Aahh,g'wan,g'w an,g'wan,g'wan ,G'WAN! (Better than a Rest - Pauline McLynn)

Name: nikkisly

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Product:	Better than a Rest - Pauline McLynn
Date:	31/08/01 (115 review reads)
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Even the likes of Ben Elton and Robert Llewellyn have so far been unable to convince me of the wisdom of TV comedians diversifying into the world of popular fiction. Granted, given the services of a half decent ghostwriter, most can produce an entertaining autobiography, but the majority of TV funny men and women are to the novel what Adolf Hitler was to world peace. So, given my deep-rooted prejudice against those who capitalise on their popularity by dashing off a quick novel between series', what chance did Pauline McLynn (better known as Father Ted's manic housekeeper, Mrs Doyle) have of changing my mind?

Initially, none whatsoever. I bought her book "Better than a Rest" under the mistaken impression that it was a biography of one of my favourite personalities. It isn't. It's Ms. McLynns second foray into the world of fiction and, as such, went straight into my car boot box unread. That is until a recent bout of 'flu (yes, in August!) sent me scurrying under the bed in search of something - anything - to read which might lighten my dour mood without involving too much in the way of strenuous concentration.

"Better than a Rest" is the story of Dublin Private Investigator Leo - short for Leonora - Street. (Incidentally, I would have to question Dooyoo's placing of the book in the Crime/Thriller category, since 'Humour' would probably be more appropriate - maybe they're just unable to believe that I might read anything without a full complement of blood and gore!)

Anyway, Leo has two sidekicks - a dog known as "Number 4" and a sharp-talking 'goth' teenager called Ciara.She also has a feckless live-in boyfriend,three cats, and a large family, all of whom flit in and out of the story of Leo's current case.Oooh, and, most interestingly, she also has unfinished business - a love/lust relationship with an ex boyfriend which just won't go away.

The plot o
f this novel is complex and tedious in the extreme. Even without the 'flu, with my brain firing on all cylinders, I might have struggled to keep up with its constant torturous twists and turns.It's about an obstetrician who might or might not be having an extra marital affair - Leo is employed by his wife to find out the truth once and for all. At the same time, there are numerous sub plots including death threats,suspected arson, malicious telephone calls and a dodgy insurance claim.

Yet, even having totally lost the plot half way through the book, I carried on reading...

You know how it is on Dooyoo? How there are some writers you just have to read, regardless of subject? Well, for me, Pauline McClynn is such a writer.

She has an enviable way with words. Whatever the literary equivalent of kissing the Blarney Stone, then McLynn must have given it a full-on snog, possibly with tongues.She has a wicked sense of humour which skips between dry, cynical, slapstick and downright dirty. Her characters are superb. The heroine is portrayed as a capable, modern businesswoman and all-round smart cookie but with flaws such as a propensity to ladder tights and drop gloves down the toilet. She is a a three dimensional figure, a woman with whom I could instantly identify and with whom I empathised from page one.

Sadly, her other characters play more cameo roles and are consequently not as fully developed, although the grandmother with the filthy mind could so easily merit a book of her own.

McLynn's descriptive passages are unsurpassed. For me, one of the benchmarks of a writer is how well or badly they write about sex. (Not too graphic, not too tame and definitely not filled with 'Mills and Boonisms' about quivering lower lips and straining thighs.) Well, McLynn got it just right, as she did with 'having a cold', her description of which would have had me reaching for the Kleenex, even had I not be similar
ly stricken at the time.

This is a 'dirty' book, with sex and swearwords a-plenty. That said, it is not an offensive book, more a delightful portrait of the life of a modern day woman, juggling career, romance and fending off a family whose dearest wish is to see her settled and producing babies with her first love, the aforementioned ex. To stereotype, it's a sort of Irish Bridget Jones.

I reluctantly award it 3 Dooyoo stars, since it was not overall a good read. Yet for McClynns writing alone, I am mentally awarding it 5*'s - and I am now dashing off to amazon to buy "Something for the Weekend" (McClynns first novel.)

"Better than a Rest" - Pauline McClynn - Headline -ISBN 0 000000 026482

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