Did I or did I not enjoy A Pecularly Nasty Case? I’m still ambivalent. There is no doubt that Adam Kay knows how to pen a novel. He is an excellent author. The book is witty throughout, sad at times, full of great dialogue, but generally too scattershot for my taste. I found it difficult to accept the outrageous behavior of so many of the characters; particularly those working in a hospital. We are offered a main character who is a bipolar gay doctor with mental, drinking, and drug problems. He is basically a recovering everything and not much good at any of it. Does he deserves our support and empathy as he faces life’s challenges? No. To me there wasn’t much to like about our anti-hero, Eitan Rose, other than the few sections where it was clear he cared about his patients. Most of the other characters weren’t particularly likeable either. But the prose and snappy dialogue did keep me reading on.

The death of two senior doctors at the hospital, St Jude’s, turns Eitan and new friend, Cole, into screwball detectives of sorts as Eitan is convinced their deaths were not from natural causes. He steps over the line on numerous occasions along with Cole (now his lover) to prove both doctors were murdered. Eitan and Cole’s amateurish sleuthing efforts leave them in hot water time after time. Some of the scenes are laugh out funny, others fall flat. Eitan once again ends up suspended, and a prime suspect. Eventually the murderer, to no one’s surprise, is unmasked. Eitan seems to understand his erratic behavior is hurtful to himself and those close to him and plans to chart a new course. This madcap adventure was enjoyable if I suspended my thoughts about the medical profession, hospitals, and inept law enforcement. Fortunately I was able to.

My thanks to Little, Brown and Company/Mulholland Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this entertaining work.

An extremely witty and hilarious novel with mystery tied in to the romantic escapades of the characters. It was not a favorite read as I am a quite old school thinker.

Quite predictable, the story doesn’t keep you on the edge of your seat. But the writing is clever, it reads well, and the book skillfully advocates for mental health within the hospital and outside its walls.

The first part was truly funny, although Eitan is so similar to Kay’s portrayal of himself in his non-fiction works it was honestly a confusing reading experience. That’s probably the reason why I preferred the narrative style when we followed Cole and Margaret; it felt more like an actual novel. The ending is good.

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

Adam Kay’s A Particularly Nasty Case introduces Eitan Rose: a flawed but fascinating underdog you won’t forget. A rheumatologist freshly back from a bipolar episode, Eitan is doing everything he can to regain stability. Unfortunately, “everything” includes making a mess of his professional life. With chaos trailing him and a supervisor eager to see him fired, Eitan is barely hanging on.

Then the medical director drops dead.

What begins as a lucky break quickly spirals. Did Eitan have anything to do with it? Is he cursed with misfortune, or is he an unreliable narrator in his own life?

What follows is a perfectly plotted, dark comic thriller that keeps you guessing to the very end. Kay masterfully blends humor, pathos, and suspense, giving readers a narrator who’s equal parts maddening and magnetic. You won’t see the ending coming, but by then, you’ll be hoping this isn’t the last we see of Eitan Rose.

#LittleBrown #AdamKay #AParticularlyNastyCase

This book follows Eitan Rose, a doctor that is returning to work after an unspecified medical leave, related to his mental health. We soon learn that in addition to whatever is wrong clinically, Eitan is still grieving the loss of his beloved sister, Elodie, nearly 20yrs ago. He blames current supervising doctor, Douglas Moran, but also blames himself to the extent that he remains perpetually in the head space of a troubled college student - living in a windowless basement, showing up to work hungover, and repeatedly using a medical inhaler that is filled with cocaine rather than antihistamines, sold to him by the on staff pharmacist. That being said, he actually enjoys helping his patients and looks forward to getting back to work.

First sign that he might not be returning to everything normal, is that cat loving Margaret has been moved into his office, along with her desk and cat posters. 2nd sign, Dr Moran will be sitting in on all of his patient visits, looking for signs that he isn't ready to be back at work. The same Moran that failed at saving Elodie all those years ago. Needless to say things don't go well. But before Moran can report Eitan, thus ruining his career, Moran turns up dead. Even better, Eitan meets the very attractive, Cole. Maybe things are finally going his way. They are not.

The book is told from Eitan's confused point of view, alternating from manic ranting to paranoia; then from Margaret's calmer point of view, having already been revealed as a bit of a dark horse, she still somewhat unexpectedly believes Eitan when he says Moran was murdered, despite a lack of evidence. And finally we get Cole's point of view. The sweet, simple, guy that's in over his head, dealing with a man in the throes of some sort of mental breakdown....or is he?

Much like books where a woman is dismissed because she's a woman, until it is proven that she was right all along, this book hinges a great deal on the prejudices society has against those who suffer from mental illnesses, even those in the medical field are quick to write Eitan off as a degenerate loser, rather than someone suffering from a medical crisis. The more he struggles, the more they take his actions to be deliberate and wanton. There is also a fair amount of classism in the hospital hierarchy which also comes to into play.

In the end, the who done it was less surprising than the why they done it. I did appreciate that the author gave us an Epilogue where we learn that Eitan is finally in a better place and actually dealing with his mental health issues.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of A Particularly Nasty Case.

The premise sounded intriguing and I was pleased my request was approved.

Unfortunately, this was a huge disappointment for a number of reasons:

1. Eitan is an unpleasant, unlikable character.

I understand he's still grieving the loss of his sister, wracked with guilt over her unexpected death, and struggling with his mental health but that's no excuse for the poor choices he makes; self medicating, bed hopping, the rude way he speaks to colleagues, his potty mouth, impersonating a cop, and conducting illegal searches of corpses.

Seriously?

If the author wanted to craft an anti-hero, a rebel who doesn't play by the rules Eitan isn't it.

2. He's convinced two doctors at his hospital met with foul play but has no evidence to back up his suspicions.

He immediately points his finger to a number of suspects even though he has no evidence to back up his claims, other than the suspects didn't like the deceased.

What a shock. The deceased was no saint and most of the hospital staff bore a grudge against him.

3. Apparently, the hospital system, infrastructure and staff is even worse than the American healthcare system. Eitan spends a good portion of the narrative either boinking strangers and having one night stands and the other half bitching about the incompetent doctors he works with (like him).

4. It was so obvious who the murderer was; I clocked the perp right from the start.

5. The writing was good, but wordy, packed with filler and extraneous details and unnecessary descriptions.

Adam Kay, a former medical professional, has written some excellent books based on his background. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading “This Is Going to Hurt,” “Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas,” and “Undoctored.” However his new novel didn’t quite resonate with me. The British humor style didn’t appeal to me, and the sexual references felt unnecessary to the plot.

I'm surprised how much I liked this. It's just so well written! I could do without the "edgy" crudeness, especially at the beginning, but somehow.. it ended up kinda working?! 🤯🤔 I knew from the beginning who the murderer was - yet somehow I was still questioning that until the end?? Idk. Something about this was unique and really special. I read so many mysteries and this one really stands out.

In A PARTICULARLY NASTY CASE, written by Adam Kay, Etien Rose is a bipolar consultant rheumatologist. I think the author was trying to present a humorous main character when creating Etien Rose. Unfortunately, I do not connect with this person. I also prefer a dialogue tag that includes the name of a character rather than the description of a person. (This seems to get better as the book progresses.) There are too many curse words in my opinion. While I appreciate the humor, this book is not for me. Thank you, Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of A PARTICULARLY NASTY CASE.

The chaos promised in the blurb summary was definitely delivered. It felt even a little too chaotic in the start for me, but after I pushed through, it felt more appropriate for the state of the main character’s life, Dr. Eitan Rose. Overall, the plot and character development were decently well-paced, regardless of the confusing aspects. Thank you to Little, Brown and Company, Mulholland Books, and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy.

I have enjoyed reaching Adam Kay's prior books reflecting on his journey into becoming a doctor. I was not sure what the first novel would be like....however, it still has the Adam flair to it. You still see the humorous side of the medical provider mixed in with a murder mystery tied along with a mental health journey. He hits on so many interesting topics but yet is able to keep it light at times.

There's a lot to love about this one. The author obviously has hands on experience in the field, from his previous career, and the machinations at the hospital feel very authentic. The murder mystery is really well paced, and although I did suspect the killer, it still played out very nicely.

That said, I was a bit confused by the tone. It ran the gamut from very satirical to very straightforward, and I could not get a grasp on what the intention was. I think I wanted a bit more earnestness overall from the story, and the chaotic tone kept me from fully engaging.

It will certainly be a hit with readers! For me it was just a 3 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This one is not for me.
I take exception to the structure.
Excellent prose and decent voice. Voice is the most difficult to get right.
The story opens with a throw-away scene, the dreaded prologue. Its as if the editor and or author realized the mistake in the structure and created the prologue to moderate the error. The prologue just says the protagonist happens into a double murder. Not enough for me because of MAR, motivation action reaction. We are starting in the story where something has already happened, we are starting with the reaction without knowing the motivation or the action.
Then we shift to chapter one which has the same MAR issue. The protagonist is coming out of some dreadful event, the reaction that we as readers know nothing about. We are again playing catch up.
But the biggest issue for me is with the four C's of the structure (conflict complication, crisis, conclusion). The conflict meanders instead of being set hard and fast. This means there isn't an immediate contract with the reader where the author says "This is what (the story/character) I'm going to show you." The reader is left up in the air too long trying to decipher these structural issues.
Also, the author doesn't "pat the head of the dog,"--endear the reader to the character. The reader is suppose to like the protagonist because of all his life's problems. That didn't work for me.

I received a free copy of, A Particularly Nasty Case, by Adam Kay, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Eitan thinks a fellow Dr.s death is hinky, but nobody else believes him, until another doctor dies. I thought this was a good read, I could do without the language though.

My thanks go to Little, Brown and Company for an ARC of this interesting book! The story is a whodunit where only a doctor with bipolar disorder recognizes that the death is murder. The investigation is scattered, following Eitan's emotions and mindset. The murder(s) are well camouflaged as natural death(s), so there is a big question as to whether Eitan's investigation is a mental flight of fancy or whether it has substance. And speaking of substance, the story also deals with the problem of substance abuse and the ready availability of drugs. Although there are some weighty topics, the story is a fairly quick witted and humorous take on the situation. Eitan is sarcastic, funny and has some really interesting phrases and responses. The additional tribunal and diary notes added a different point of view on Eitan's actions and demeanor - usually in a humorous slant. The story was enlightening, entertaining, and added some new phrases to my vocabulary!

I loved the clever banter in this book! Eitan is a consultant rheumatologist who is bipolar. He meets new love, Cole on the rooftop. Everything seems great until suspicious deaths at the hospital have everyone suspicious of each other. And what's the concoction Eitan keeps sniffing?? The novel kept me in stitches all the way through as it's witty and ridiculously fun!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

A Particularly Nasty Case by Adam Kay

Thank you to the author, Little, Brown and Company/Mulholland Books|and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book. Unfortunately, this type of satire/humor(?) was not my cup of tea.

I love Adam Kay books. His latest, A Particularly Nasty Case was a five star read for me. Pick this one up on publication day.

This fast paced mystery was clever and funny. The outrageous main character…a doctor… a druggie, suffering from bi polarity , did not win my heart or my literary approval. The other doctors were caricatures and laughable. Depicting all of the other doctors as incompetent was not believable. I have not mentioned the main character is gay and there are many descriptions of his sexual antics. The premise that prompted the murder was simplistic. As the British would say… not my cup of tea!