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• This was recommended to me by a friend, and I'm so glad she did, otherwise I would have missed a really good book. A murder mystery take on Big Brother-type shows, Dead Famous centers around a group of contestants who have signed up to live in a house together, completing random tasks for rewards, getting to know each other, fighting, breaking down, and making up, all filmed for TV, all for the chance at fame and a half-million dollar prize. And then one of them is murdered, in the house, while a live internet audience watches. And even with millions of people watching, no one can tell who the killer is.This book is not only a clever and engaging murder mystery, but also a really clever parody of and commentary on the reality television culture, and just how far people will go for their fifteen minutes of fame.

  5.00 out of 5

  seasonsoflove

• Hilarious take on the Big Brother phenomenon. A whole bunch of typical reality-TV characters that Elton probably had a brilliant time dreaming up. There's not one you wouldn't desperately want to punch. Not to mention an absolutely top class whodunnit - even though you might guess 'who', 'how' was another matter entirely.

  5.00 out of 5

  jayne_charles

• A satirical look at reality TV and the celebrity fame game in general via a murder mystery plot. One of the contestants in a Big Brother style game has been murdered but nobody can work out whodunnit. Seems impossible when the house is under constant monitoring by the 30 cameras and nowhere can you go unobserved. Somehow the killer has managed it and it's up to Chief Inspector Coleridge and his team to find out who and how they did it.The book starts off by introducing the cast of wannabe's from the vacuous to those that think they can outwit the production team and general public who do the voting off. You don't actually find out who the victim is until past the halfway point of the book. The story unfolds via two different viewpoints. We get to see the contestants inside the house by use of the tons of video footage collated for the investigative team to trawl through and we also get the commentary from the detectives as they search for clues and motives to the killing. The story never flags and even though I'm not a fan of Big Brother or its ilk I was thoroughly entertained by the cynical underpinning of Mr. Elton's work.

  4.00 out of 5

  AHS-Wolfy

• I seem to be on a deflowering streak these last few months. My first ever Kate Mosse (not the model), then my first Philip Kerr and now my first Ben Elton. I've been meaning to read an Elton for quite a while and thanks to the persuasive arguments of a colleague, I now have. Dead Famous is a very satirical look at the reality-show phenomenon pioneered by Big Brother (even referenced in the book). In this novel, 10 young people are sent to live in a house one of them literally will not walk away from. Unless by walk you mean 'carried on a stretcher'. The characters are well-developed and a bit stereotypical, but then I suppose that's inherent to the satire genre. They all have their reasons for being there, some being more obvious than others. And all have their secrets, some of those too being a bit more obvious than others. Elton weaves a crafty and well-written tale of one very weary detective, seven potential murderers and one victim. Who did it, why did they do it and by god, how can the production company make MORE money out of it al? I loved reading the book and I'm glad Ben Elton is right up my alley. as I hoped he would be. *nudge nudge wink wink*

  4.00 out of 5

  Crayne

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