Booker 1992 shortlist. Very sophisticated humour. And now that I'm 80, pretty mean humour. Of course the House in the title is a place for oldies who can't manage any longer. There's always hilarity in that - maybe not .P.C. but isn't laughter the best medicine? ( )

A black comedy set in an old people's home in London, this is the story of Max Montfalcon, the genial giant of Serenity House who might have been left to die in peace, but whose life took on a decidedly new turn when it becomes increasingly evident, helped by the investigation of his son-in-law MP who has a special interest in the War Crimes Bill, that Montfalcon was, in an earlier incarnation, Maximilian von Falkenberg. Falkenberg was known to be a brilliant German anthropologist who in 1942 conducted research on genetic racial differences in a Polish facility, possibly killing thousands of Jews and Poles with lethal injection.

Enters Jack, an all-American boy, eccentric and obsessed with violent videos and Chinese takeaways. Max is haunted by dreams of the Holocaust. The occupants of Serenity Hause is haunted by Jack.

The story is entertaining despite the grim and macabre theme (notions of people-disposal). While I did not fall for the story, I still enjoyed very much the satire and his crisp wit, and look forward to another of Hope's books. ( )