The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer

The Hotel Avocado is the second novel by Bob Mortimer, which was published on 29th August. It is the sequel to The Satsuma Complex, which I read last year. I enjoyed The Satsuma Complex, but I absolutely loved And Away… – Bob’s autobiography, which I read recently. So I was keen to read The Hotel Avocado. I was pleased to find the hardback half price in Sainsbury’s and bought it and started reading it just days after publication.

A few months on from the events of The Satsuma Complex, Gary is still working as a lawyer and wearing a tired grey suit. His girlfriend, Emily, has inherited a Brighton hotel. She has moved down there and is working hard to refurbish it ready for its grand reopening. The hotel will be called The Avocado.

Gary sees Emily most weekends, but is torn about whether to move down to Brighton. His neighbour and best friend – 60-something Grace – is encouraging him to make the move. But does she really want him to go?

Then Gary gets a visit to his office from the mysterious Mr Sequence and suddenly it looks like Gary’s life is about to get a lot less straightforward…

Can Gary keep himself, Emily and Grace safe? Can he trust his mates Andy from the pub, Wayne from the coffee shop and his new lawyer friend, Roma? And is Emily taking a risk with a planning application?

The Hotel Avocado is another really fun read by Bob Mortimer. It is a thriller of sorts, but very much a thriller from the mind of Bob Mortimer. The story is told by a mysterious narrator, Gary, Emily and Grace. But all of their voices sound pretty much the same! There’s also lots of use of the f word and Gary is repeatedly described as a ‘shithouse’. That’s not a word I’ve heard before, apart from in the context of being ‘built like a brick shithouse’ for being big and strong. In this case, it means wuss or scaredy cat.

If you’re looking for an easy and fun read, with some surreal humour and a bit of mild danger, I would definitely recommend The Hotel Avocado (and The Satsuma Complex).