CROSS PURPOSE

Another older review. New ones are coming soon!

Cross Purpose by Claire MacLeary. February 2017. Contraband. 360pp Paperback £8.99. ISBN 978-19101-9264-1

Another fantastic new voice in the Scottish noir scene. Maggie and Wilma, the two main characters in this book, are driven to survive against the odds and in so doing carve themselves a niche in the murky world of private detecting - an arena dominated by men.

The story is set in Aberdeen and begins with death. A natural, albeit untimely, death that leaves a woman without her husband and children without a father. The man who died is an honest man who left the police force in dishonourable circumstances, which leaves his family without financial support. Desperately in need of an income that is greater than her current part-time support teacher's salary, Maggie reluctantly decides to take over her husbands business. Her neighbour Wilma, a loud, uncultured, overweight woman, who contrasts Maggie in every way, becomes an unexpected ally and together they drag the detective business back onto its feet. Clients slowly take them on and the money starts to come in. It looks as if they will do very well. Behind everything, though, is Maggie's desire to clear her husband's name with the police. She digs around and finds out things that land her in hot water but keeps on, determined to reach her goal.

At the same time there is another death. This one is not so clear cut and results in the body of a young woman being found, partially clothed and violated, in a graveyard. Despite being warned off, Maggie accidentally ends up on the trail of the murderer, as it ties in with her own surveillance of the area. You, the reader, are taken on a rough ride, over the waste ground in that part of Aberdeen, as you get sucked into the case and want Maggie to get the closure she deserves before the police catch up with her.

An excellent novel of strength and survival in the face of adversity. It would have been so easy for Maggie to give up but she doesn't. It is also the story of unlikely friendship. Two women who are the polar opposites of each other overcome their prejudices and discover they are not so different after all. Contraband, now not such an unknown Scottish publisher, goes from strength to strength and the books it publishes are always first rate!

Many thanks to Contraband for sending me the review copy of this book. Highly recommended.

THE PASSENGER BY F.R. TALLIS

I wrote this review a couple of years ago. The book is still one of my favourites.

The Passenger by F.R.Tallis. 2016. Picador. Hardback £12.99. 371pp. ISBN 978-0-230-77055-3.

F.R.Tallis is an accomplished, award winning author and a clinical psychologist. In this latest book he tells a sombre tale of SS officer Siegfried Lorenz and the happenings on his U-boat, U-330, while WWII rages around him. It is a thought-provoking read: the hero of the story and his crew are all too human and vulnerable as they struggle with the horrible conditions onboard and attempt to do their duty during the war.

All starts out ordinarily enough, despite the fact that you, the reader, empathise with a member of the "Other Side". Lorenz and his men have a mission to destroy as many enemy boats as possible but are then sent north to collect two mysterious prisoners that they are to take with them. Given no information on what they are really doing, the crew are uneasy about the prisoners but they follow Lorenz's orders and everyone soon settles down again. Lorenz is particularly disturbed by the book of ancient runes that one of his prisoners has on his person but this becomes the smallest thing for the crew to worry about because disaster strikes and the mission takes a sinister turn. Not long afterwards, the crew begin to sense something strange on their boat. People have accidents and insist they were pushed, while Lorenz himself sees people on his boat that shouldn't be there. With suspected hauntings and everyone unhappy, their home furlough is much appreciated - but when they return to the boat, Lorenzo realises their troubles are only just beginning.

I read this book while it was really cold recently. The frosty conditions outside made the icy chill of the ocean in this moving story even more unwelcoming and I could easily imagine myself to be on the U-boat with Lorenz and his crew, enduring the stench and the mound as they battled to survive. An excellent read that left me with a cold, empty feeling after it was over, as well as a new appreciation of the bravery of these vulnerable men. The book is a little different to the usual for Eurocrime, so I am grateful to both Karen and Picador for giving me the opportunity to read and review it.

Extremely Highly Recommended