Scottish Noir, THE DIARY OF LIES by Philip Miller (3rd Shona Sandison Book)

Beach reading is wrapping up -- it's time for substantial and satisfying crime fiction to go with the hints of autumn rolling in. And the newest investigative reporter novel from Edinburgh's Philip Miller is perfect for the task.

THE DIARY OF LIES picks up with Shona Sandison, whose necessary walking cane (an injury sustained in The Golden Acre; more about it in The Hollow Tree) disguises her determination to get the scoop for her newspaper, no matter the risks. The promotional material for the book calls it a "paranoid political thriller." That would almost qualify it for nonfiction at this point, wouldn't it? Shona takes the situation seriously and angrily (a good definition of Shona herself), making it frustrating when her investigation takes her into what feels briefly like some adult-level fairy-tale crossover between Britain's "Green Man" and the mythic Robin Hood. Yet violence keeps erupting around her, and her narrow escapes are far from amusing. 

When a sketchy woman armed with a shotgun opts to let Shona past the gateway to a hidden Internet guru, she's still stunned from her sudden morning tumble into blood and threat. "Her path had been disarranged. Now, she barely knew her way forward." Plus, she's a city worker — how can she handle a situation that's taking her away from paved roads and GPS and all? Her abrupt passage comes with instructions from a rough woman leading her further off road:

"Over the stile and through the trees," the woman said. "Keep going straight ahead ... you'll come to a large house. The manor. The curtains will be drawn. You'll find Robin in there."

"Robin?"

"Loxley.  You'll be entering the back of the house. Wait at the curtained window — you'll hear the radio. Don't go in, love—he's armed. Wait to be let in."

Shona looked at the woman, calmly exhaling smoke. She was warning of deadly violence, yes she seemed serene.

"Okay. This way?" Shona pointed to the fence.

"I'm not repeating myself, sunshine."

What she discovers at the crumbling old mansion is a far cry from an upscale data farm, yet it offers access to the information she needs to make sense of the political corruption she's discovered. 

Shona looked at the data loading, the entwined wires, the blinking lights. This was not the journalism she'd grown up with, in which she had made her way. This was about systems, codes, data and access. Arcane technologies. ... She felt uneasy. Aware of how afraid she might be. 

It won't be easy to run, when the time comes. Not with her cane, and not without it. But bullets will soon fly.

One of the delights of this dark and well-twisted novel is the steady echo of Britain's older cultures beneath the action. There's no need to read the two preceding novels, but those who have will notice right away that the sense of ancient mythos and of a universe that's not automatically friendly is still throbbing in Miller's version of Edinburgh and its surroundings. 

Watch for the threads that tie Shona, however reluctantly, to her uncertain allies. If she's going to both survive the threats and provide a top-notch and substantiated journalistic exposé, she'll need every connection she can summon.

Soho Press describes this new release as a good fit for "for fans of Ian Rankin, John le Carré, and Denise Mina." I'd extend the list to work by Paul Doiron, Lee Child, Ruth Rendell, Jaqueline Winspear, and Charles Todd. If "political paranoia" is getting to you, racing against it with Shona Sandison may bring a sense of relief and capability, as well as the satisfaction of a soundly constructed and resonant crime novel.

Lucy Burdette, A SCONE OF CONTENTION, New Key West Food Critic Mystery

Every now and then, a good "cozy" series goes on a journey -- it's a good way to keep the death count lower in the amateur sleuth's home town, and can refresh the narrative with new conflict.

Lucy Burdette's Key West Food Critic mystery series has been intensely enjoyable, prying open the off-kilter culture of the vacation island of Key West through the eyes of year-round residents: food critic Hayley Snow, and her police detective Nathan Bransford, who's become her husband at last. But with her own visit to Scotland and exploration of its gustatory treats as fodder, Burdette came up with this lively diversion for book 11 in the series. 

A SCONE OF CONTENTION offers family stress right away, as Hayley and Nathan's honeymoon trip to the land of tartans, bagpipes, and scones galore begins with a pair of ride-along guests unusual for anyone's first marital vacation: the aging Miss Gloria from the houseboat next door (how could they leave her home when she's always longed to visit Scotland?) and Hayley's new mother-in-law.  Series readers will perk up with interest at that second guest—Helen Bransford has been both strong and mysterious in earlier books of the series.

Most poigant for this round is the fact that they're staying with Nathan's sister Vera, whose early-life abduction damaged Nathan's family structure yet, ironically, gave Hayley and her mother-in-law an area in which to cautiously bond. Then, because after all "these things happen" around Hayley, a tourist who might or might not be involved with Vera dies in a Ferris wheel accident—and a poisoning follows.

It's not great for the newlyweds, who are already struggling with family demands on their time—Nathan is about to play with his brother-in-law in a golf tournament. A big-league one. Wearing a kilt!

Nathan seems willing to let the local police work on the possible crimes taking place. Not Hayley:

Within seconds, his breathing grew slow and easy as he dropped off to sleep. I lay awake for much longer, puzzling over the possible poisoning incident. Had I seen anything that was off-kilter in the kitchen? I had been so distracted by Gavin's buffoonery that I'd noticed nothing out of order at Glenda's end of the table. I also thought about Nathan's sister. True, she seemed very much wound up about her project. I liked her very much, but I hadn't spent enough time with her yet to get a sense of whether she was really anxious about something she interpreted as threatening, or whether the men around her simply couldn't handle her being emotional and having strong opinions.

Either was possible.

Of course, Hayley's nearly an expert by now on dodging Nathan's requests for her to stay out of investigations, and she has an assistant-in-place with Helen on hand. Her thinking and experimenting take her toward a solution. But will Miss Gloria's fragile health and newly arrived resonance with a Highland clan massacre make the investigation more dangerous than usual?

Count on an unusual resolution, and a handful of yummy-sounding recipes to wrap up the book. Burdette's plotting is reliably strong, the dialogue's lively, and her portraits of friendship in action add to the delight of this well-spun story of a truly unique honeymoon excursion. 

 Still have some vacation time ahead? Pre-order A SCONE OF CONTENTION for your hammock reading. The publication date is August 10, from Crooked Lane Books.

PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

Curl Up with a Cozy (Mystery): MUMS AND MAYHEM, Amanda Flower

[Originally published at New York Journal of Books]

“Mums and Mayhem from Amanda Flower is light reading as mysteries go, and lacks vibrancy in the romantic strand so typical of this subgenre of ‘cozy’ mysteries, but it embraces a charming part of the world, in eastern Scotland near the coast, and spins a sweet tale in the process.”

Fiona Knox owns a florist shop in the small quaint Scottish village of Bellewick. And, incidentally, a magical garden created on the former estate of Duncreigan, walled and vibrant, with its own elderly gardener. In two previous books in Amanda Flower’s Magical Garden Mystery series, Fiona’s learned that her inherited role as “Keeper” of what was once her uncle’s place connects her somehow to a mystical stone in the garden, as well as to its vibrancy and beauty.

So when her nightmare this time of seeing the garden shrivel and die turns out to be a vision of its actual condition, she’s knows she’s immediately responsible for its healing. Which, actually, she has no idea how to accomplish.

Making her less able than usual to concentrate on both her garden and her business is the arrival of her American farmer parents, presumably to summon her “home” along with her sister Isla, who’s followed her to Scotland and plunged into a romance with a jobless local. Most distracting of all is the music festival the town’s about to host, a return-home performance by a noted Scottish fiddler with his backup musicians. And, of course, there’s a romantic thread, since Fiona’s been developing a romance with Chief Inspector Neil Craig of the County Aberdeen police.

That’s a fortunate connection to have when Fiona discovers a musician murdered and learns her father, who’d once lived in this very village, was the last person known to see the victim alive. Not only will he not share details of why he went to see the musician, but he’s not talking about a recently revealed family secret, either: that he’s not Fiona’s biological parent. Her genetic father was “Uncle Ian,” the man who’s left her the garden.

Skeptics will be relieved to know that Fiona’s investigation of the crime has no major magical influences to it—the garden is definitely a background stress—so her focus is entirely on clearing her father of any possible role in the murder. Of course, as happens often with a series like this, Fiona’s presence in town has already coincided with death:

“’It’s hard to believe there’s been another killing in Bellewick,’ one of the constables said. ‘It’s almost like this place is cursed.’ …

‘Go,’ Craig said, and his voice left no room for speculation. He wanted the scene secured and now. The constables went off to do what he asked.

He glanced at me. ‘I’m going to go in the bus. Are you all right to wait here?’ He studied my face for even the slightest hint of a breakdown.

I straightened my shoulders. ‘I’ll be fine. Do what you have to do.’

He nodded and entered the tour bus.”

 Though Fiona is not a very adept sleuth herself, she’s plucky, and her motivation pushes her through, and by the time the pieces come together, she also knows the mysteries that her own family has hidden for so long. Mums and Mayhem is light reading as mysteries go, and lacks vibrancy in the romantic strand so typical of this subgenre of “cozy” mysteries, but it embraces a charming part of the world, in eastern Scotland near the coast, and spins a sweet tale in the process.

PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.  

Scottish Noir: William McIlvanney's LAIDLAW Is Back in Print

The Canongate re-issue.

A number of blog reviews are showing up this year for William McIlvanney's LAIDLAW, first of his three noted Glasgow (Scotland) crime novels: Laidlaw (1977), The Papers of Tony Veitch (1983), and Strange Loyalties (1991). The fresh attention is due to reprinting of the first (and presumably the others will follow) as a paperback, by Canongate, in Edinburgh, Scotland. A few copies are floating across the Atlantic, and I hope there will be more.

For newcomers to this pivotal work credited as the launch of today's "Scottish noir," here's a thorough article by Beth Dickson at the Association for Scottish Literary Studies (don't let the organization name put you off, as she provides a good summary of the three books): http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/scotlit/asls/Laverock-McIlvanney-2.html

And last Thursday the noted blog The Rap Sheet gave us part of a new interview with McIlvanney: http://therapsheet.blogspot.com/2013/06/mcilvanney-calls-it-as-he-sees-it.html

If you're already a fan of the crime fiction by Quentin Jardine or Denise Mina, here's a good chance to check out the roots of their work. And if all these names are new to you, Kingdom Books provides an oveview here: http://kingdombks.blogspot.com/2008/06/scottish-mysteries-mcilvanney-mina.html

Hurrah for summer -- the season that justifies making a reading list and indulging!