Without spoiling too much, in the final few chapters of MEANTIME, Frankie writes about grief and regret in a way that absolutely crushed me. I had tears in my eyes on more than a few occasions. To have the ability to convey feelings the way he did either suggests maybe his own past trauma or an incredibly special talent to relate to that level of loss on that deep of a level. Mina instantly warms to this theme, noting that Chandler had worked with Billy Wilder (they co-wrote Double Indemnity but didn’t like each other), who was writing what Mina calls “that kind of staccato dialogue”. She posits the theory that the novelist may have stolen the technique from the director-screenwriter. She published her first thriller, the critically acclaimed Garnethill , 24 years ago when she was 32. Boyle, who turns 50 next month, has just made his debut with Meantime, a tale of a Glaswegian addict who haphazardly investigates the murder of his best friend. It boasts impressive tributes from Mina and Ian Rankin on its cover. “A darkest noir, unputdownable crime novel”, says Mina, while Rankin describes it as a “twisted Caledonian take on Altman’s The Long Goodbye”, referring to the subversive 70s film adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s finest Philip Marlowe novel. Set in the aftermath of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Meantime is narrated by Felix McAveety, a Valium addict and aspiring writer whose best friend, Marina, is found murdered in a Glasgow park – news Felix first learns when he’s woken by police demanding a sperm sample. Finding himself a suspect, Felix and his overweight neighbour, Donnie, also partial to mind-altering substances, decide to undertake their own investigation: “We were the two people least suited to investigating anything, but with the right drug combinations we could be whoever we had to be.”

An enjoyably dark and entertaining tranche of Glasgow noir . . . [A] deft, engaging thriller’ Observer

The city of Glasgow makes for an ideal landscape to set this bleak yet perversely refreshing and hugely enjoyable piece of work. This certainly put me in mind of a lot of Christopher Brookmyre’s better stuff, but whilst still retaining a distinctive Boyle signature, which gives it its own offbeat and delightful spark. Throw in a very poignant and touching ending and you will have a read like no other that will bring out all the emotions in you. Actually, it doesn’t get much worse than that. Threading through the set is palpable indignation – about working-class lives and appalling failures of the system: for instance, there’s a brutal rape joke that alludes to the Sarah Everard case, but the target is unequivocally the government and police. Few escape his contempt – be it high-profile Tories, Keir Starmer (“‘My dad was a tool-maker’ – of course he was, he made you”) or Nicola Sturgeon (“who can squint with her whole face”). He doesn’t spare himself – dismally dating at 49 and past his spunky prime, which he enlarges on in unprintable terms; equally unrepeatable are his barbs about Prince Andrew.

Boyle’s ability to throw out a short and pithy sentence that fits easily into the dialogue, so that the reader is hardly aware that a trademark suspect joke has been made, is actually quite a talent – and often very funny. Felix and every one of his friends take drugs profusely and are very knowledgeable about every one of them and what they do. To those of us who do not, it is a fascinating and horrific exposure that surprisingly gets to feel more normal and acceptable as the story continues. I have a suspicion that there will be a strong correlation between people's attitude towards Frankie Boyle in general and their opinion of this book. The author can be something of a Marmite character and I suspect readers may react in a similar way to this novel. Part whodunnit, part social safari, part extended stand-up monologue . . . the novel is full of scintillating sentences and perfect lines of dialogue’ Sunday Times I almost gave up after a couple of hours. Obviously this book is heavy on drug taking and I found that got a bit tedious. Yes I know, not the author’s fault. The book cover has a psychedelic pill on it after all. A darkest noir, unputdownable crime novel that swerves and surprises, with a gut-punch ending. I loved it!' Denise Mina, author of The Long DropI feel I want to read it again because I don’t really get who killed Marina and why. But at the same time I am not sure I care enough to bother. If it didn’t grip me the first time round, not sure I want to spend another 8 hours of my life reading it again The energy in the room itself was palpable before Frankie even walked on stage, and despite the reputation surrounding one of Scotland’s harshest comedians, he neither disappointed nor bowed to expectation.