Tag Archives: Canongate

Escape in Darkness by Kathleen Fidler

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Escape in Darkness by Kathleen Fidler was first published in 1961 and was aimed at readers aged 10+. Although Fidler was born in England she moved to Edinburgh when she married and seems to have thrown herself into Scottish society. She was known for her meticulous historical research.

In 1600 King James VI (or James I if you are English) had been attacked by some members of the Ruthven family, meaning to murder him and seize his crown, but they had failed. Unsurprisingly since then James had vowed to ‘stamp out the name of Ruthven forever.’

Thirteen years later in Holland, young James Ruthven’s father has been killed in a duel, before he died he said that his heart must be buried at Culross Abbey in Fife, so his sister Barbara eventually travels to Scotland to carry out that task, along with her nephew James Ruthven’s son. If the king discovers that they are there, they’ll be done for.

This is an entertaining adventure tale which also gives a lot of information about the social history of the times as well as the commercial history of Fife which involved coal mining in very dangerous situations, such as under the River Forth, accessed via a moat in the middle of the river, an innovation. It was a miserable life for ordinary people with the miners being worse off than slaves really.

As it’s Fife accusations of witchcraft were inevitable,  the Fifers of the day were very keen on accusing people of witchcraft – especially incomers – or anyone they didn’t like. This was another very local book for me, very much enhanced by my experiences of visiting Culross. I’ve written a few posts about Culross over the years,  between 2012 and 2020 which you can see here if you’re interested.

 

Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry

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Voices of the Dead by Ambrose Parry has just been published and I was lucky enough to be sent a digital copy of the book by the publisher Canongate via Netgalley.

The setting is Edinburgh, 1853, where Raven is finding life tough as a father to little James who always seems to be crying and it’s taking a toll on his marriage as Raven spends a lot of his time avoiding family life.  When he gets a message that he’s needed, body parts have been found at Surgeons’ Hall, it’s grim but Raven is glad of the excuse to get out of his home and avoid more tantrums from his small son.

The city is being visited by an American mesmerist who is holding meetings and trying to drum up interest in it, claiming it as being scientific. Sarah, Raven and Simpson’s assistant is frustrated at not being allowed to study to become a doctor, despite her knowledge and experience, she’s keen to find out more about mesmerism, hoping it might be a way forward for her.

When more body parts are found McLevy the detective has to be told, and he always does his best to make things even worse than they are.

This is the fourth book by Ambrose Parry – aka the author Christopher Brookmyre and his consultant anaesthetist wife Marisa Haetzman, I believe that she provides the details of the medical history, amongst other things. I’m really enjoying this series which combines murder mysteries with history and social history in a Victorian Edinburgh setting.

 

 

 

The Second Cut by Louise Welsh

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The Second Cut by Louise Welsh is a sequel to The Cutting Room which was published way back in 2002 – that’s a long time to wait for a continuation, but it was worth it. Neither of the books are the sort of thing that you would give to your maiden great-aunt to read though, this one features quite a lot about drugs and the gay/LGBT etc. communities. The setting is Glasgow which has a certain reputation for toughness or roughness, but I can assure you it is at heart a great place full of lovely people. Can you tell it’s my home city?!

Anyway, we’re catching up with Rilke again, he’s still the head auctioneer at Bowery Auctions and the business is struggling, they could really be doing with some luck – and it comes in the shape of a tip-off from Rilke’s old friend Jojo. The two bump into each other at the wedding of their gay friends – the two Bobbys – and Jojo gives Rilke the address of a large remote home, Bannatyne House, which the owners want cleared. This could be a godsend for the Bowery business.

It seems that Bannatyne House belongs to an elderly lady who will be moving to a care home, but it is her son and nephew who are dealing with it all. Although the house is full of wonderful antiques Rilke is a bit uncomfortable and suspicious as the lady owner is nowhere to be seen.

I really liked this book which involves murder, modern slavery, gangsters, the drug scene and even a gay orgy. Not my normal reading fare at all, but I like that Welsh’s characters are so well-drawn and human, with good and bad sides to them, often quite well hidden. I also appreciate the author’s descriptive qualities, especially of Rose the owner of the auction house. I do like to know what people look like and what they’re wearing and quite often those sorts of details are missing – or thin on the ground.

I wonder if it will be another 20 years before the next book in this series appears, I do hope not as I might not be around to see it. We’re getting on you know!

The Second Cut was published by Canongate on the 27th of January and I was sent a digital copy for review via NetGalley. Thank you.