Not a Shred of Evidence, Anne Brooke

I found this book laugh out loud funny. It's short but packs a punch.

- Review by Kazza K

I must start by saying that I do just get Anne Brooke as a writer. She is clever, witty, can be dark, and writes a mean sex scene (no sex here). Quite a talented writer. I am random, this book is random, we clicked! So here is the review -

F.U.C.K. M.E, what a girl has to do to work in S.H.I.T., battle an old C.O.O.(T) and deal with C.R.A.P. in the office, all whilst pulling smiles from various places, including bins and drawers, and dealing with D.O.O.M., H.E.L.L. and P.I.S.S. along the way. All to get a blasted pay rise!

Someone has carked it in the offices of Grabbitt, Nickett and Leggatt and it’s up to office Hag in Training, Fallon Ursula Candida Katie Miriam Evans, to help her boss, Roger, out and solve the real problem at hand, her pay. It’s not cheap to pay for catsuits, nails and dry cleaning.

The tomato ketchup note may have pointed the finger at someone, but who can tell? It’s frightfully hard to decipher the machinations of the modern office at he best of times, let alone management’s memos. So what could be taken from this piece of rambling about the death of the C.O.O.(T)? -

‘Yes, he’d stopped breathing by the time I took my hands from his throat.’

Really, this information goes above ones pay scale and one only gets paid so much. After all there’s, literally, not a shred of evidence anywhere.

This is a delightfully satirical piece of writing from Anne Brooke. - modern ergonomic workspaces included. It’s quite British, ‘transfers to the Slough office’ included - hello David Brent a la The Office. However, the information is transferable to any country and is easy to relate to for anyone who has worked in an office, near or far. It’s relatable to anyone having to deal with people in an office.

Here are a few lines that tickled my fancy –

'Morning, Roger’ I said – ’Lovely day.’ The only answer was a moan. Well, sometimes a moan is the most communicative sound bosses produce, apart from the odd groan or peculiar snorting noise, so this wasn’t unusual.

No answer. I kicked again. I wasn’t that concerned as a lifetime of office experience had shown me that the longer one kept from meeting management of any kind, the longer one was likely to survive.

‘Easy Rog,’ I replied with the confidence that comes from being a woman and therefore always being in the right.

‘Be careful,’ I said, deepening my voice in the manner of great women everywhere.

This ebook is a very short piece, about 11 pages. Don’t worry about the word count because Anne Brooke always packs quality into every word. I found it to be laugh out loud funny and just a fun read. I know these characters because, like most people, I’ve worked with them at one time or another. Have a read and have a laugh at your boss or co-worker, they won't know.