The Barber Surgeon's Hairshirt

A review for another book by the very awesome Douglas Lindsay. It features his hilarious character Barney Thompson and is definitely well worth downloading.....

The Barber Surgeon’s Hairshirt by Douglas Lindsay. 2011. Version 2-1-3. Blasted Heath. EPub. ISBN 978-1-908688-14-9.

This is the second in Douglas Lindsay’s series about his unfortunate, yet endearing, barber, Barney Thomson. An earlier version of this book was published by Piatkus in 2000, then by Long Midnight Publishing in 2003, and called THE CUTTING EDGE OF BARNEY THOMSON.

You have to feel sorry for poor old Barney Thomson, talented barber and human magnet for all things dark and gruesome. He has never killed anyone in his life but, wherever he goes, he ends of knee-deep in mangled bodies, with circumstances pointing its accusing fingers at him. All he wants is to cut hair and be left in peace.

This time, though, Barney is in serious trouble. There is a national manhunt out for him after he was caught disposing of suspicious-looking cut up body parts – his mother’s handiwork, it must be said. Instead of explaining the truth, Barney ups and runs and, with Glasgow’s finest police officers hot on his heels, he goes to ground in a monastery. Cut off from the world you would think he would be safe. And for a few weeks he is. But it doesn’t take long for the old curse to strike again and, as the monks start to die around him, it looks as if poor old Barney is in the frame again.

The attractions of this series featuring Barney Thomson are several. First, he is an endearing character and his painfully unfortunate skill of being in the wrong place at the wrong time is highly entertaining. Second, Lindsay has this uncanny knack of describing people’s behavior and customs that, again, is hilarious but also embarrassingly accurate. For example, the way that all the people who help the police with their enquiries load them up with cake and coffee in a bid to be hospitable and tell them they need “fattening up”. The general public’s ridiculous obsession with celebrity and glossy magazines plays a fairly prominent role too, as does the way public opinion about Barney is swayed by the gutter press that has him tried, blamed for things not even related to this case and then exonerated before he has even been caught.

If you like your noir crime fiction with a twist and are entertained by laughing at the more inane side of British society, then you will love this book and, indeed, all of the books featuring Barney Thomson. Long may he be free to continue to cut hair!

Very Highly recommended.