Country of the Blind

For the H. G. Wells short story, see The Country of the Blind.

Country of the Blind

First edition
Author	Christopher Brookmyre
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Satire, Crime, heist, detective, black humour
Publisher	Abacus Books
Publication date	1997
Media type	Print (Hardback & (Paperback)
Preceded by	Quite Ugly One Morning,
Followed by	Not the End of the World

Published in 1997, Country of the Blind is Christopher Brookmyre's second novel. Following on from the adventures in Quite Ugly One Morning, the storyline fast-forwards to find Parlabane living in domestic bliss and about to get hitched. As part of the engagement package, he has promised his soon-to-be-missus that he'll give up the more dangerous, dodgy and illegal parts of his investigative-journalism career.

Plot summary

Set against the mounting dissatisfaction at the ineffective and overly self-indulgent Tory government of John Major, all hell breaks loose when conservative tabloid media mogul Roland Voss is found murdered in his country house in Scotland.

Next to Voss's body is that of his murdered wife, while their two slain bodyguards lie outside their room. The culprits seem to be the burglars caught fleeing the scene, who are covered in blood. Almost immediately after, four men are arrested for the crime, including former burglar Thomas McInnes, his son Paul and a very strange guy who likes goes by the name "Spammy".

However, if it's really that obvious, why did McInnes pay a visit to his Edinburgh lawyer a few days before the crime took place, and what are the secret contents of the envelope he left with her?

When the lawyer, Nicole Carrow, turns up at the Police station demanding to see her client, she claims to have a letter that proves her client's innocence, a statement she makes under intense media attention. The last thing she expects is to have an attempt made on her life within hours.