An unreliable first-person narrative in the tradition of noir writer, Jim Thompson, set in the world of art, wine and provincial retail. Spurned by his illicit lecturer lover, art student Kier Rothwell presents a gruesome effigy of her in the end of year exhibition, leading to his removal from the college. Furious at his reduced means and opportunity, Kier (now calling himself New Shockley) is determined to liberate himself from imagined mediocrity, beginning by taking a job at In Vino Veritas, the local wine store. This not only eases his financial situation but offers creative satisfaction in his plan to reinvent the shop as a working art installation. His personalised wine labels make grotesques of the shop's middle-class clientele and in-shop tension builds. His combative colleague Petra mocks his artistic efforts and his anger boils. When Petra is made manager and tries to fire him it is all too much. New Shockley kills her with a broken bottle and hides her body in a freezer. Things spiral even further out of control as New tries desperately to cover up his crime, battling meddling customers, nosey policeman and his own demons until he plans the ultimate denouement for all who have crossed him. Tautly written and threaded with dark humour, Murder by the Bottle is a compelling study in character, criminality and truth.
