POSTMODERN MYSTERY

MARIUS BRILL

Making Love

(Doubleday £12.99)

*****

Miranda is not the kind of woman that men chase. That is, until she steals a book about the greatest government conspiracy of all time. Within hours, three men are chasing her. Flirt, who wants to help; Peersnide, who wants the book at all costs; and Ferdinand who wants to make love to her (or is there more to him than that?).

But the real hero here is the book itself. Self deprecating, honest and straightforward - 'I don't like the corners of my pages turned down; if you're too innumerate to remember a page number, get a bookmark' - the tome narrates the ensuing adventure and gradually reveals the grand conspiracy. 'They call it things like effective human resource management. We call it love.' Yes, love was invented to keep down the masses.

An absurd, hilarious, spy-cum-action-cum-postmodern thriller, Making Love is incredibly clever without showing off, self-referential without being self congratulatory, and a damn good read. Fantastic.

(Anne Shipman)