The Dead Fathers Club

The story of Hamlet is not usually thought of as one meant for laughter, but Matt Haig's able retelling in The Dead Fathers Club will make you laugh — though it might also draw a tear. Eleven-year-old Philip Noble is at his father's funeral when his father's ghost appears and wastes no time telling Philip that his Uncle Alan, an auto mechanic, tampered with his car, causing the accident that killed him. He warns Philip that Uncle Alan will soon meddle with his mother as well, because Unctuous Uncle Alan wants the pub Philip's father owned. According to Philip's dad, the solution is that Philip must kill Uncle Alan. If he doesn't do it before Dad's next birthday, eleven weeks away, Dad will be consigned to the Terrors for all eternity. Philip agrees in principle, but killing someone—especially without getting caught—isn't easy. A promise is a promise, though, so Philip gives it a whirl, in fact several whirls. Real life interferes in the form of two school bullies, truly nasty and perverse thugs who seem ready to kill Philip because they think it's funny that his father died. Philip also falls in love; his Ophelia, Leah, thinks shoplifting is great fun. Poor Philip is in over his head in every way. There are many encounters with other Dead Fathers in a great send-up of ghostly dealings, Hamlet-like, on the moors, and several sly references to the play. There is even a character named Dane. The ending is not pure Shakespeare, but it is pure Haig—and that is very good indeed.