It’s a real pleasure today to be joining the blog tour and sharing my review of Three’s a Crowd by SR Booker, due to be published in paperback by Simon & Schuster on Thursday, 27th October. Thank you to the wonderful Sara-Jade Virtue for the invitation and support – and thank you too for my finished paperback copy.
Confession time though, I think – I’ve really loved the look of this book since I first heard about it through the Books and the City Showcase event (on-line then, of course…) way back in December 2020. I even took up the offer of exclusive netgalley access to a proof copy, and was really looking forward to reviewing it ahead of its release as an ebook and audiobook in August 2021 – but failed dismally when the world then opened up again, and my appetite for reading declined a little in favour of getting out and about. So, setting my shame aside, I’m delighted to have a second chance – this book always did look right up my street…
What happens when an estranged father and son unwittingly fall in love with the same woman?
Out-of-work actor Harriet is recuperating from a crash-and-burn affair with Damian – aka ‘Cockweasel’ – and making ends meet as a barista when she meets two rather lovely men. Tom is a regular at the café, and seems like such a nice guy. Smooth-talking DJ Richard is older, but in great shape – a real silver fox.
Deciding to take a chance on both of them, Harriet doesn’t realise at first that she is actually dating father and son. Tom and Richard aren’t on speaking terms, and don’t share a last name – so how was she to know? By the time everyone finds out, both Tom and Richard are truly madly deeply in love with Harriet, and she’s faced with an impossible choice.
But as the battle for her affections intensifies, ‘Cockweasel’ makes an unexpected reappearance and begs her to give him another chance…
A hilariously laugh out loud, romantic comedy, perfect for fans of Something to Live For (Richard Roper), Love, Unscripted (Owen Nicholls), The Love Square (Laura Jane Williams), and Us (David Nicholls).
Do you know, I was rather afraid I wasn’t going to enjoy this book. It was just a bit of a shock to the system at first with the quirky characters and their separate voices, the SHOUTING (albeit in Harriet’s head), the “twat nozzles” and “dick-wazzocks” – it just wasn’t what I was used to, or expecting. But I have to say that I thought it was just superb – gloriously different and original, wonderfully written, and a story (with some of the most unpredictable twists and turns I’ve ever come across…) that was completely fabulous.
Tom makes his living writing articles for Double Glazing Monthly, but in his spare time – and there’s quite a lot of that – he’s writing a musical that he hopes will be a hit West End show. The high point of his day is visiting the New Dalston Cafe, and being served his coffee by Harriet – she’s a down-on-her-luck actress, currently living with her gran, the high point of her career playing a dead body in an episode of Midsomer Murders, incapable of success at her many auditions because of the voices in her head.
Tom is currently estranged from his father Richard – their family set-up is (to put it mildly) just a little complicated, with Tom’s mother on a yoga retreat in Goa, having an affair with her female yoga teacher. Richard presents the lunchtime show on Silk FM – he’s a bit of a smoothie, with a rather nice lifestyle but a private life as empty as that of his son. Harriet and Richard’s paths cross when she enters a competition to become the Voice of London, hosted by the radio station, and he finds himself enchanted by her – and, as you’ll see from the blurb, that brings him into conflict with his son, who has also decided that Harriet is “the one”.
But that’s really only the start of the story – and the reappearance of “Cockweasel”, Harriet’s erstwhile (married, with children) partner, is just the catalyst for a dizzying number of complications. It goes on to explore the world of second bananas, putting on a West End showcase in the room over a pub, the lengths homeless and poverty-stricken gigolos might be willing to go to, the problems of disposing of the proceeds of crime… and that’s barely touching the surface. It proceeds at a pace that sometimes leaves you a little breathless – but my goodness, it really is quite a story.
And, having at first not been quite sure about the separate key characters’ voices, it’s a fantastic way to manage its telling – I was rather sorry that I hadn’t chosen to listen to it as an audiobook, but the voices were so clear and consistent that I almost felt I had. And it’s certainly not all madcap fun and adventure – there’s a stunning emotional depth at times in the way it handles mental health issues and the complex relationships between its characters. And in addition to the three main characters, there’s a rather stellar supporting cast too – very much central to the story, adding even more layers of both humour and poignancy.
I really, really loved it – extremely funny, unexpectedly touching, a bit shocking at times, sometimes a little disturbing, sometimes tugging entirely unexpectedly at the heartstrings, and the whole story is just fantastic. Highly recommended by me!
About the author
Author and screenwriter Simon Booker writes crime novels and prime time TV drama for the BBC, ITV and US TV. He is also Writer in Residence at HMP Grendon. His TV credits include BBC1’s Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Holby City and The Mrs Bradley Mysteries; ITV thrillers The Stepfather and The Blind Date; and Perfect Strangers, the CBS romantic comedy starring Rob Lowe and Anna Friel. Simon lives in London and Deal. His partner is fellow crime writer and Killer Women co-founder Mel McGrath. They often discuss murder methods over breakfast. Three’s a Crowd is his first contemporary fiction novel.
Just started this last my night and I’m loving it too!