Sunday 21 June 2009

F is For...

And part 1 of G...

Frances Lloyd
- Frances Lloyd was a speechwriter for politicians (so eminently suited for fiction, then) before moving to the north of Scotland, where she finally indulged a lifelong desire to write a crime novel. Her debut novel - NEMESIS OF THE DEAD - is set on a small Greek island and features Inspector Jack Dawes.

Frederic Lindsay - has written a number of standalone crime novels, plus a series featuring Detective Inspector Jim Meldrum with the Lothian and Borders police force - dark and brooding, with a great sense of place. His political thriller BROND (which has been described as a Glaswegian Day of The Jackal) was made into a TV movie and JILL RIPS was filmed as Jill The Ripper with Dolph Lundgren. Frederic Lindsay should be far better known than he is. His MY LIFE AS A MAN is chilling and thoughtful.
“A novel with a wholly individual flavor. Frederic Lindsay is one of the most interesting and underrated of contemporary Scottish novelists.” - The Scotsman

Gerald Hammond - has written over fifty novels (some as Arthur Douglas), and I have never read any of them! His John Cunningham series are mysteries featuring a hunting dog breeder, and the Keith Calder series features a gunsmith. He has also written a number of standalones.
"Plenty of mystery and suspense... Hammond also injects warmhearted, feel-good romance and an authentic portrait of life in rural Scotland. It's a winning combination" Booklist on CRASH

Gillian Galbraith - a former advocate specialising in medical negligence (which was the focus of her first book, BLOOD IN THE WATER). She gave up law to become a full time writer. Her novels feature Edinburgh detective Alice Rice. Her most recent novel - DYING OF THE LIGHT - is the third in the series and was partly inspired by the case of prostitute killings in Ipswich.
"A vivid and exciting story, set against the background of Edinburgh's legal and medical circles. There is not a dull page from start to finish." Alexander McCall Smith

Gillian Philip - writes YA crime fiction dealing with strong themes - rape, religion, bullying, knife crime, alcoholism. The idea for her debut, BAD FAITH, came from a local news story about a man who had got lost and was never found, as well as Glasgow's Bible John murders in the 1960s.
"Fiction for teenagers often tries too hard to protect or lecture its readers, with sanitised characters and everything rounded off into a neat anti-drugs or anti-sex moral. It’s very rare, and exciting, to find a writer like Gillian Philip, who understands that adolescents are actually capable of sexual feelings and huge, true emotional understanding, and that they can knowingly inflict serious pain as Crossing the Line deals with the fallout of a school stabbing. Philip’s protagonist is Nick, a former bully who carries a knife and graphically describes the beatings he’s administered. Out of this, somehow, grows a tender, touching and emotionally savvy examination of sibling relationships and adolescent angst." - The List

2 comments:

  1. I'm glad you included YA books here. Gillian writes really well. As I'm keen to point out far too often; I think YA or children's books are often better because there are limitations to what they can contain.

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  2. Thank you for the recommendation for Gillian Philip - her books certainly look interesting.

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