George Pantis believes he has won the Kosovan lottery but it appears that everyone is trying to access his bank account. George's life is confused and he seems to be going through a mid-life crisis at the age of 79. His wife Rosie, his new love Brenda and his son Sid are all trying to rescue him from the mess he has got himself in.
If you are looking for a mildly entertaining, very light read then maybe this is a book for you. It is a quick read. Unfortunately, that's the best I can say about it. I'd like to be more positive but there's nothing else I can say.
It is a far fetched story that is slow to develop. The characters are two dimensional and difficult to relate to. The story lacks substance and descends into ridicule. Sadly, I won't be recommending this book.

With thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for the ARC.

I'd previously read A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian so was looking forward to this latest offering from Marina Lewycka.

Set in Sheffield, the tale starts on Brexit referendum night when George Pantis finds himself locked out of his matrimonial home by his wife Rosie and seeks comfort from his Brexit supporting neighbour, Brenda.
Now, George is 79 years old but acts like a man 30 years younger and when he receives an email saying he's won millions of pounds in the Kosovan State lottery bells should start ringing, but not our George. He convinces himself that he remembers entering online several months ago.

Needless to say not is all as it seems and George is suddenly caught up in a world of money laundering, drug and people smuggling and even organ harvesting.

He finds himself on the shores of the Adriatic with a beautiful and enigmatic woman and in desperate need of help. Fortunately his wife, son and neighbour are hot on his heels.

An enjoyable, light hearted read and the books title is very apt.

I really enjoyed both of Marina Lewycka's books that I'd read prior to this one , A Short History Of Tractors In Ukrainian and and especially Two Caravans , so was looking forward to her latest, The Good, The Bad,and the Little Bit Stupid, immensely. Sadly while I was expecting the usual quirky characters and off the wall humour that Ms Lewycka has made her trade mark the latter part of the title sums up the whole book,it is indeed a little bit stupid with added rants about Brexit from various characters liberally sprinkled throughout the pages to the point of tedium.
George Pantis ,just before his 80th Birthday, thinks he's won a Kosovan lottery worth millions of pounds, this just after leaving his wife " Remainer" Rosie on referendum night and ending up in the arms of "Brexit" Brenda next door. It becomes obvious that George's bank account is being used by crooks and the tale gets more and more ridiculous with George,Rosie,Brenda, his Son and various other characters ending up in Albania involved with Kosovan paramilitaries who are trading in human kidneys and Heroin. Whether it's supposed to be satire or pure farce I have no idea but I struggled to finish it, not least as the Brexit polemic is constant. Aside from the fact that as one of the characters quite rightly says the country is suffering from Brexit fatigue it's hardly entertaining. and I'm not talking about the odd aside, which wouldn't bother me,there are whole paragraphs of it throughout the book. I'm guessing that many of Ms Lewycka's fans will be , like me,very disappointed on looking forward to reading one of her entertaining tales and finding it full of political comment. Her characters do put "both sides" across but if I want to read a book about Brexit I'll buy a book about Brexit.
Other laboured points are foreign characters misunderstanding English idioms constantly and the Pantis surname being mispronounced "Panties" , and resulting "jokes",which was done to death.
Sorry but this is pretty bad,not least coming from such a talented author as Marina Lewycka whose books I've loved in the past. I couldn't help thinking when I'd finished the book that Ben Elton could have told the same story with the same characters and pulled it off.
Thanks to Marina Lewycka, Penguin Books and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.