Dead Famous

I very much enjoyed Dead Famous by Ben Elton which is our Crime Club book for March.  The stage is set (literally) for a very unusual murder inside a "Big Brother" type house which in this story is called "House Arrest".  There are 10 "housemates" who are competing with each other for a large cash prize and trying to get along at the same time.  The murder takes place on day 27 and is witnessed by an international audience, yet the police are baffled as to the murderer's identity.  There are some wonderful characters in this story - the competitor themselves, the producer who manipulates the program who does selective editing to ensure some are seen in a poor light.  She treats her staff appallingly using very "colourful" language (be warned as some readers may find the language and some scenes offensive).  Inspector Coleridge who investigates the murder is the complete opposite, very conservative and is appalled that he and his team have to trawl through every frame of film of this ridiculous show to search for clues to the murderer. A great sendup of reality TV shows. 41/2/5