Was there ever a more offputting title for a book? I would never have picked this up if it hadn’t have been a group discussion read. The title is wonderfully evocative after you’ve read the book, but beforehand I wondered if this was a story about a comedy duo or perhaps concerned some kind of obsession with posteriors.

Among readers whose opinions I trust this book is being hailed as the best thing since something very very very good was last published. I thought it was one of the better books I’ve read in recent times but it didn’t grab me the way that other mysteries have. The narration was unusual, the story was excellent and it flowed past me very smoothly. But it did flow past me and not through me. It was very good, but I didn’t find it excellent.