This is story of murder, corruption and sin. And that's just the hero.

Every great story begins with something unspeakable . . . the first Jack Parlabane thriller, from multi-award-winning author Chris Brookmyre.

Yeah, yeah, the usual. A crime. A corpse. A killer. Heard it. Except this stiff happens to be a Ponsonby, scion of a venerable Edinburgh medical clan, and the manner of his death speaks of unspeakable things.

Why is the body displayed like a slice of beef? How come his hands are digitally challenged? And if it's not the corpse, what is that awful smell?

Quite Ugly One Morning is a wickedly entertaining and vivacious thriller, full of acerbic wit, cracking dialogue and villains both reputed and shell-suited, and heralds the arrival of a crime fiction legend, journalist Jack Parlabane.

'A lean, nasty, fun little page-turner'
New York Times

'Brookmyre is always a class act'
The Observer

'A sharp, funny novel'
TLS

'A wicked satire'
Scotsman