The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer
Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was reading: The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.
And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life…
Gary is not a real detective. He a shy legal assistant at a Peckham solicitor’s office who panics at the first sign of danger and only persists with the case because he fancies the mysterious befringed woman who turns out to be embroiled in it.
Bob Mortimer varnishes his quirky characters and even stranger situations (the unwilling hero Gary Thorn has regular chats with a squirrel) with all the surreal charm that has marked out his comedy since his Big Night Out days with Vic Reeves. A much needed pick-me-up for these dark days.
