The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith

review by Maryom

Isabel Dalhousie's Edinburgh is gentile, middle-class, cultured - as far away from Trainspotting as you can get in the same city - but that doesn't keep murder at bay. At the end of a concert in Usher Hall, she sees a young man fall to his death from the 'gods'. She doesn't know him but something about his accident disturbs her, and she's convinced that what she witnessed wasn't an accident but murder. Despite her reservations, and the advice of family and friends, Isabel's curiosity pushes her, for want of a better word, to investigate.
This isn't the first time I've read The Sunday Philosophy Club, and it was delightful to re-visit the beginning of Isabel's story; meeting her, her niece Cat,and Cat's ex-boyfriend Jamie as if for the first time. If anything I loved it more knowing how their personal lives would develop, perhaps feeling I was in on a secret not known to first-time readers (no spoilers, though, for those who haven't read the series).
Isabel is verging on middle-age, wealthy, and to a certain extent privileged. Hers seems to be an untroubled life, and her pondering over ethics and philosophy largely academic. As befits her role as editor of The Review of Applied Ethics, Isabel tries to live her life in accordance with her philosophical principles, but now she's found herself in a situation where they're actually being tested in a real-life situation. Is her interest in the death of this young man mere morbid curiosity, or, having doubts about it, is she morally obliged to do something? How much should she reveal of the secrets she uncovers, especially when aren't really related to the death? At times I felt Isabel could easily end up bogged down by her scruples, but fortunately she doesn't.

In many ways, Isabel's Edinburgh feels very akin to Miss Marple's St Mary Mead - there's no hint of the 'background' violence of an inner city instead a pleasant village-like atmosphere pervades the quiet streets, where everyone knows everyone else, at least by sight. But, as in St Mary Mead, behind this placid exterior lie secrets that someone might kill to protect. As I said above, I've really enjoyed re-reading this book and I'm now looking forward to re-reading more of the series, plus a newer book or two that I haven't caught up with.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Abacus
Genre - Adult Crime

Greenvoe by George Mackay Brown

review by Maryom

Greenvoe is the only village on the small Orcadian island Hellya - and this is the story of its people.
It's a place where time seems almost to have stood still - a place of farms and fisherman, one shop, one hotel, a school, a manse, a 'big house' and a pier to link them to the outer world. It's inhabitants for the most part have lived there all their lives, some never leaving the island at all - the notable exceptions being the 'traditional' incomers of minister and school teacher. A place where a once-a-year visit from a travelling salesman laden with exotic silken goods is an event. But times are changing and the outside world has discovered the usefulness of such a remote place.

 Greenvoe is not just one single tale but an interlinked series within a greater one; the Skarf, fisherman turned writer, reads his history of the island to his neighbours in the bar of an evening; the minister's elderly mother faces an imaginary court each day, that calls her to account for her supposed sins; the island's womenfolk gossip in the shop like a Greek chorus; ancient initiation rites are held in the dead of night; and always in the background is the sea, the light reflecting off it, its tides governing the flow of life on land and sea. So the writing changes - sometimes hard and factual, sometimes lyrical and poetic.

I first discovered George Mackay Brown's work long ago when I was a teenager, drawn by a somewhat romanticised vision of these windswept islands off the north of Scotland "where the endless ocean opens". I think back in the 1970s when this novel was written, his work was more widely known, with dramatisations on  TV and such, and I think it's rather a shame that its somehow been forgotten. It was great to go back and re-discover it through this new-to-me book.


Maryom's review - 5 stars  
Publisher - Polygon 
Genre - literary, adult fiction

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Breaking the Spell: Stories of Mystery and Magic from Scotland by Lari Don

review by Maryom

Breaking the Spell is a collection of ten stories brought together by story-teller Lari Don, all with a special Scottish feel to them. Drawn from all over the country, from the Borders to Skye in the west and Orkney in the north, some are about traditional Scottish creatures such as selkies or kelpies, others have more universal origins such as riddle-guessing or the tales that account for the making of stone circles. Some I found familiar; some I hadn't heard before.

The stories include - School for Heroes, King of the Black Art, The Selkie's Toes, Tam Linn, Loch Fada Kelpie, Whuppity Stoorie, The Ring of Brodgar, The Three Questions, The Monster of Raasay and the Witch of Lochlann - all stories that the author has told many times at story-telling events in schools, libraries and elsewhere around Scotland. There are stories of witches and giants, warriors and fairy queens, and, of course, the human boys and girls who manage to out-wit them.

Accompanied throughout by quirky cartoon-style illustrations by Cate James, this is the sort of book that can be read for the very young, maybe as bedtime stories as like all good fairy stories they all have a happy ending, or older children could read them for themselves.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Frances Lincoln
Genre - picture book, folk tale, Scotland

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Stonemouth by Iain Banks

review by Maryom

Stonemouth is a seaside town in the North-east of Scotland with a long sandy beach stretching into the distance, a suspension bridge from which a high number of people fall - or are pushed - and two rather kindly paternalistic mafia-style families in charge.

5 years ago, Stewart Gilmour made a mistake and managed to so offend the Murston family that he had to leave town - in a very speedy, very undignified manner. Now he's been allowed back to attend the funeral of  Joe Murston, but with younger angrier family members around still looking for revenge, Stewart doesn't feel too sure about his own long-term health. Could returning be an even bigger mistake?

Stonemouth is one of Iain Banks' more straightforward stories, told solely from Stewart's point of view with flashbacks to his childhood and teen years - there's none of the alternative personalities or multiple narrators of some of his more complex novels. After years of running away, Stewart needs to face the scene of his crime and the people he offended. The reader is teased along with gradual revelations of the relationship between Stewart and Ellie, the girl he's always loved - with a big build up to why he had to leave in such a hurry. On a first read this should come as a big surprise BUT Iain Banks himself gave it away - well almost. A while ago he came to our almost-local Waterstones as part of the promotion tour for Stonemouth, which is where and when I bought my book, a signed copy!! Anyway, as part of the evening he read an extract from the book and immediately upon getting home I tracked  it down in the book and re-read it.... and a page or two extra - this was the big scene that everything was building up to!! Ok there are more twists and turns to the plot after that but I really shouldn't have read this section first.

It's not as great or as complex as The Crow Road or The Bridge, which are my personal Banks' favourites, and not as convoluted as the last I read, Transition, but it's an entertaining fast-paced read of love, betrayal and revenge. An excellent introduction to Iain Banks if for some mysterious reason you haven't discovered him yet.

Another read to include in Subtle Melodrama's Scottish Summer Reading Challenge.

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Little, Brown
Genre - adult fiction

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A Cool Head by Ian Rankin

Short but not Sweet
review by Maryom

Gravy likes to help out his friend Benjy whenever he can by keeping things safe for him, hiding them in the cemetery grounds where he works. But then one day Benjy turns up with a gun in one bag, a huge stash of cash in another - and a bullet in his chest. Gravy finds himself caught in a web of gangland intrigue with several 'hard men' trying to recover the money, each with their own personal reasons to cover up events.
A Cool Head is one of the Quick Reads series but at just over 100 pages it manages to pack is as many twists and turns as many a longer novel. The plot is satisfyingly complex. The characters are convincing and well-developed, even if some are a little stereotypical - the gangland boss who owns a scrapyard for easy disposal of  incriminating evidence; the 'going straight' brother running a casino.

An ideal read if you're looking for something short and snappy.

This is yet another book I picked it up through Bookcrossing and it's sat on my TBR pile for a year or more - glad I've got round to reading it at last!

Maryom's review - 4.5 stars
Publisher - Orion
Genre - adult crime thriller, may appeal to older teens/YA

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Hit and Run by Doug Johnstone

Crime and Punishment?
review by Maryom

Billy Blackmore has been out for the night with his girlfriend Zoe and brother Charlie. Drunk and drugged up, he still decides to drive home but on the way the unthinkable happens and he hits and kills someone. Zoe and Charlie persuade him that reporting the accident won't help the man, so they hide the body and drive off.

Billy soon finds that it isn't that easy to walk away from the incident or his nagging conscience. When the body is discovered next day, he's expected, as a crime reporter, to investigate - especially when the dead man turns out to be a local crime lord with a family ready to track down the culprits and mete out their own brand of justice, and to have a grieving widow in need of consolation.

I 'discovered' Doug Johnstone last year through a Waterstones review copy of Smokeheads, a sort of Scottish island based Deliverance, and wondered what he'd come up with to follow it.

Smokeheads was a sort of action/comedy/thriller - great fun but not likely to happen . Hit and Run is different. While still fast-moving, and at times violent, it's ultimately more thought provoking and, most importantly, more believable. Billy is a good guy at heart - though I'm not too sure about his brother or girlfriend - caught in a situation that, without too big a stretch of imagination, readers can relate too. Any of us could be Billy, trying to avoid responsibility but finding that our conscience is not as malleable as we might imagine.

As in Smokeheads, there's a strong evocation of place - this time capital city, Edinburgh, and the brooding presence of Salisbury Crags, overlooking most of the action and serving as a constant reminder of what Billy has done.

Hit and Run is an unputdownable, action packed read but with plenty for those looking for something deeper to get their teeth into. If you haven't discovered Doug Johnstone, then it's time you did! I'm definitely looking forward to more from him.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Faber and Faber
Genre - adult action thriller

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