Dead Famous
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Dead Famous (2001, Bantam Press, ISBN 0552999458) is a whodunit novel by Ben Elton in which ratings for a Big Brother-like reality television programme rocket when a housemate dies.
On a show called House Arrest - surprisingly similar to Big Brother - 10 contestants are battling for the prize of £0.5 million. The characters are called, Woggle, Kelly, Jason (Jazz), Garry (Gazzer), Moon, Sally, Hamish, Layla, Dervla and David.
Live on television, one of them is brutally and ruthlessly murdered. Despite cameras everywhere with millions of gripped viewers watching 24-hour footage over the internet as well as the daily programme, the murderer is unknown. The detective in charge of the case - Inspector Coleridge - is unfamiliar with the genre of programme, and unimpressed with what he learns of it.
The book begins with the police reviewing old tapes of the programme. Their discussion does not make the identity of the victim clear to the reader for some time into the book. The murder happens on Day 27, when the victim goes to the toilet and never returns. The inmates (as they are called in the book) find themselves accusing and suspecting one another, especially when a note is found saying that one of the final three contestants will also be murdered. As the book continues, it slowly reaches a climax in which the Inspector arrests the main culprit live on television, in front of millions of viewers world-wide.
Elton uses the book to make comments about the phenomenon of reality shows, the people who make them, the people who go on them, and the people who watch them. Also added to this is a humour, particularly when describing the monotonous and repetitive nature of the Big Brother and related TV shows. For instance, until the murder is committed, the most interesting thing that has happened has been two people not having sex and an argument over the ownership of some vegan cheese.
This is also the title of a series of books, following the life of famous people who are now dead - Albert Einstein and Issac Newton are examples.