No room for heroes in violent tale

The Bedroom Secrets Of The Master Chefs, by Irvine Welsh, Jonathan Cape, €14.99.

Irvine Welsh lives in a nasty place. It’s a place populated with alcoholics, criminals, misogynists and victims, and there is no room in his latest novel, The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs, for what’s affectionately known in the trade as a hero. Danny Skinner is the protagonist, but a hero he is not, and spending time with him is ...