A visit to sit-com country

Mark Haddon’s previous book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, was a bestseller and that golden egg of publishing, a ‘crossover’ book: one which, like Harry Potter, was read by both children and adults. It told the story of a boy with Asperger’s syndrome (a mild form of autism), employing the flat, affectless language that such a child might use. The plot, such as it was, involved the boy in nothing more dramatic than catching a train from Swindon to London; nevertheless, it was as gripping as any picaresque novel. It was an audacious and utterly original book.

After the giddy joy of opening his bank statements, what was Mark Haddon to do next? If he created another novelty disabled character he would be accused of cashing in on his own success; if he wrote an entirely different kind of book he risked losing his readership. A Spot of Bother is a sort of compromise.