What I'm Trying, Somewhat Unsuccessfully, to Read Right Now

The Hamilton Case by Michelle de Kretser. I actually bought this book - it's not from the library. It sounds so interesting:

A flamboyant beauty who once partied with the Prince of Wales and who now,
in her seventh decade, has "gone native" in a Ceylonese jungle. A proud
Oxford-educated lawyer who unwittingly seals his own professional fate when
he dares to solve the senseational Hamilton murder case that has rocked the
upper echelons of local society...etc.

Unfortunately, the whole book is written in an eerily familiar voice:

My parents quarreled frightfully. Or rather Pater dodged about the room, while
my mother hurled abuse and whatever she could reach at his maddening smile...She
plucked a canary from its cage and launched it on a stream of curses. It flew
into a mirror and died. Mater seized the yellow corpse and dropped it into her
teacup, then flung the lot at my father's head.

Yes, this book appears to be narrated by Dr. Evil. I can't get past it. Plus, I'm on page 21 and I've fallen asleep reading three times already.