I thoroughly enjoyed Jonathan Coe’s previous book, Bournville, and so was delighted to be offered an advance review copy for his new book.

The book starts with Phyl at home after university, a very similar age to my oldest child, and so easy to identify with. Her parents’ friend Chris and his daughter Rashida come to visit the family. The book is then set over the time period of Liz Truss’s prime ministership (so yes, quite a concise timeline) and ends up being a book within a book within a book. It’s all a bit of a head f*ck – but in a good way – and the ending makes you question everything you’ve previously read, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Each book element is a different genre – from cosy crime, to dark academia, with some autofiction thrown in for good measure. This is all clever – as Jonathan Coe’s books always are! It also enables there to be flashbacks to the 1980s when a lot of the main characters first met.

Another similarity with Coe’s previous books is that the locations are close to where I live! Who knew Fish Hill outside Broadway would be such a feature (I spent my 50th birthday with friends in a hotel a short walk from that particular stretch of road).

There is an eclectic mix of characters – and you do have to concentrate not to get confused (although that might just be me?!) The commentary on the current state of UK far right politics is also ‘interesting’.

Overall the book is very good at drawing you in and you wanting to find out more – and I absolutely adored the way the murder ended up being solved (no spoilers here).

A big thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for my advance review copy in exchange for an honest review. The book is out in November 2024 and available for pre order now.

The Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe is a gripping and suspenseful novel that delves into the complexities of truth, memory, and justice. Coe masterfully unravels the narrative, blending tension with introspective moments as the protagonist fights to clear their name. The story is layered with twists and emotional depth, exploring themes of guilt, redemption, and the lengths one will go to prove their innocence. Coe’s sharp prose and compelling characters keep readers on edge, making this a thought-provoking and immersive read that challenges perceptions of morality and the often ambiguous nature of truth.

Set against the backdrop of Liz Truss's premiership, this latest novel by Jonathan Coe is, as one would expect from Coe, very enjoyable, playful and occasionally eccentric. Here we have a novel within a novel, a pastiche of cosy crime, politics, and more besides. Your mileage with it depends on how much you've admired Coe in the past. If you've loved his work before, then this will grab you. If you're new to Coe, perhaps start with something like The Rotters Club or What a Carve Up, to get a sense of his style before starting this. Nevertheless, this is a very funny, enjoyable read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

How much background in reality does a work of fiction need before you suspect it is actually non-fiction? Liz Truss became leader of the Conservative party on 5th September 2022, became Prime Minister on the 6th, resigned the party leadership on October 20th, and resigned as PM on 25th. To compound the plot, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth died on the 8th September. That was reality but to some it felt like fiction. In this, his latest, book, Coe sets a complex murder mystery during those heady days, although the background starts twenty years earlier when a clandestine group of Cambridge dons, began to reframe the Conservative party – a plan which, to some extent, culminated with this Tax cutting, free enterprise, PM. Fortuitously, the 2022 British TrueCon Conference has also just begun in a stately home in the Cotswolds – a meeting of the rightmost wing of the party, convened and run by that covert group, who are now more overt and known as Processus. Attending as an observer is the left-leaning blogger, Christopher Swann, a Cambridge contemporary of the Processus leaders, who has followed their progress, blogging and otherwise railing against their politics. When Christopher is murdered in a locked room, DI Prue Freeborne and her DS quickly establish that only three people had access to the secret passage which the killer must have used. Two of these are the primary leaders of Processus and the third is the principal speaker, a right-wing academic literary critic. Also investigating is Phyl, daughter of Chris’s great friend from their student days, who has always considered Chris an uncle, and his adopted daughter Rashida. Who killed Chris? More importantly, why was he killed?
The foregoing sets the scene and the main protagonists, a fairly simple murder-mystery in an unusual location at an unbelievable time. However, this is Jonathan Coe, so clearly it is a satire, but what is being satirised? The politics? Fairly easy to do that, although the real life events are hard to be beat! The genre? How is that to be approached? Pop in eccentric characters, country house background, larger than life detective with foibles, couple of amateur sleuths, locked-room mystery, throw in a bit of exotic travel – all of the above? Check! But Coe is too clever a writer so we also get a range of other styles of writing, and alternative interpretations. Some literati might call it Meta (in fact one character highlights this possibility by writing a poem on the role of meta). Some, more prosaic, readers might call it a Mashup. It is certainly an intellectual challenge, although the answers to the questions at the end of my first paragraph are not hard to deduce (or is that what I’m supposed to think?). Assigning stars to this book is necessarily tricky. The plot set out above is a 3, the tour de force of the book is a 5, averaging gives me 4, but I liked it too much to give it less than 4.5, which rounds up to 5. In parliamentary style, therefore, I have to say “The Fives Have It”
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

I love Jonathan Coe and there is much to like in this novel. I’m not sure I expected a cozy crime story and I’m not certain that this works. The narrative is set against the backdrop of the Liz Truss premiership and deals with the far right politics of this time. There are some great characters particularly the police inspector, a woman on the verge of retirement. I’m thinking that she is happy to put that off as long as possible! The two girls who are telling the story are not well drawn but this is still enjoyable. Great humour.

I'm a big fan of Jonathan Coe's work and have read most of his books. His skill at political satire is deft and witty and I love his characters and their frequent lack of self awareness.

I thought this was going to be another cracking book and was enjoying it but it became too meta for me. There's a book within a book within another book etc. I did like the pastiche of genres and of contemporary fiction trends bit struggled to keep myself interested when the narrative kept switching. It felt slightly too farcical for me.

Saying that, I did enjoy his take on recent history and politics

I have not read Coe’s work before. Based on this novel, I’m not sure I will read any more of his work.
The book can’t decide what genre it belongs in, with a novel, within a novel, a murder mystery and a cast of thousands ( or so it seems), added to very recent political events. The part surroundings Liz Truss’s disastrous prime- ministership was particularly disturbing, as it affected our family personally, and badly, with the law of unintended consequences.
I could not warm to the narrative or the characters, and was unsure exactly what the novel was trying to achieve.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book. In all honesty this is a fantastic, clever and very contemporary novel. It's so enjoyable to read something that is set so carefully in the political present, yet neatly refers to the character's academic past lives. Including a reference to Sherlock Holmes and the Locked Room just made it fascinating and a really pleasurable novel to read.

I have previously read Coe’s “What A Carve Up” (1994) and its part sequel “Number 11” (2015) – both drawing on English Farce and more unusually horror B-movies for a social satire on English society and politics; as well as his chocolate factory-based family based social history of English post war society “Bournville”. He is also well known for his (not read by me) satirical/political trilogy “The Rotters Club” (2001), “The Closed Circle” (2004) and then the much later “Middle England” (2018) which revisited the characters from the first two novels as a way of examining British public and political life over some 8 years leading up to, through and in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit referendum.

And this his latest and I think 15th or so novel draws on many similar ideas. Rather than B-movie influences it draws on three literary tropes/genres (cosy crime – think Richard Osman, dark academia - think Secret History and autofiction) but in a very explicit way. And the satirical and examination of British political life is set over a much shorter period – in essence the 49 days of the disastrous Liz Truss Prime Ministerial reign (an early scene in the second part of the novel takes place in a “well preserved 17th century in which still [bears] its original name – The Fresh Lettuce” – itself an example of the way in which the novel mixes both obvious satire with a deeper level of examination of the British political body).

And although I say that the novel focuses on those 49 days both Coe and one of his key characters Christopher Swann, a slightly obsessive blogger, focus their attention more widely, on the long road to power which the US/UK National Conservative movement has taken to power culminating (if that is the word) in the Trump/Truss pairing.

After a brief cameo appearance by a detective pursuing a suspect on a train to the annoying (and to any fellow commuters sadly familiar) soundtrack of “See It. Say It. Sorted” (which then gives the book its three main sections which match its three genres), the book opens with its main character being Phyl back from University and living, at something of a loose end, with her parents in their vicarage (her mother Joanne a Vicar). The family is visited by Swann – a Cambridge University friend of Joanne – who is on his way to a TrueCon convention and brings with him his adopted daughter Rashida. Joanne and Christopher’s conversation turns to their University days – Emeric Coutts a Philosophy professor who ran some infamous right-wing salons and later influenced Thatcherism, a fellow student Roger Wagstaff who influenced by those now leads the TrueCon movement and his obsessive female sidekick (then and now decades later) Rebecca Wood, a mutual Brian friend recently deceased of cancer who has written a memoir of their time. Phyl meanwhile decides for want of any alternative short term career plans to write a novel and inspired by Rashida thinks of three different possible genres.

And the novel then unfolds in three parts using both the British Transport mantra and the three genres.

Part One: See It: is “Murder at Wetherby Pond: A Cosy Crime Mystery” telling off Christopher’s trip to the conference (narrowly avoiding an accident en route) and his rather feisty interactions with the host – Randolph Early of Wetherby – as well as Roger and Rebecca who are only too aware of his hostility to their movement at their exact moment of triumph – their set piece speaker even being unable to attend as her has been made Chancellor of the Exchequer. The speaker’s place is taken unconventionally by Richard Wilkes – a Professor of Literature at an Italian University, invited as he has dedicated much of his career to posthumously building the reputation of Peter Cockerill a a young experimental novelist with decided right wing and proto national conservative leanings (and who committed suicide shortly after an appearance at one of the salons in the 1980s). When a murder occurs with an apparent clue “r 8/2” there are a number of suspects all of whom are interviewed by the detective from the prologue.

We then get Part Two: Say It “The Shadow Chamber: A Dark Academia” – Brian’s memoirs which the detective reads for evidence and which reveal much more of what went on in 1980s Cambridge; before Phyl and Rashida take up the story in Part Three Sorted: “Reborn: An Exercise in Autofiction” (one writing in first person and one in third person and arguing about the most appropriate autofiction form) and take up back to the arrest that opens the book – before an Epilogue gives us a new metafictional perspective on what we have been reading.

Overall, I found the book very strong.

The change of literary styles makes the book always entertaining, as well as themselves being a nice satire on (in I would say more Parts 1 and 3) styles that increasingly dominate fiction sales – as an aside Part 2 was in this respect a misstep, the Dark Academia theme in this case more adapted to fit the story than the story written through a pre established genre.

The story is also engaging – the characters are interesting, the plot is lively and the different periods (1980s Cambridge – a few years earlier than when I went there and in a considerably more traditional college; and contemporary England) are both well conveyed.

And the book uses Coe’s rather over the top style rather neatly. The coincidences which drive the investigation (2/8 has at least two obvious meanings and one which only emerges a lot later; four people near the murder have the initials RW) feel amusingly absurd rather than ridiculous, and the political message underneath is a serious one particularly as the events set out in the novel are in no way more ridiculous or less believable than the 49 days they actually portray when extreme free market liberalism fell spectacularly foul of the free markets (just as supposedly working class socialism has lost all connection to the working class) but their consequences only too real.

And as a result this is my favourite of the author’s books I have read and is recommended.

Coe is playing with genres, tropes, Gen Z prejudices and as always adds his own brand of political satire.
All in all a most enjoyable read, taking us from cosy crime via dark academia to autofiction and back without losing the plot surrounding a far-right conspiracy to privatise the NHS.
Hard to explain, just read it!

One of my favourite authors. His Benjamin Trotter trilogy was brilliant. What a Carve Up - excellent, and all his other novels very good. This one is also very good, but very different. It is based around the very short time of Liz. Truss's Prime Minister's reign.
The book starts on a train journey and detective inspector Prudence Freeborne is about to arrest a suspect. More of her later. We next meet Phyl. she read English at Newcastle University. She is now back living with her parents in the south, and working at a sushi bar in Heathrow airport Terminal 5 She slices the fish and peels and dices the vegetables and watches the plates of Japanese styled food go around and around on the carousel! Phyl wants to write. She likes to lose herself watching episodes of the American TV programme Friends on catch up. Phyl's mother Joanne is a vicar. She studied at Cambridge University and has two good friends in Christopher and Brian. Andrew is her understanding husband. Chris writes articles against the far right in politics. His nemesis is Roger Wagstaff who they were at Cambridge with. A book Britannia Unchained is discussed. It was written by Truss together with Kwasi Kwarteng ( who became her Chancellor of the Exchequer ), Priti Patel, Dominic Raab and Chris. Skidmore.
Brian dies and leaves a written recollection which is very controversial. Then there is a murder at Wetherby Hall and that is when we meet Pru. again. Phyl meets Chris's adopted daughter Rashida ( who has been living in New York ) and they get on well together after a shaky start.
An involved but very enjoyable book. Just read it and enjoy. Very much recommended.

I enjoyed this story a lot. It was funny and clever, starting in one direction and moving into another. I haven’t read anything by Jonathan Coe before but can understand why he is well thought of.

I must admit I didn't enjoy this book from Jonathan as much as his previous novels. It seemed somewhat disjointed and jumped about a bit although I did enjoy parts but some of it was a bit of a slog. Good characters some of whom one can sort of recognise from political public life. Mainly set in Cambridge at the University in the 80s and the north Cotswolds at a political gathering of Conservative extremists around the time of the Queen's death and Liz Truss's rise and fall.

What an odd book! I felt it started well and I was definitely easily drawn in to the story and keen to read it but at some point it becomes a novel within a novel and then maybe a third novel pops up, all a bit hard to follow and unnecessary. No idea why it couldnt be written as a straight story, almost gimmicky like this. It felt like an easy read detective story for half the book with some very obvious "clues" and some great leaps of deduction by the sleuths but maybe that was supposed to reflect the immaturity of the two girls writing the narrative. And every so often we get a Liz Truss scene and the death of QEII which are such non sequiturs they are jarring. It feels as if he couldnt decide what genre this book was. All a bit insubstantial and nose dived after first third.

This started off well and I enjoyed the set up of the story. However, the story became rather messy and disappointing. It was far from being the funny satire I was expecting. Each section of the book had a different focus and perspective. It turned out to be a book within a book but there were also other books within these books. There were so many seemingly unrelated aspects of this book that it seemed to change direction with each new section. The characters weren't particularly well drawn. The whole book seemed to drag and could have been considerably shortened. By the last 75% I just wanted it to end.

***advance review copy received from NetGalley in return for an honest review***
I very much enjoy Jonathan Coe’s writing, and this is no exception. However I’m not sure that his talent quite lies in the murder mystery genre. This is an interesting story that jumps between various characters’ perspectives and timelines, only for an 11th hour rug pull that *does* fit with the overall storyline as we latterly understand it to be, but may find some readers unsatisfied.

A modern day Agatha Christie and police drama rolled into one. A great read, good characters well depicted and it mixed politics and crime in an effective and compelling manner. Highly recommended.

A satire on recent UK politics which is quite well written and funny in places. The problem is, is that the period it is satirising is more wacky than the written version. Real life at that time is almost beyond the satirical. As I have said to friends about some comedians, it would be hilarious except that it is far too close to the truth. The accuracy of the satire makes it hit home just how not funny it is. That was the problem I found with this book. maybe when this book is read when the UK is in a much better place (I hope so) it will be funnier and less painfull

There are two excellent novels this year using a country house murder mystery and the cosy crime novel genre. The first is Kate Atkinson's Death At The Sign Of The Rook. The other, far superior, book is The Proof Of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe. It's the perfect summation of the post-Brexit drift towards fascism and deregulation in the UK. It's also howlingly funny. There's a scene where a key character, Christopher, drops into a pub for a drink to watch Liz Truss's first speech as Prime Minister. The pub is called The Fresh Lettuce. It's the best thing Coe has ever written, and the sharpest.

Penguin sent me a pre-publication copy for reviewing. I’d not read anything by this author so I was interested to see how I got on.

The author has a reputation of writing satirical novels which explore contemporary Britain. This book explores events of 2022 and the disastrous government of Liz Truss, the effect of which was to crash the economy through proposing tax cuts through unfunded borrowing.

Principal characters involve Phyl, who after uni, is working long hours in a sushi bar. There is left-leaning blogger Christopher Swann who infiltrates a conference of very right-leaning academics and politicos. So far, right up my street.

However, at the 25% mark I was struggling read this novel and abandoned it completely at the 35% mark. Sorry, Penguin but here’s why.

The humour and satire simple don’t work. The problem is that the bizarre statements and concepts as evidenced by the Truss government and her allied politicos are so bizarre that they are beyond satire. The Daily Star newspaper famously live streamed a lettuce predicting that it would last longer that Truss’s 49-day period in office. The lettuce won. So when we read that Christopher visits a pub before arriving at the TrueCon conference and we learn that the pub is called ‘The Fresh Lettuce’, we are invited to join in the merriment of the author’s witty allusion. This is the level of the humour and wit in this novel. You’ve probably guessed that I wasn’t amused.

At the conference, the novel shifts gear and segues into a murder mystery of the locked room variety. More characters are introduced – DI Freeborne and DS Jakes. At this point I was struggling through interminable prose, overloaded with detail and lack of focus so like Liz Truss, when it all got too much, I quit.

I think that with very heavy editing to slim it down, this novel might have had legs as a short story or even a novella, but like the Truss government, it had ambitions far above it’s potential.

So if you like political satire and ‘Midsomer Murders’ style murder mystery, then this book might be for you. It wasn’t for me. But I’m grateful to Penguin for the chance to read and review this novel.