A Particularly Nasty Case by Adam Kay audiobook review – a wayward doctor turns detective

Andy Serkis revels in his narration of the first murder mystery from the author of This Is Going to Hurt, which showcases Kay’s signature pitch-black humour

Dr Eitan Rose is stark naked in a gay sauna when he is called upon to perform CPR on an elderly man and fellow patron who is having a heart attack. When arriving paramedics ask Eitan for his details, he declines to give his real name, instead giving them the name of his work supervisor and nemesis, Douglas Moran. Eitan is a hard-partying consultant rheumatologist who has just returned to work after several months off following a mental health crisis, and who uses liquid cocaine secreted into a nasal inhaler to get through the working day.

When Moran dies in unexpected circumstances, Eitan suspects foul play and sets about finding the culprit. Soon he is performing illicit postmortems and impersonating a police detective so he can cross-examine a suspect. But when he tries to blow the whistle, his colleagues and the police decline to take his claims seriously. Eitan may work among medical professionals, but they are not above stigmatising a colleague diagnosed with bipolar disorder and taking his outlandish claims as evidence of his instability.

A Particularly Nasty Case is the first murder mystery from Adam Kay, author of the tragicomic This Is Going to Hurt, his bestselling memoir which recounted his early career as a junior doctor. The Lord of the Rings actor Andy Serkis is the narrator, who revels in Kay’s pitch-black humour and energetically inhabits the wild dysfunction of Eitan. Some suspension of disbelief is required in what is an overly frantic final act. Nonetheless, you can’t help rooting for Eitan, a misguided but ultimately well-intentioned hero and sleuth.

• Available via Orion 10hr 9min

Further listening

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The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
Kiran Desai, Penguin Audio, 25hr 31min
Sneha Mathan reads this Booker-nominated novel about love spanning decades and continents. When aspiring novelist Sonia and journalist Sunny have a chance encounter on a train in India, they realise they already have a connection: their families are neighbours.