The Proof of My Innocence - by Jonathan Coe (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A blisteringly funny political critique wrapped up in a murder mystery, from one of Britain's most beloved novelists

Post-university life doesn't suit Phyl. Time passes slowly living back home with her parents, working a zero-hour contract serving Japanese food to tourists at Heathrow's Terminal 5. As for her budding plans of becoming a writer, those are going nowhere.

That is, until family friend Chris comes to stay. He's been on the path to uncover a sinister think-tank, founded at Cambridge University in the 1980s, that's been scheming to push the British government in a more extreme direction. One that's finally poised to put their plans into action. But speaking truth to power can be dangerous--and power will stop at nothing to stay on top.

As Britain finds itself under the leadership of a new Prime Minister whose tenure will only last for seven weeks, Chris pursues his story to a conference being held deep in the Cotswolds, where events take a sinister turn and a murder enquiry is soon in progress. But will the solution to the mystery lie in contemporary politics, or in a literary enigma that is almost forty years old?

Darting between decades and genres, The Proof of My Innocence is a wickedly funny and razor-sharp new novel from one of Britain's most beloved novelists, showing how the key to understanding the present can often be found in the murkiest corners of the past.

Review Quotes

★ "Coe's delectable whodunit combines shadowy right-wing politics and literary intrigue... Coe's metatextual games are as fun as the caper plot. This is a blast."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Coe is good-humored, humorous (not the same thing), clever but not irritating, and never commits a bad sentence to the page."--Chicago Review of Books

"Coe is so skilled at delivering big, state-of-the-nation novels while also being wickedly funny."--Good Housekeeping

"There is so much going on that, by rights, it shouldn't work. In fact, this brilliant novel works wonders."--Star Tribune

"It's very cleverly put together, with seemingly incidental pieces proving to be basic building blocks of the greater whole... Coe is in very fine form here, and The Proof of My Innocence impresses and pleases on multiple levels."--The Complete Review

"As much a political commentary as a mystery, this satisfyingly complex novel focuses on conservative movements in both the U.S. and Britain. Replete with conscienceless politicians, bloggers, literary critics, would-be authors, a sexagenarian gourmand detective and floundering twenty-somethings looking for meaning in life, this cast of characters takes the reader on a rollercoaster of sinister maneuverings, professional jealousy and murder."--Eric Boss, Reading the West

"Coe's subject may be inertia and nostalgia, but The Proof of My Innocence is full of energy. It's a madcap caper, a sideways memoir, a tricksy jeu d'esprit that is also a quiet defence of fiction in a post-truth age, and enormous fun to read."--The Guardian

"Coe knows how to write a novel: it is well paced, he makes complex plots look easy, he has a way of marshalling a large cast of characters that never feels contrived, the prose is pleasant and not invasive, and he is--rare for a novelist--funny."--Financial Times

"Coe has devised a tour de force in which he hops between pastiches of cosy crime, dark academia and autofiction. The result is a mind-bending mash-up about murdered academics, Gen Z sleuths, forgotten novels and shadowy think tanks."--The Sunday Times

"Wildly enjoyable."--Sydney Morning Herald

"Probably the best English novelist of his generation."--Nick Hornby

"Endlessly satisfying... Coe has a gift for taking his material to extremes, so that nothing is ever wasted."--The Spectator

"The novel is full of humour--the jokes include ones about Liz Truss, a bishop's privates and greedy antiquarian booksellers--as Coe, one of our finest modern novelists, gently skewers literary fads and the whole writing game."--The Independent

★ "Beautifully written and full of wisdom, this unusual and fascinating book contains many treats..."--Kirkus Review (starred review) on Mr. Wilder and Me

"...[a] poignant delineation of tradition and progress."--Booklist on Bournville

"A novel not just for movie lovers, but for anyone who favors sharp writing, subtle wit, deeply portrayed characters, and the elegiac."--The Arts Fuse on Mr. Wilder and Me

"Coe shows an understanding of this country that goes beyond what most cabinet ministers can muster...he is a master of satire but pokes fun subtly, without ever being cruel, biting or blatant...his light, funny writing makes you feel better."--Evening Standard (UK)

"British novelists love to diagnose the state of the nation. Few do it better than Jonathan Coe, who writes with warmth and subversive glee about social change and the comforting mundanities it imperils."--Spectator (UK)