History Literature / ATaleEtchedInBloodAndHardBlackPencil

''A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil'' (2006) is Creator/ChristopherBrookmyre's 10th novel, concerning a ClassReunion under some rather idiosyncratic circumstances. DSupt Karen Gillespie takes over the investigation of what appears to be a severely bungled double murder committed by two of her former classmates - James "Noodsy" Doon, who has roped in corporate lawyer and fellow alumnus Martin Jackson as his counsel, and Robbie "Turbo" Turner only to discover that the two charred corpses belonged to fellow schoolyard chum, Colin Temple, and Turbo's father, local hardman Johnny Turner.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In one of the flashbacks, Scot makes a joke about [[{{Mondegreen}} Anna Logue Recordings.]] [[spoiler: In the present day, Colin blackmails councillor Pete Mc Geechy with a recording of him having sex with his wife Anna Logue.]]

This book provides examples of:
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* TheAlcoholic: Mrs Fenwick.

* AteHisGun: [[spoiler: Colin]]

* TheChewToy: To the point of Woobie with Noodsy and Elly.

* FairCop: Karen.

* IrishPriest: Father Wolfe.
* KidsAreCruel: Most of the school-year backflashes.

* UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}}

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''A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil'' (2006) is Creator/ChristopherBrookmyre's 10th novel, concerning a ClassReunion under some rather idiosyncratic circumstances. DS Karen Gillespie takes over the investigation of what appears to be a severely bungled double murder committed by two of her former classmates - James "Noodsy" Doon, who has roped in corporate lawyer and fellow alumnus Martin Jackson as his counsel, and Robbie "Turbo" Turner only to discover that the two charred corpses belonged to fellow schoolyard chum, Colin Temple, and Turbo's father, local hardman Johnny Turner.

''A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil'' (2006) is ChristopherBrookmyre's 10th novel, concerning a ClassReunion under some rather idiosyncratic circumstances. DS Karen Gillespie takes over the investigation of what appears to be a severely bungled double murder committed by two of her former classmates - James "Noodsy" Doon, who has roped in corporate lawyer and fellow alumnus Martin Jackson as his counsel, and Robbie "Turbo" Turner only to discover that the two charred corpses belonged to fellow schoolyard chum, Colin Temple, and Turbo's father, local hardman Johnny Turner.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: Martin, Noodsy and Colin. Martin becomes bitter and cynical as he matures, having been shown time and again that nice guys finish last. Noodsy was branded as a lost cause from his first day of school, and years of being blamed for everything whether he was responsible or not led him to become a career criminal. Everyone had made up their minds that he was a thief, so he might as well have something to show for it. As for Colin, he became a bully in secondary school, then went on to [[spoiler: set up cameras in his lodges to film the guests having sex and sell the footage to a US porn company. He also murders Johnny Turner and plans on murdering Robbie with the intention of framing Eleanor for the murders, but he can't bring himself to kill Robbie and turns the gun on himself.]]

* UsedToBeASweetKid: Martin, Noodsy and Colin. Martin becomes bitter and cynical as he matures, having been proven time and again that nice guys finish last. Noodsy was branded as a lost cause from his first day of school, and years of being blamed for everything whether he was responsible or not led him to become a career criminal. Everyone had made up their minds that he was a thief, so he might as well have something to show for it. As for Colin, he became a bully in secondary school, then went on to [[spoiler: set up cameras in his lodges to film the guests having sex and sell the footage to a US porn company. He also murders Johnny Turner and plans on murdering Robbie with the intention of framing Eleanor for the murders, but he can't bring himself to kill Robbie and turns the gun on himself.]]

* StartOfDarkness: [[spoiler:Colin's]] came at the age of 4, with the discovery that he could lie to get himself out of trouble and others into trouble.

* WhamLine: Johnny Turner says of Robbie, "I've supported that useless wee cunt for sixteen fuckin years, [[spoiler: and he's no' even mine.]]

* DudeNotFunny: The in-universe reaction to someone putting a jar of glue in Robbie's school bag [[spoiler: after he'd almost died from sniffing it.]]

* CatchPhrase: In his younger years, Robbie was fond of calling everyone fucken sooks. Momo took great pleasure in causing children he didn't like vee-lans and bawd iggs.

** Harry Fenwick is another example. In his first appearance, he gets accused by Momo of farting loudly during an assembly, and is only saved when the farter strikes again after Momo had dragged Harry onto the stage and was about to punish him. In his second appearance, he gets attacked on the toilet by Boma. He runs away with his trousers around his ankles and pooping on the floor.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The Most Amazing Thing Ever To Happen At St. Elizabeth's (Harry Fenwick pooping on the floor} stops being funny when it is revealed what lead to that happening.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In one of the flashbacks, Scot makes a joke about [[{{Mondegreen}} Anna Logue Recordings.]] [[spoiler: In the present day, Colin blackmails councillor Pete McGeechy with a recording of him having sex with his wife Anna Logue.]]

* VillainDecay: Robbie is the top dog at primary school, but he quickly becomes a joke in secondary school. CharacterDevelopment kicks in following the glue incident and his HeelRealization.

* AlphaBitch: Jojo, complete with a GirlPosse, though initially she's more of a [[TheScrappy Scrappy]], [[HollywoodHomely socially]] speaking.

* ButtMonkey: Noodsy
* TheChewToy: To the point of Woobie with Noodsy and Elly.