Looking Forward To 2010 - Part 4

G J Moffat - FALLOUT
Publisher: Hachette Books Scotland
Date: April 2010
From Amazon: 'Logan Finch has made a new life for himself with his daughter Ellie. But a blossoming relationship with DC Rebecca Irvine is about to be put to the test when Irvine's old flame, drug-addicted rock star Roddy Hale, enters her life again. And there's a small matter of a professional killer following her every move. Alex Cahill, close-protection operative and ex-US army special-forces soldier, hates babysitting celebrities. Maybe this time will be different. Kara Priest is a Scots girl about to break into Hollywood and is back in Scotland for the premiere of a low-budget film as a favour for a friend. She is the target of a disturbed stalker and needs Cahill and his team to watch her back. As the clouds roll in to blanket the sky at the end of an Indian summer, violence erupts all round, putting everyone at risk. For Logan, there are impossible choices to be made: between his best friend and the woman he loves. Between who lives and who dies.' I still haven't read the first one, but this looks good.

Craig Robertson - RANDOM
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Date: April 2010
A debut novel. This from the publisher: 'Glasgow is being terrorised by a serial killer the media have nicknamed The Cutter. The murders have left the police baffled. There seems to be neither rhyme nor reason behind the killings; no kind of pattern or motive; an entirely different method of murder each time, and nothing that connects the victims except for the fact that the little fingers of their right hands have been severed. If DS Rachel Narey could only work out the key to the seemingly random murders, how and why the killer selects his victims, she would be well on her way to catching him. But as the police, the press and a threatening figure from Glasgow's underworld begin to close in on The Cutter, his carefully-laid plans threaten to unravel - with horrifying consequences.'

Manda Scott - THE FIRE OF ROME
Publisher: Bantam Press Date:
January 2010
From the Random House website: 'AD 34: Sebastos Pantera is twelve. Training for the time when he too will be a soldier of Rome, he follows his father to a garden tomb on the outskirts of Jerusalem where he watches him greet two men and a heavily pregnant woman. In a moment that changes his life forever, he sees a wounded revolutionary being brought out of the tomb alive . . .Twenty years later, Pantera returns from five years undercover in Britannia as assassin and spy for the Legions. He is sick of spying, but a deadly combination of old loyalties and a sense of unfinished business combine to lure him homeward to the city of Rome where, his former mentor and spymaster, the Machiavellian Seneca the Younger, charges him with rooting out the revolutionaries responsible for the city’s seething unrest. Pantera discovers that the main troublemaker is none other than his closest friend, Saulos, a recent convert to the new religion of Christianity, and Saulos is planning the biggest single act of terrorism the Roman Empire has known. Spying, forbidden secrets, an ancient manuscript and an apocalyptic fire combine in a gripping thriller that will change the way we think about the ancient world.'

Alexander McCall Smith - THE DOUBLE COMFORT SAFARI CLUB
Publisher: Little Brown Date:
March 2010
Eleventh in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. From Amazon uk 'Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are called to a safari lodge in Botswana's Okavango Delta to carry out a delicate mission on behalf of a former guest. The Okavango makes Precious appreciate once again the beauty of her homeland: it is a paradise of teeming wildlife, majestic grasslands and sparkling water. However, it is also home to rival safari operators, fearsome crocodiles and disgruntled hippopotamuses. What's more, Mma Makutsi still does not have a date for her wedding to Phuti Radiphuti and is feeling rather tetchy herself. But Precious knows that with a little patience, just as the wide river will gently make its way round any obstacle, so will everything work out for the best in the end ...'

Aline Templeton - THE ROAD TO NOWHERE
Publisher: Hodder
Date: May 2010
From Hodder's catalogue: 'A young woman has been wrongly accused of murder - or is she devious and deadly? When a landslide crushes the cottage she has been living in, she becomes engulfed in events she struggles to understand, and DI Marjorie Fleming herself is drawn into a nightmare of danger and death.'

Peter Turnbull - DELIVER US FROM EVIL

Publisher: Severn House
Date: April 2010
The nineteenth in the Hennessy and Yellich police procedural series and another one I can't find anything about other than that.

Louise Welsh - NAMING THE BONES
Publisher: Canongate Books
Date: March 2010
From Amazon 'Some secrets are best left buried - Knee-deep in the mud of an ancient burial ground, a winter storm raging around him, and at least one person intent on his death: how did Murray Watson end up here? His quiet life in university libraries researching the lives of writers seems a world away, and yet it is because of the mysterious writer, Archie Lunan, dead for thirty years, that Murray now finds himself scrabbling in the dirt on the remote island of Lismore. Loaded with Welsh's trademark wit, insight and gothic charisma, this adventure novel weaves the lives of Murray and Archie together in a tale of literature, obsession and dark magic.'

Internationally Flavoured Sunday Summary

Posh people can be neds too.

More on the Mma Ramotswe Cookbook.

Un orage dans une tasse de thé? And, continuing the European theme, I think this article about the filming of Craig Russell's book BROTHERS GRIMM - or Wolfsfährte in German - says that Craig Russell leaves his corpses in Hamburg. Or maybe not. My German is slightly rusty.

David Ashton has written a screenplay about Shah Jahan, which is being filmed with Ben Kingsley.

Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh visits an Edinburgh project which helps to get people off drink and drugs.

Guest Blogger - My Dad

Since I am busy this weekend, I am handing over today's blog post to my Dad. It all started when he rang me up last week (not like him, as my regular reader will know - it's usually "Hello Dad," "I'll pass you over to your mother.") Anyway, this is how the conversation went.

"Donna, I'm reading a book by Charles Cumming."

Now, all well and good, but somehow, underneath the seemingly innocuous words, I could hear an accusatory tone. "Are you, Dad?" I said.

"Yes, I am." Again, the slightly clipped and accusing tone.

"And...errrrr...is it good?"

"He was born in Scotland, you know." Ah, here it was.

"Oh, was he?"

"Yes, but he's not on your list of Scottish authors." I could actually hear the italics.

"Oh dear, I'd better sort that out then, hadn't I, Dad?"

"Yes." That word conveyed so much. That's all he said but what he meant was "Yes, young lady, because right now you are, most definitely, the world's worst blogger of Scottish crime fiction. I am convinced the stork dropped you on your head from a great height."

"Then you can write me a review, right?"

"Yes." That one was chock full of smugness.

"So, how would you like to do a guest blog for me?"

"What about?"

"Anything you like?"

"Really?"

OK, so that was a mistake. "Well, no, within limits."

"Maps?"

"No, Dad. Stuff you read."

"I read maps."

Sometimes it's tough, dear reader. "OK Dad, point taken. But I was thinking more books and things."

"I'll have a think about it. I probably won't do it. But I'll have a think. Not promising anything, mind."

"And remember, pater, it can't all be about Lord Of The Rings."

"Pearls before swine" said my Dad, before the phone was slammed down.

Ten minutes later, this appeared in my inbox. Obviously, I have been forgiven. Although, given the amount of digs...maybe not. It was accompanied by a little note that said "Please do not take anything out." As in "Please leave in the bits where I have been horrible to my only daughter."


That lazy little blogger's been at it again. She phones to say "Dad will you write something for my blog." I think she must have a mental block, or maybe just mental.

She disturbs me as I was reading a novel by Caro Ramsay. there were no Elves, Orcs or damn great Spiders, only that DCI Quinn who seems a bit of an ogress. When I asked what I was to write about she suggested one or two things which at the time did not appeal, and said to write about anything.

My liking for books covers many subjects and authors, spy novels, mystery stories and general fiction, books that grip my imagination from the beginning or tell of social issues. In the past I have read Hemingway, Dickens, Steinbeck, Robert Ludlum and Colin Forbes. My bookcase has a book by Donna Moore, plus others by authors you may actually have heard of, such as a complete set by Stephen Booth.*

Yes,the book I am reading at the moment is by Caro Ramsay. SINGING TO THE DEAD. I have only got to page 218 so I will probably give the verdict at a later date. This is the second one by this author that I have managed to obtain from our local library, the first one I enjoyed a few weeks ago. The library I speak of is part of Cambridgeshire Libraries and has a good selection of both fiction and non fiction with a section for crime novels which are mostly paperback, some of those authors I even know or have met.**

I think that all habits form when one is young, such as reading habits, I try to read books by an author in sequence, a habit formed many years ago when I read books by W E Johns. I think as a lad with scabbed knees I read most of his books, along with the Beano, Dandy and Eagle comics.There was no television in those days, just the radio and reading to pass the time, if we heard a doodlebug pass over, and we heard a bang it was OK to carry on reading. When Donna was smaller (yes she was smaller***) I would tell her stories, usually Enid Blyton or fairy stories that I could remember, she was quite happy if I had forgotten and made it up as I went along.

So much for trying to think of something to write, now that bit that Winnie the Pooh had a little of, is beginning to hurt, so goodnight till it be the morrow (with apologies to Bill Shakespeare).

* I shall ignore the slight and just mention that the set of Stephen Booth books actually belongs to my Mum, if we're being picky here.

** My Mum and Dad both loved their visit to Crimefest in Bristol earlier this year. They were so thrilled that 'proper authors' (as in, 'not our Donna') actually took the time to chat to them.

*** Everyone's a critic. I AM BIG BONED, ok?

Bad Sex and Nymphomaniac Nuns

Alex Gray's play about domestic abuse, IN MEMORIAM, staged at Paisley's Outrage Conference.

The Australian Independent Weekly calls Philip Kerr's IF THE DEAD RISE NOT 'hypnotic'. And, talking of Philip Kerr, more on the Literary Review's bad sex award (at the bottom, right after the piece on how easy it is to abscond from an open prison (really? I'm shocked)),

A pretty good showing from Scotland in Amazon.uk's best of 2009 list.

The serial novel - apparently, Alexander McCall Smith was 'put up to it' by Armistead Maupin. And finally, on the topic of Alexander McCall Smith, apparently he is being stalked by a man who's written a book called 'When The Beer Runs Out', about a man stranded on a ship crewed by nymphomaniac nuns. I just have one question - why is the guy worried about beer? Sorry, it's from the Mail Online and there's two thirds of a page of rubbish to wade through before you get to this bit.

Looking Forward To 2010 - Part 3

Stuart MacBride - DARK BLOOD
Publisher: Harper Collins
Date: April 2010
6th in the Aberdeen set police procedural series featuring Logan McRae. From Harper Collins' website: 'Martin Knox has served his time, so why shouldn’t he be allowed to live wherever he wants? Yes, in the past he was a violent rapist, but he’s seen the error of his ways. Found God. Wants to leave his dark past in Newcastle behind him and make a new start. Or so he says.Detective Sergeant Logan McRae isn’t exactly thrilled to be part of the team helping Knox settle into his new Aberdeen home. He’s even less thrilled to be stuck with DSI Danby from Northumbria Police – the man who put Knox behind bars for ten years – supposedly here to ‘keep an eye on things’.Only things are about to go very, very wrong.Edinburgh gangster Malk the Knife wants a slice of the development boom Donald Trump’s golf course is bringing to the Granite City, whether local crime lord Wee Hamish Mowat likes it or not. Three heavies from Newcastle want a ‘quiet word’ with DSI Danby about a missing mob accountant. And Martin Knox’s dark past isn’t done with him yet…'

Charles Maclean - NIGHT
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
Date: February 2010
A psychological suspense thriller apparently. And that's all I can find out about it- sorry.

Shona Maclean - A GAME OF SORROWS
Publisher: Quercus
Date: March 2010
From Amazon's website: 'It is 1628, and Seaton's happily settled life as a university teacher in Aberdeen is shattered by the arrival in town of a stranger carrying a plea for help from his dead mother's family in Ireland. The family has been placed under a poet's curse, elements of which have begun to come true. Reluctantly answering the call, Alexander travels to Ulster, to find himself among a family riven by secrets and long-standing resentments. In the course of seeking out the author of the curse, Alexander becomes increasingly entangled with both sides in the conflict - fugitive priests, displaced poets, rebellious plotters and agents of the king. His life and liberty are threatened as he is confronted with murder within his own family, and he finds the lines between superstition and faith, duty and loyalty blurred to the extent that he begins to question his own identity, and is forced to face up to the destructive power of love.'

Ken McClure - A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE
Publisher: Polygon
Date: May 2010
Eighth in the series featuring Dr Steven Dunbar of the Sci-Med Inspectorate. From Amazon: 'John Motram, a cell biologist at Newcastle University firmly believes that Black Death was not caused by bubonic plague but by an unknown virus. He is excited when Oxford University tell him that they have come into possession of information suggesting there might be preserved bodies of victims from the time of Black Death hidden under Dryburgh Abbey. Motram sees this as an opportunity to settle the argument once and for all. An excavation is mounted but comes to a disastrous end when Motram apparently loses his mind after entering the secret tomb. Dr Steven Dunbar of the Sci-Med Inspectorate is sent to investigate fearing that a new killer virus has been let loose.'

Pat McIntosh - A PIG OF COLD POISON
Publisher: Soho Constable
Date: July 2010
Seventh in the series set in medieval Glasgow, featuring the Archbishop's investigator, Gil Cunningham. From BooksFromScotland.com: 'Danny Gibson and Nanty Bothwell, rivals for the affections of Agnes Renfrew, the apothecary's pretty daughter, are also good friends. When they both take part in the festive play at the house of Gil's sister Kate, it ends in Danny's death, apparently by poison from his friend's flask. But was it deliberate?'

Shirley McKay - LINES OF INQUIRY
Publisher: Polygon
Date: May 2010
Second in the Hew Cullan series set in late 16th century St Andrews. From the Fantastic Fiction website: 'The year is 1581, and the young St Andrews academic Hew Cullan is unhappy with his life and disillusioned with the law. After his father's death, he is invited by the advocate Richard Cunningham to complete his legal education in Edinburgh as Richard's pupil at the bar. Hew resists, but, later, as he looks through his father's things, he finds a manuscript entitled 'In Defence of the Law'.With it is the promise of publication from the Edinburgh printer, Christian Hall. Hew resolves to deliver the manuscript, and takes up Richard's offer. He is surprised to find Christian Hall is a young widow, the mother of a small child. Hew is attracted to Christian, but as they grow close it becomes apparent that the relationship is fraught with danger. Christian is under attack, culminating in the brutal killing of her nursemaid and the disappearance of her child. As Hew begins a frantic bid to find Christian's son, he suspects links with the murder of a young girl in St Andrews. The truth lies much closer to home.'

Good Reviews, Bad Reviews

Gravetapping with a most excellent review of Allan Guthrie's SLAMMER, calling it "a fine example of the new noir".

And the Glasgow Herald pronounces Helen Fitzgerald "a writer to be reckoned with" in a review of the marvellous BLOODY WOMEN.

Sam Marlowe at the Times Online reviews the latest play by Glenn Chandler, creator of Taggart, and really doesn't like it very much.

And finally, he's not Scottish, and he's probably never even eaten a deep fried Mars Bar, but, dear reader (I know that's just you, pater) do yourself a favour and go and check out Colin Cotterill over at the International Crime Authors blog. He's a very, very funny man.

Looking Forward To 2010 - Part 2

Following on from my earlier post here are the next seven Scottish crime fiction books due out in 2010.

Alex Gray - FIVE WAYS TO KILL A MAN
Publisher: Sphere
Date: May 2010
Seventh in the Glasgow set police procedural series. From Amazon: 'As DCI Lorimer sees in the New Year, an unpredictable killer is loose on the streets of Glasgow . Hood up, suddenly appearing out of the shadows, this dark figure is experimenting with murder, again and again. Faced with a string of seemingly unconnected victims, and picking up the case of a horrific fire that murdered a wealthy couple, Lorimer turns to psychologist and friend Solly Brightman for his insights. As the killer comes to closer to Lorimer himself and his family, can he unmask the serial murderer before the next victim is found too close to home?'

Allan Guthrie - BYE BYE BABY
Publisher: Barrington Stoke
Date: July 2010
According to the lovely Mr Guthrie this is 'a detective novella (loosely based on the short story in SHATTERED) about the disappearance of a young boy, in which the investigating officers find out that nothing is quite what it seems...' Since that story was one of my favourites from SHATTERED, I am most chuffed to hear this.

Gerald Hammond - SILENT INTRUDER
Publisher: Severn House
Date: February 2010
From BooksFromScotland.com: 'When Michael McGinnis and Hilda Gilmour return from holiday to find two plain clothes police officers waiting for them it marks the start of a terrifying journey. The police have had an anonymous tip-off about child pornography being stored on Michael's computer. It's easy to prove his innocence but who would do such a thing?'

Quintin Jardine - BLOOD RED
Publisher: Headline
Date: January 2010
From Amazon (although I have deleted some bits because I think it spoils previous books from the look of it): 'Primavera is enjoying the quiet life in an idyllic village on the Catalan coast of Spain. ... But her close friendship with the parish priest has eyebrows rising and tongues wagging. Then a dispute explodes with a powerful councillor who refuses to allow the village wine fair to go ahead. When his body is found, head caved in, some ominous questions are asked...'

Alanna Knight - QUEST FOR A KILLER
Publisher: Allison and Busby
Date: January 2010
Sixth in the Rose McQuinn series set in Victorian Edinburgh. From the Books From Scotland website: 'It's 1899 and strange things are happening in Edinburgh. The arrival of a circus, seems to set in train a terrible series of events: the death of a clerk during a bank robbery and the suicides of two girls within mere hours of one another. Could the deaths be related?'

Peter May - FREEZE FRAME

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Date: May 2010
Fourth in the Enzo Files series, which features half-Scottish, half-Italian Enzo Macleod, a former forensic scientist who now lives in France and works as a university professor in Toulouse. From the Fantastic Fiction site: 'A promise made to a dying man leads forensics ace Enzo Macleod, a Scot who's been teaching in France for many years, to the study which the man's heir has preserved for nearly twenty years. The dead man left several clues there designed to reveal the killer's identity to the man's son, but ironically the son died soon after the father. So begins the fourth of seven cold cases written up in a bestselling book by Parisian journalist Roger Raffin that Enzo rashly boasted he could solve (he's been successful with the first three). It takes Enzo to a tiny island off the coast of Brittany in France, where he must confront the hostility of locals who have no desire to see the infamous murder back in the headlines. An attractive widow, a man charged but acquitted of the murder--but still the viable suspect, a crime scene frozen in time, a dangerous hell hole by the cliffs, and a collection of impenetrable messages, make this one of Enzo's most difficult cases.'

Peter May - VIRTUALLY DEAD

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Date: January 2010
From the Fantastic Fiction site: 'Crime-scene photographer Michael Kapinsky is a man whose first life is in a mess. But his second life is about to get a whole lot messier. Staggering under the financial burden left by his recently deceased wife, Michael struggles to come to terms with her death - until his psychologist persuades him to enter a virtual world called Second Life to participate in a new kind of group therapy. Once there, his persona, Chas Chesnokov, discovers that victims whose crime scenes Michael has attended in the wealthy Southern California resort of Newport Beach have had their avatars clinically executed in the virtual world. Co-opted into the Twist of Fate Detective Agency, Chas embarks on an investigation with an exotic dancer and escort girl. They uncover a series of killings and a financial scam that is netting the murderer millions of dollars. And when Michael is tempted by money that mysteriously appears in Chas's Second Life account, both his real and his virtual lives are in danger.'