The worst book I've ever read?

I had lunch with the lovely Sophia Deri-Bowen last week. If you're wondering "Who's that?", she's a smashing writer who contributed the brilliant little story "They Who Come After The Stories End" to the anthology British Flash. Not read British Flash? It's free, so why not rectify the situation?

Anyhow, she gave me a little book she'd picked up second hand - The Cambridge Murders, by Glyn Daniel, sometime fellow of St John's, Cambridge. Imagine my glee turning to trepidation when she said, "It's not very good." She lied. It's terrible. Possibly the worst book I ever read. Certainly the worst I've ever finished.

You might be wondering why I carried on with it, when it was so bad. It was like being a witness to an accident, I guess. You know you should turn away, but there's a horrific fascination in watching something awful unfold. Also, I wanted to know if it got better. Or worse. The plot wasn't bad, if a bit derivative (I kept thinking, "That's from Sayers, that's a bit of Christie") but the dialogue was, in places, ridiculous and some of the writing genuinely looked like it came from a ten year old, especially anything internalised.

Anybody in the UK want to share the horror? Am happy to post it on.