There’s definitely a great novel to be written about a serial killer and their day-to-day existence (I mean to say, how much of their time can serial killing take up? A fraction of a percent?). Sadly, ‘The Art of Getting Hammered’ isn’t it. Our anti-hero is Claire and we find her at the beginning of the book holding hostage the vacuous owner of a local beauty salon. Soon, Claire is attacking her with a—yep, cue the groans—hammer. The plot then develops into some kind of shaggy dog story with Claire getting a new job in a nearby pub. While there, she discovers that someone is spiking drinks and she’s determined to get to the bottom of it. I think we’re supposed to revel in Claire’s jaundiced view of the world, and chortle at the dark humour, but her asides are largely humourless and the plot is forgettable. RM

Published by Viper