WITH a death at an orgy and a doctor doing cocaine through his inhaler in the opening chapters, Adam Kay’s new murder-mystery novel certainly doesn’t fall into the chart-topping “cosy crime” genre.
There’s no comfy protagonist in elasticated trousers cracking cases in a charming community.
No, it’s darker than that — but funny, too.
It’s also a far cry from Adam’s autobiographical hit, This Is Going To Hurt , which became a hugely successful BBC series.
And it’s an even bigger departure from his brilliant first foray into kids’ fiction — Dexter Procter The Ten-Year-Old Doctor — which The Sun spoke to him about last year.
But despite Adam ’s latest offering being packed with graphic sex scenes, morgue thefts, a rising body count and an utterly chaotic main character in Eitan Rose, new book A Particularly Nasty Case shares the same theme as his earlier literature.
It’s almost all based in a hospital.
No surprise, really, considering Adam worked as a doctor for six years before quitting in 2010.
He hung up his stethoscope following years of pressure — and after a harrowing birth delivery case left him with undiagnosed PTSD .
Since then, he has worked as a stand-up comedian, a writer for TV and an incredibly successful author — with his memoir, This Is Going To Hurt , selling 3million copies.
Explaining why his writing focuses on the medical profession, Adam tells The Sun: “I like some degree of authenticity in books — and maybe I’m just too lazy to learn what it’s like in an accountancy firm or a factory.
“But it did mean I could talk about things like classism in medicine.
“The snobbery of medicine — the upstairs/downstairs aspect of it is a huge thing — and I just wanted to play with that.”
A Particularly Nasty Case begins with Eitan’s first day back to work after a serious personal crisis, which emerges slowly but surely throughout the novel.
But what is immediately apparent is he’s not been very well — popping pills and self-medicating with drugs and alcohol to not only numb his mental pain and chaotic lifestyle, but to regulate his bipolar disorder.
So when a series of deaths take place at the hospital, and he is the only one convinced of foul play, Eitan decides to take matters into his own hands — with some pretty controversial consequences.
Adam says: “I wanted to write about the way mental health is treated in the ranks of medicine.
“And there’s a tiny little line in the book which sort of summarises how I feel — the idea that you’re allowed to have anxiety or depression or OCD , but as soon as it’s schizophrenia or bipolar , everyone is terrified.
‘SNORTING WITH LAUGHTER’
“Lots of Sun readers and their families will be living with this condition.
“Everyone from doctors, accountants, lawyers, binmen . . . I wanted to talk about the stigma , but also how the NHS , paradoxically, is often worse in the way it treats these members of staff than another organisation might be.
“That’s another reason to base it in the hospital — because I could.”
It’s a very funny book which will have you snorting with laughter.
But as consultant rheumatologist Eitan careers wildly and uncontrollably from one crisis to another — while trying to solve what he thinks is a series of murders at St Jude’s hospital in North London — it can also make for uncomfortable reading.
Adam says: “I think there’s a bit of me in Eitan.
“Not just in his sense of humour — I mean, I loved writing him — but in terms of his eye-rolling sense of humour and his sarcasm.
“But not his drug use.
“Definitely not his drug use.
“He’s very naughty!
“I didn’t want to write a superhero.
“I’ve read too many books where everyone’s a bit too likeable.
Medicine is a job where you need an outlet — you need to be able to press that valve and, if you don’t have a valve, something goes wrong
Adam Kay
“I want people to be conflicted and I want a couple to be reading the book and arguing about whether they are with him or against him.
“He’s not an impeccable employee, but he’s been given a really rough ride — and I think that’s a symptom of his setup at work and how people are treating him and how difficult people are making things for him.”
Adam revealed that, when writing A Particularly Nasty Case, he decided not to stick with the tried and tested formula of making the main character an emergency room doctor or super-surgeon.
He says of Eitan’s specialism: “I chose rheumatology because it’s the least sexy speciality.
“In books and films, everyone’s either an A&E doctor or a brain or heart surgeon.
“So, let’s see the rheumatologist.
“He’s not a ten out of ten doctor — he’s fun and I like the idea that he’s totally good enough.
“He is a messy character and I wanted to show him in all his messiness.
“Medicine is a job where you need an outlet — you need to be able to press that valve and, if you don’t have a valve, something goes wrong.
“And there are better and worse types of valve.
“Speaking to a therapist is a very good valve.
“And putting coke in your inhaler is a very bad valve, and there’s lots of things in between.”
As we wrap up the interview, happily married dad-of-two Adam , who will see Dexter Procter made into a Christmas TV series this year and who is currently working on his next book, is keen to put one other thing straight.
“Yes, I did know someone who put cocaine in an inhaler,” he reveals.
“But no, he was not a doctor.”
- A Particularly Nasty Case, by Adam Kay, is out now in hardback (Orion, £20), and on audio and ebook. Adam is currently on tour nationwide – see adamkay.co.uk .
