Book Review: The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer ★★☆☆☆
The reviewer regrets reading the sequel to The Satsuma Complex, finding The Hotel Avocado by Bob Mortimer overdone and clichéd, with the violence that was subtle in the first book now more prominent. They give it a two-star rating.
Background
- **Bob Mortimer** is a beloved British comedian and TV personality (best known for *Would I Lie to You?* and *Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing*). He wrote his debut novel, *The Satsuma Complex* (2022), a wry, surreal crime-comedy that became a surprise bestseller.
- *The Hotel Avocado* is the sequel to *The Satsuma Complex*, following the same protagonist, Gary Thorn. The reviewer, Terence Eden, runs a UK-based tech-and-culture blog (shkspr.mobi) and frequently reviews books with a sharp, personal tone.
- "Regression to the mean" is a statistical concept referring to the tendency for extreme results (e.g., an unusually good first novel) to be followed by more average ones. The reviewer uses it as a bookish joke: the sequel couldn't live up to the original.
- This review was published June 2026, so it reflects a contemporary reading of Mortimer's fiction career after his success as a TV comedian-turned-author.