My Criminal World was a cheap buy from my remaindered bookshop – 4 for £10 – and sadly I can understand why it should find itself there
It’s the story of a crime writer and his wife – a university lecturer. He is under pressure from his editors to publish more books, and more violent ones at that. There is a plan for a tour of the USA – provincial and insignificant locations that reflect his declining value as an author. He is sure his wife is having an affair with a student who is later found dead. There are accusations and arrests.
This was a case where the blurb was quite a bit more exciting than the book itself. It promised a lot – I like books about books – metafiction – and this looked like a good example. The pages of the novel he is working on alternate with the story of his life and domestic routine. The problem is that neither is very convincing, or very interesting.
Sorry – I can’t find it in myself to recommend this book. It was a bad choice for me, though the Guardian reviewer was more engaged:
