneration,etc had. ( )