A Brand To Die For

WORKING IN ADVERTISING CAN BE MURDER - LITERALLY.
It's 1983. Margaret Thatcher has been waging war on the Argentinians in the Falkland Islands. The miners are about to wage war on Margaret Thatcher. And Angus Lovejoy, once sent down from Charterhouse for shagging the Chancellor's daughter in the cricket pavilion, has now landed a job as a copywriter at London adland's creative hot shop Gordon Deedes Rutter where he is teamed up with art director Brian Finkle whose neurotic Jewish parents are the bane of his life. The two are an unlikely duo, but their mischievous and sardonic take on the world makes them a brilliant creative team. Everything goes swimmingly until a bizarre and mysterious murder rocks the world of Gordon Deedes Rutter and ripples out into the national media.
While the dearth of evidence leaves the police baffled, Lovejoy and Finkle take it upon themselves to apply their creative brains to solve the mystery, and in so doing, inadvertently get themselves into particularly deep water. "This comic murder mystery made me laugh out loud. The dialogue is wonderful."
Goodreads "I regard this as a comic masterpiece. Set in 1983, it paints a convincing picture of those times in an ad agency in Soho, where the 'creatives' are battling against the below-the-line and other branding marketeers. The dialogue fairly crackles with great jokes and wordplay. Roundabout halfway through, and amidst all the fun, the main murder occurs. The resolution of the plot is very clever and the dialogue remains amusing right to the end. Humour is difficult to predict, but I reckon you'll love this!"
Smashwords "I was sent a copy for review. I was never in the advertising industry, but I lived in London in the 80s and well remember the free-wheeling, economically liberated period that is well described here. This is a very funny book. The quips, wordplay and stories are extremely amusing and must come from the author's experience. The plot moves along at quite a pace and there are some good twists, but it's not a conventional whodunnit. The criminal side of things is a peg for all the humour. I haven't read anything funnier for ages and the dialogue often had me in stitches. Thoroughly recommendable."
Barnes & Noble "We are introduced to the book's Soho ad agency via newbie Brian Finkle, job seeker straight out of art school, an only child, newly liberated from living at home with his anxious Jewish parents who continue to worry about him.
"Brian is offered an immediate job whereby he and the readers are plunged head-first into the frenetic workings of an advertising agency. The louche atmosphere and badinage of the 1980s is wonderfully conveyed by Pearl.
"The first half of the story revolves around the creative processes of developing an exceptional pitch for real coal fires and Brian's talent is given free rein, yet it is another seemingly dormant plot line that provides the real action when the serious work of homicide detection moves centre stage. The book now becomes a fast-paced thriller with the introduction of several new characters and locations.
"Pearl's ability to convincingly convey these different elements lends a sense of intrigue and mystery to the novel.
"Brian and his colleague Angus, get into far deeper and murkier waters than either could ever have imagined taking them (and the reader) along an exciting and action-packed journey.
"Anyone who wants a fast-paced read will enjoy this book with its unpredictable twists and turns, often darkly comic along the way."
Eleanor Levy, Suburb News