The Cutting Room - Louise Welsh

‘ When Rilke, a dissolute auctioneer, comes upon a hidden collection of violent and highly disturbing photographs, he feels compelled to discover more about the deceased owner who coveted them. Soon he finds himself sucked into an underworld of crime, depravity and secret desire, fighting for his life.’

 After I read The Second Cut and made the acquaintance of  Rilke, the auctioneer,  I couldn’t wait to get my hands on The Cutting Room which is the first in, what I hope, is a continuing series. I say continuing series but something that utterly astounded me is that this book was first published in 1999. It’s republication sees it as crisp and vibrant as if it was written yesterday.

Rilke is a fabulous character. Delightfully flawed! He is real and human. He makes right and wrong decisions like we all do. Although some of his actions may be questionable ultimately his motives seem fuelled by a desire for the truth. And he doesn’t give up!

I was interested to see if a similar mood of gangsters and crimes from a B-movie past occurred in this first book. I was perfectly satisfied. It’s an enthralling balance that sees a sustained narrative in a contemporary timeframe offering the ambience of a bygone age.  

It’s uncompromising writing:  explicit, frank, visceral - describing the underbelly of a seedy and morally questionable side of society.  At times it’s bleak with twists and turns exploring dark and rank places. Unlike many books of this genre which can be almost solely plot driven this is character driven by Rilke, his obssessions, his predilections, his determination are what drives the story forwards. That’s not to say that the other characters aren’t interesting and believable. I enjoyed the author’s ability to understand the nuances between the generations and balance  both the idealisms and the cynicisms But ultimately it’s compelling reading. And that’s what you want from a crime/thriller story isn’t it? And if you want more there’s always the LGBT+ angle and a palpable picture of the seedier side of Glasgow. 

My thanks to Olivia-Savannah Roach at Canongate Books for a gifted copy.

A Body By The Lighthouse -Helen Cox - Blog Blast

Double trouble! Kitt Hartley has a twin sister. And is she as astute and as book obsessed as Kitt? Sorry. I won’t say. You’re going to have to read the book to find out! 

This is the sixth Kitt Hartley Yorkshire mystery but this time it doesn’t take place in Yorkshire. It takes place on board a cruise ship. Why? Because an old friend of Kitt’s has been murdered and his body found washed up by a lighthouse. What does a cruise have to do with that, I hear you ask. Well the victim had been working on the cruise ship when he met his untimely demise. Murder? Cruises? Is this really cosy crime? What defines cosy crime from “uncosy“ crime? Well I think it’s where the private investigator suggests that her team bring larger handbags to accommodate their walkie-talkie radios! A problem that Miss Marple never had to contend with!

Followers of the series will find Kitt and her gang all there, in fine form, even though poor Grace gets seasick, and  Halloran doesn’t play such a large a part in this story. A lot of focus is on Kitt’s sister, Rebecca, which is an interesting character development. But the story contains a lot of the hallmarks of this series. The banter that balances beautifully with the tensions associated with the crime itself. Fans of the series will lap it up in their hordes. 

The cruise ship itself is populated with a variety of diverse characters which give a richness to the plot. In a way the action on a cruise ship almost makes it a locked room story but the story contains many twists and turns, red herrings and false leads. I guess,  as well as being cosy crime it’s escapist crime because it doesn’t kid itself it’s grounded in reality. It’s entertaining and it’s fun and the reader is encouraged to try and unravel the mystery alongside what sometimes seems to me to be a ‘secret seven’ for grown-ups!  I know there are only four of them but they pick up a few stragglers on the way so maybe it’s not as far-fetched! (Secret Seven? Okay, I’m old. Alright? It was a series by Enid Blyton many, many, many years ago. I loved them as a kid).

Some might feel it’s contrived but it works. The ends are all nicely tied up. And what could be cosier than that satisfying feeling where you can put the book down knowing that all is well. Until the next book that is…….

My thanks to Katya Ellis and Quercus Books for a gifted copy and a spot upon the blog blast.

Flamingo - Rachel Elliott

 I love Rachel Elliott’s books. I love the way her stories are populated by characters who don’t quite seem to neatly fit into the mainstream. People who are different without intending to be, people who are damaged in some way and find themselves on the periphery of life. Yet Ms. Elliott weaves tales that allow them to be fulfilled and accepted. And although their journeys aren’t easy or straightforward, ultimately, the novels are uplifting.

Flamingo continues that tradition but it also shows a writer developing in skill and style. It seemed to me that the prose of Flamingo is pared down, succinct and pithy, shorter sentences with a punch and a depth of emotion wherever they are needed.

‘And now he has lost the capacity to speak.
Tenderness is all that remains.’

‘’You’re emotionally stunted, Eve says.
That’s not very nice, Sherry says.’

I remember with Rachel Elliott’s previous two books finding loads of quotable maxims. I’ll confine myself to just the one here as it seems to relate to my previous observations about her prose style.

‘All sentences are a kind of music. They can be sung and heard in boundless ways.’

So what’s the book about? It’s about two families and three flamingos. It’s about love in its myriad forms. It’s a story of how things endure no matter how seemingly low a person can fall. It’s set in the past and it’s set in the present and it offers hope for a future. It’s about the impact one person can have on another. It’s about acceptance. Eve is a single mother raising her son Daniel. They move to  Abigail Gardens, next door, for a while, to Sherry and Leslie who are raising their two daughters, (and three flamingos. In the garden. Not real flamingos.The flamingos are symbolic. Take what you know of them and apply that to life). We see the lives of these people unfolding in their different, disparate ways and how they all engage and interact with each other.

With canny perception Ms Elliot has created these characters and homed in on their fundamental needs. They weave in and out of life trying to fulfil and be fulfilled regardless of the challenges involved. And you can come away from a reading a story such as this not feeling quite so bad about yourself as you did before you began the book.

And I guarantee that you will never listen to Foreigners “I Want to Know What Love Is’ in quite the same way again.

My thankless to NB Magazine for a gifted proof.

The Colony - Audrey Magee

I found this to be quite unusual book on several different levels. Thematically it’s about conflict and colonialism and the titular colony is a metaphor for wider conflicts. There is an almost timeless quality to the story when Lloyd, one of the main protagonists , first sets foot on the island but it becomes clear that it is set during the times when the Troubles in Northern Ireland were at their most violent. There is reference to the death of Lord Mountbatten which makes the timescale clearer. 

The conflicts nestle within each other like matryoshka dolls; the islanders and the visitors, the visitors themselves, between the islanders themselves, between the generations, and between nations and languages.

If that sounds as if it might be a trifle heavy, fear not, for the author’s wit and expansive prose elevate the story.

Lloyd is an artist and I found the passages describing his thoughts and feelings quite unique. Somehow the writer has captured how an artist might think and feel in colours, shades and compositions with the most eloquent and poetic prose. She has skilfully captured how an artist sees everything as a potential painting. The story explores his attempts to project himself as an artist of note. Masson is a Franco/Algerian man who wishes to preserve the Irish language. His zeal borders on the obsessional.

The characters are fascinating. The islanders conduct themselves with a simple dignity. Their lives aren’t easy and yet there seems to be little in the way of complaining. It’s a contrast with the two visitors, Lloyd the artist and Masson the linguist, who seem to place somewhat petulant demands on the islanders and each other. 

The female characters have suffered profound losses yet they conduct themselves with a practical integrity. The only young person in the “cast“ was quite endearing as he accepted his heritage to an extent but had notions of escaping it. My heart broke for him at the end of the book.

It’s an absorbing read. There is little in the way of action, it’s a cerebral book that looks at how people think and feel, react and interact. And it’s all written very powerfully. The main body of the story is interspersed with news accounts of some of the atrocities in Northern Ireland. I thought it was a very potent device. It stops the reader from disappearing into a remote world but manages to keep them grounded and not lose sight of the book’s intent.

My thanks to NB magazine for a gifted copy.