Definition: An actuary is someone who is too boring to be an accountant.

To have a comedic thriller written with an actuary at its centre is amazing. And when that actuary is so boring he gets sacked because he doesn’t fit in with his colleagues…That’s off the scale amazing. That it works brilliantly is astonishing.

I bought the book because Amazon sent me a list with it priced at 52p. For 52p I’m a risk taker. What did I get?

An ultra boring actuary, who converts every human activity into maths, is ousted from his office. Simultaneously his brother, who owns an adventure park dies and leaves it to him. Being at a loose end he takes on the challenge.

Naturally he mathematically critiques every aspect of every activity without understanding the concept of joy. Being a thriller, we have bad guys – who are bested – and a quasi-Platonic love affair. He learns about art and human relationships.

Superb. It’s Finnish, which is a first for me, and the translation and names are accessible unlike Japanese novels.