by Edward St. Aubyn
Rating: ***
** spoiler alert ** The third book in the Patrick Melrose series is in a completely different vein, no pun intended, to the first two. It was so different it was difficult to reconcile at times that it was part of the Melrose novels. It's a perfectly readable, wonderful, clever observation of the Upper Classes at play, but it did not for me stand out as the other two had. I don't know; some of the narrative seemed a little lazy and cliched. Patrick is now clean but it would have been nice to have had some slight crossover or back story to this as it leaps too much from 'Never Mind'. I found the reliance on Princess Margaret began to grate, although the scene with the Ambassador was toe-curling. Nothing really seemed to happen and the discovery of Sonny's affair with Cindy by Bridget never really gets off the ground; I thought we were going to have some almighty showdown in the middle of the party which never happens and I think was sorely needed to inject a bit of life into this novel. It was a little two-dimensional and tired. However, that may be because I found the first two outstanding.
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