This is a clever book, and the plot is gripping. But. I was disappointed when the murderer was revealed, as I had guessed who it would be, and I don't think he needed to try to shock quite so hard - it would have been just as good a story without the graphic and nasty sex. Left me feeling rather nasty. Therefore, only 3 stars - average - although the plot and grip-factor deserve more. ( )

Reads like an episode of Buffy the Vampire slayer, minus the vampires. Gross sex scene put me off completely. ( )

Very clever, quite funny in parts and gripping. ( )

It's a question mild-mannered detective Edward Newson is forced to ask himself when, in romantic desperation, he logs on to the Friends Reunited website in search of the girlfriends of his youth. Newson is not the only member of the Class of '88 who has been raking over the ashes of the past. As his old class begins to reassemble in cyberspace, the years slip away and old feuds and passions burn fiercely once more.
Meanwhile, back in the present, Newson's life is no less complicated. He is secretly in love with Natasha, his lovely but very attached sergeant, and failing comprehensively to solve a series of baffling and peculiarly gruesome murders. A school reunion is planned, and as history begins to repeat itself the past crashes headlong into the present. Neither will ever be the same again. ( )

There's no doubt that this is an entertaining thriller that is easy to read, but the book also has a bitter and somewhat mean-spirited undercurrent that I always thought underpinned a lot of Elton's comedy. While most of his characters are likeable and therefore soften the impact of what is being portrayed, I think that many readers will be switched off by the key plot devices that are used to carry the story. There is also one sex scene that is almost stomach-churning in what it depicts, and will have most middle-of-the-road readers recoiling in horror at the content - but then Elton always loved to shock the middle England that he was a product of. That was in the Eighties, a time that this book constantly refers back to, and I doubt that you'll ever look at the Friends Reunited website in the same light after reading this. School bullying, mental cruelty and the inability to escape the past are the themes that weave through the novel, and if you have a liking for violent crime thrillers you'll not be disappointed with Past Mortem. ( )