The King Was In His Counting House

Barney Thomson #4

by Douglas Lindsay

Following his previous involvement with a branch of Murderer's Anonymous, which ended with him dead at the foot of a cliff and his brain stored in a jar, Barney Thomson's future seemed bleak. However, for no reason that he can get to the bottom of, suddenly he is back, plucked from the grave to be the personal barber to the First Minister of the Scottish Executive. Unexpectedly thrown into the world of political intrigue and scandal, Barney's life is at least given some consistency when a serial killer begins to pick off members of the cabinet in a series of brutal, but popular murders.

Genres: Crime

310 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Steve Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was going to write a review about the law of diminishing returns, that this book series tailed off as it progressed and that the underlying joke about Barney Thomson constantly being in the wrong place at the wrong time didn’t really come into play here. Then I got to the final few chapters and it started to live up to the standards of the first novel.

Like I say, this is a bit of an underwhelming, slow burner to begin with, but the absurdity of coincidences and interwoven plots towards the end well rewards your patience for ploughing right through to the end of the story.

[Deacon D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, I must say that I am a HUGE fan of Douglas Lindsay's work. Whether it's the darkly humorous Barney Thomson series or his very dark and disturbing DS Thomas Hutton novels, I find his excellent characterizations and clever plotting to be endlessly entertaining. In short, the dude can write. Hell, I even dig his generous use of Scottish terms and phrases which frequently put me in research mode.

This particular entry in the Barney Thomson series is a bit more over-the-top in terms of humor and plot than the previous books, but I still had a lot of fun with it.

Perhaps, most notable in this story is one particular character, a narcissistic, know-nothing politician whose attitudes and behaviors bear a downright uncanny resemblance to a certain stupid, bloated, orange bastard (who shall remain nameless). Seriously, it's as if Mr. Lindsay has psychic abilities, the similarities are just that mind-blowing!

Anyway, give this one (and, indeed, ALL of Mr. Lindsay's work) a look. GOOD STUFF!

[Nick Bean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Another great Barney Thomson. What span my head was even though it was written a few years ago there seemed to be something prophetic about the Westminster government of today or the lightly darker revelations learnt of the Scottish first minister st that time.

[Joey Britnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Kurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to list the omnibus of seven separately due to the 2015 challenge. Review for the Omnibus:

Admittedly, it's perseverance that got me through all seven books. The first three, though interesting, were not very captivating. The last four were more flowing and well paced. Overall a good alternative read.

[Bobby]

it sucks ballss

[Sophie Houston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, but let down badly by woeful spelling, grammar and punctuation. There are these useful people called proofreaders, but no one seems to have told this author ...

[Cameron Geddes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good a read as the first three, and a bit of a weak ending TBH.