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William McIlvanney is widely credited as the founder of the Tartan Noir movement that includes authors such as Denise Mina, Ian Banks, and Val McDermid, all of whom cite him as an influence and inspiration. McIlvanney’s Laidlaw trilogy “changed the face of Scottish fiction” ( The Times of London), his Docherty won the Whitbread Award for Fiction, and his Laidlaw and The Papers of Tony Veitch both gained Silver Daggers from the Crime Writers’ Association. Strange Loyalties won the Glasgow Herald’s People’s Prize. William passed away in December 2015. The novels are all great, but my favourites include When the Sacred Ginmill Closes and A Walk Among the Tombstones. They are the perfect hardboiled mix of grit and poetry: cool jazz with surface noise.
Like all pandemics, there are those that succumb, those that struggle through, and those that seek to profit, in this case by “Furlough Fraud”. No shortage of slippery characters here: a well-connected land developer, a lettings agency once owned by “Big Ger” and tenuous links from there to a man “Big Ger” reputedly had eliminated. His new henchman, Andrew, was at one time employed by underworld figure Darryl Christie, currently serving a 25 year sentence. Aside from the edgy humour, the author drops in descriptions of the city itself. Rankin has used a common literary device where he starts the story near what is probably the end of the story. In the opening paragraphs John Rebus is in court on trial for an unknown offence. It whets the appetite of the reader to continue to read to discover why this antihero has finally being prosecuted. We know he bends the rules but, this time has he broken the rules? I am not sure if this hook is necessary in a Rebus’ novel. However, great news for Rankin fans as the 61-year-old has emerged from retirement to work on a series of subsequent bases, with the most recent story taking him to the north of mainland Scotland, where his daughter Samantha has been living.
It was the beginning of my lifelong love affair with Miss Marple. She is one of the great unsung heroines of literature: principled, resolute, courageous, a rare older woman in fiction who is there on her own terms, rather than as someone’s mother or grandmother. She first appeared in a short story published in 1927, The Tuesday Night Club, and 12 full-length novels followed, including the brilliant Sleeping Murder – published posthumously, but written during the second world war and kept in a vault. Well, it’s always going to be five star for my favourite detective of all time and yes, I have read all 24! Walter R Brooks, who created Mister Ed, the talking horse, wrote 26 books about Freddy and the other animals on the Bean family farm. Humans own the farm, but the animals help with both farmwork and housework. Imagine fluffy bunnies as dustcloths. William McIlvanney’s Laidlaw books changed the face of crime fiction. When he died in 2015, he left half a handwritten manuscript of Laidlaw’s first case. Ian Rankin has finished what McIlvanney started. Here, in The Dark Remains, these two iconic authors bring to life the criminal world of 1970s Glasgow, and Laidlaw’s relentless quest for truth. It is a complex character filled story; however, the reader can follow the participants and their roles the story never gets too complicated.
Ian Rankin σε αυτή την τελευταία περιπέτεια του Ρέμπους - του επιθεωρητή που κανείς δεν μπορεί να καταλάβει πως δουλεύει το μυαλό του και πως παρόλες τις αντισυμβατικές μεθόδους του, πάντα βρίσκει τη λύση. The novel starts with Rebus on trial but given his long association in various forms with Big Ger Cafferty maybe not a huge surprise! Siobhan meanwhile is working on a case that involves officers at Tynecastle police station long known to be rotten to the core but as yet unproven. However, as Malcolm Fox is also on the case and knowing his dogged nature then maybe certain officers should be hot under the collar.John Rebus, long retired from the force, is enjoying a quiet pint at his local, with faithful dog Brillo asleep at his feet. I love that this is the third book this little buddy has appeared in. The world has just reopened after the Covid pandemic, and Rebus is avoiding going to the doctor about his deteriorating health, prefering to pretend it’s just heartburn. A ping on his mobile is an invitation of sorts, from Big Ger, to drop by his flat after taking Brillo home. Rebus can't refuse even if he wanted to, as the two have been part of each other’s lives for longer than they care to remember. Curiosity has definitely gotten hold of Rebus.
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