A book in a nutshell

When I do an appraisal of a manuscript, which happens most weeks, and am asked to give the writer advice on getting a submission package together, I always ask them to sum up the essence of it in as few words as possible.

Whilst lying awake in the wee small hours, thinking about a book idea which I have germinating, I wondered what few words I would like to see used to sum up this particular book. In the end, it came down to just two: 'darkly funny'. So, in the next couple of weeks, I intend setting down the first few paragraphs. Actually, I find these two words quite inspirational. Already, I have a subplot forming. Pity I don't have the main one yet!