R Is For...

It's been a long time since I've done an alphabet post, so time to pick them up again. OK, and there's one Q too...

Quintin Jardine - Jardine is the author of the Skinner series (in which there are currently 18 books with a 19th on the way) featuring Edinburgh policeman Bob Skinner, and the Blackstone series (9 books in that one) featuring movie actor/private enquiry agent Oz Blackstone. There's also a book featuring Oz' wife Primavera. "This gritty, fast-paced mystery will pin even the most squeamish reader to the page" - Publishers Weekly (about Thursday Legends).

Ray Banks - Ray Banks has been on my "wow, this writer is excellent" list since I read his first book THE BIG BLIND a few years ago. A great first novel about a man who makes some bad decisions. Following on from that he has published four books in the Manchester based Cal Innes series - each of them is better than the last. Cal is a sort of PI, a man usually in great turmoil and with many flaws, but great heart. Fierce, harsh, stylish and great wit and humour, despite the darkness. If a series could be classed as noir (which, by my definition of noir, it can't) this one would be the one. "Banks is part of the post-Rankin generation for whom hardboiled is not just a state of mind but a reality. Tough-guy colloquial prose and a pace fast enough to skin a rabbit, at the service of a tale of down-and-dirty realism: this is fiery stuff." - The Guardian.

Reg McKay - Primarily a writer of true crime (some in collaboration with various Glasgow gangsters...sorry, EX-gangsters, tales of gangland bosses, killers and...errrr...footballers, Reg McKay also wrote two novels. One of his novels, DANCING WITH DEATH, is a fictionalised account of Glasgow's most notorious serial killer, Bible John. Sadly, Reg McKay died of cancer last month."Villains is another success for this writing team and I recommend it to fellow readers who lap up these racy, psychology-free, true crime confessions." - Books From Scotland

Robert Louis Stevenson - no explanation necessary, methinks.

Ross Robertson - Ross Robertson's debut novel A YEARNING FOR JACOB'S SON is a political thriller set in Scotland and involving "high-powered leaders of industry, a Washington based private equity firm, the Security Services, the aristocracy and an ancient Masonic brotherhood." Sorry - I can't find any reviews for this one.

Russel D McLean - Dundee PI McNee features in Russel's two books - THE GOOD SON and THE LOST SISTER. The writing is atmospheric, sparse and tight, whilst losing nothing of character development or plotting. McNee is a fascinating character, and the plots are gripping, original and dark, but shot through with a mordant Scottish humour. Wonderful stuff. "THE GOOD SON is the most exciting, and gripping, Scottish crime fiction debut of recent years. Stylish and atmospheric, it marks the arrival of a exceptional talent." John Connolly

Complaints, Fevers and Yearnings

A review of Ian Rankin's THE COMPLAINTS and also his DARK ENTRIES.

And one for Val McDermid for FEVER OF THE BONE. And, talking of Val, she and Kate Atkinson are amongst a stellar line up appearing at the Manchester Literature Festival from October 15th to 25th. And globetrotting Val will also be appearing at Crime Day at the Bodleian Library in Oxford on 2nd October.

I have added a new author over to the right in the links- Ross Robertson, whose debut novel - A YEARNING FOR JACOB'S SON - is a Scottish set political thriller and has been described as 'fast, caustic, shocking and controversial'.

A sequel to the new SherlockHolmes film is already on the cards.