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WORK TITLE: The Silent Games
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 5/27/1950
WEBSITE: http://www.alex-gray.com/
CITY: Renfrewshire
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: Scottish
RESEARCHER NOTES:
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|---|---|
| LCCN Permalink: | https://lccn.loc.gov/n2002039485 |
| HEADING: | Gray, Alex |
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| 053 | _0 |a PR6107.R39 |
| 100 | 1_ |a Gray, Alex |
| 670 | __ |a Gray, Alex. Never somewhere else, 2002: |b t.p. (Alex Gray) |
| 670 | __ |a Canongate Books WWW People page, Aug. 14, 2002 |b (b. in Glasgow, Scotland; this is her first novel) BL Email 3 Mar. 2003 |
| 953 | __ |a lh03 |
PERSONAL
Born May 27, 1950, in Glasgow, Scotland; married.
EDUCATION:Graduate of University of Strathclyde.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Has worked as visiting officer with UK Department of Health and Social Security and as a secondary school English teacher. Founder of Bloody Scotland book festival.
AWARDS:Constable and Pitlochry awards, Scottish Association of Writers.
WRITINGS
Author of short stories, articles, and radio scripts.
SIDELIGHTS
Alex Gray is the author of a series of mystery novels featuring Detective Chief Inspector William Lorimer, a member of the police force in Glasgow, Scotland. She was a social worker, something she has said was good preparation for a crime writer, and a secondary school teacher before becoming a full-time writer in her fifties, following a period of poor health. “I am a keen lover of books, always have been from the time I could read and, with what my parents termed ‘an overactive imagination,’ I guess that a career as a writer was always a possibility,” Gray told an interviewer at the Crime Fiction Lover website. “Even my teacher at primary school said I would grow up to be an author. Maybe all that gazing out of the classroom window finally paid off!” In another interview, with Scotsman Online contributor Janet Christie, she noted: “I thought I was late for a beginner, but the publishers said they preferred someone with life experience. Not that younger writers don’t have something to say, but experience can enrich it.”
Her protagonist, Lorimer, is not, like so many fictional detectives, an angst-ridden sleuth with a dysfunctional personal life. “Lorimer is different because he is normal!” Gray told the Crime Fiction Lover website interviewer. “I never tire of telling people that normal doesn’t mean boring!” He has a strong marriage, is well-educated, enjoys the arts, drinks only moderately, and does not hold grudges. He has some things in common with his creator, Christie reported, including “his love of birdwatching, long and happy marriage, tendency to introspection,” but “he’s not her.” “I’d have made a rubbish detective,” Gray told Christie. “I’m far too gullible and have a terrible memory.” The Lorimer novels also reflect the author’s love of Glasgow, where she has spent much of her life. Some other writers have focused exclusively on the seedier aspects of the city, and as a crime writer she does not ignore these, “but my Glasgow is the city of culture, of art galleries and concerts too,” she told Christie.
A Small Weeping
This is Gray’s second novel about Lorimer, whom she introduced in Never Somewhere Else. In A Small Weeping, Lorimer is frustrated in trying to solve the murder of a prostitute who was found with a red carnation in one hand. He has no promising leads, but then learns that another woman, a nurse, has been killed and was also clutching a red carnation, so he suspects a serial murderer is at work. The nurse, Kirsty McLeod, was originally from the Hebrides, so Lorimer and profiler Solomon Brightman travel there to look into her background and find out why two of her patients were sent there as well. Then another Glasgow woman falls victim to the red carnation killer.
A Small Weeping received some critical praise. The sections set in the Hebrides, including Lorimer and Brightman’s interview with Kirsty McLeod’s aunt, “are by far the most moving and successful parts of this book,” remarked Maxine Clarke on the Euro Crime website. She found the novel enjoyable and Lorimer “an interesting character,” but thought the procedural elements “weak on occasion” and the murderer’s identity obvious. Library Journal reviewer Rex E. Klett, however, recommended A Small Weeping without reservation, citing its “psychological suspense” and appealing characters. Gray, he noted, is “considered a rising star in British crime fiction.”
A Pound of Flesh
Lorimer is again tracking a serial killer in A Pound of Flesh. He is heading a special unit tasked with investigating Glasgow’s worst crimes in one of the city’s most frigid winters. The first victims are prostitutes with drug habits, but then a member of the Scottish Parliament is murdered, and that crime appears to be linked to the others. Lorimer and Brightman pursue all leads doggedly, even in the face of brutally cold temperatures and heavy snowfalls. They eventually realize they are dealing with an even more challenging obstacle–someone in the department is trying to thwart them.
A Pound of Flesh is “a masterly plotted and very imaginative story,” reported Terry Halligan on the Euro Crime website. A Publishers Weekly reviewer was not particularly impressed, however, saying the novel “covers well-trodden terrain in a too familiar manner.” Halligan, though, found much to praise. The critic noted that Gray “uses the bleak, snowy, heavily leaden weather to great effect” and offers “a very sensitive portrayal” of women driven to prostitution by drug addiction. Galligan concluded: “It was a cracking good thriller and I was thoroughly engrossed until the final page.”
Only the Dead Can Tell
The fifteenth novel in the Lorimer series sees him investigating a human trafficking trafficking operation in which impoverished young women are brought in from Slovakia and forced to work in brothels. The ringleader is a mysterious man known only as Max. The case has taken him to Aberdeen for a time, but when he returns to Glasgow he discovers that the murder of a middle-aged, middle-class woman may have connections to Max. Dorothy Guildford had been stabbed to death in her home. She had many enemies, including members of her family, and her husband, Peter, is the chief suspect. He is injured in a jailhouse attack, and Kirsty Wilson, the detective assigned to guard him when he is hospitalized, begins to suspect that Dorothy Guildford’s death had something to do with the trafficking ring. One clue is Peter Guildford’s fear when Max’s name is mentioned. She and Lorimer follow this lead, assisted by profiler Brightman and his wife, pathologist Rosie Fergusson.
The novel brought Gray substantial praise for her storytelling and characters. “Only the Dead Can Tell is, quite simply, superbly written and plotted,” observed the blogger behind Fully Booked 2017. “It sums up everything that is golden and enthralling about a good book.” Crime Review online critic John Cleal noted: “It’s not so much a police procedural with one standout character, but a fine illustration of the various organs of law enforcement and their individual roles in bringing criminals to justice. It’s written with fine eye for detail and the background has been immaculately researched.” Scotsman contributor Louise Fairbairn added: “There is plenty of suspense … and Gray plays cleverly on the contrasts between the family lives of the investigators and the investigated.” This entry, she concluded, “will more than satisfy fans of Gray, and there’s plenty for the new reader to get their teeth into.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2017, review of The Swedish Girl; January 15, 2018, review of The Silent Games.
Library Journal, February 1, 2005, Rex E. Klett, review of A Small Weeping, p. 57.
Publishers Weekly, March 19, 2012, review of The Riverman, p. 67; June 18, 2012, review of A Pound of Flesh, p. 39; October 15, 2012, review of Five Ways to Kill a Man, p 45.
Scotsman, March 8, 2014, Janet Christie, “Alex Gray on How Ill-health Influenced Her Writing”; March 22, 2018, Louise Fairbairn, review of Only the Dead Can Tell.
ONLINE
Alex Gray website, https://www.alex-gray.com (June 19, 2018).
Crime Fiction Lover, https://crimefictionlover.com/ (February 28, 2013), interview with Alex Gray.
Crime Review, http://crimereview.co.uk/ (March 31, 2018), John Cleal, review of Only the Dead Can Tell.
Euro Crime, http://www.eurocrime.co.uk/ (March 1, 2008), Maxine Clarke, review of A Small Weeping; (June 1, 2010), Paul Blackburn, review of Five Ways to Kill a Man; (December 1, 2012), Terry Halligan, review of A Pound of Flesh.
Fully Booked 2017, https://fullybooked2017.com/ (March 7, 2018), review of Only the Dead Can Tell.
Reviewing the Evidence, http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/ (June 1, 2006), Sharon Wheeler, review of Shadows of Sounds; (May 1, 2007), Sharon Wheeler, review of The Riverman; (April 1, 2009), Sharon Wheeler, review of Glasgow Kiss.
Undiscovered Scotland, https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ (June 19, 2018), review of The Darkest Goodbye.
Alex Gray was born and educated in Glasgow. After studying English and Philosophy at the University of Strathclyde, she worked as a visiting officer for the DHSS, a time she looks upon as postgraduate education since it proved a rich source of character studies. She then trained as a secondary school teacher of English.
Alex began writing professionally in 1993 and had immediate success with short stories, articles and commissions for BBC radio programmes. She has been awarded the Scottish Association of Writers’ Constable and Pitlochry trophies for her crime writing.
A regular on the Scottish bestseller lists, her previous novels include Five Ways to Kill a Man, Glasgow Kiss, Pitch Black, The Riverman, Never Somewhere Else, The Swedish Girl and Keep the Midnight Out. She is the co-founder of the international Scottish crime writing festival, Bloody Scotland, which had its inaugural year in 2012.
Alex’s Top Tips for Writers
Always send an interesting letter with your manuscript. Not facetious or pushy but something with a bit of sparkle which will make you stand out.
Be professional when asking experts for help. Enclose details about yourself, and what you are doing, together with an idea of what you want.
Have patience with publishers but don’t be too shy to contact them politely after a couple of months if you haven’t heard anything. Remember the three P’s – politeness, patience and perseverance.
Quoted in Sidelights: “I am a keen lover of books, always have been from the time I could read and, with what my parents termed ‘an overactive imagination,’ I guess that a career as a writer was always a possibility,” Gray told an interviewer at the Crime Fiction Lover website. “Even my teacher at primary school said I would grow up to be an author. Maybe all that gazing out of the classroom window finally paid off!”
“Lorimer is different because he is normal!” Gray told the Crime Fiction Lover interviewer. “I never tire of telling people that normal doesn’t mean boring!”
Interview: Alex Gray
February 28, 2013
Written by DeathBecomesHer
Published in Features
2 comments
Permalink
(c) Charlie HopkinsonScottish author Alex Gray has been writing professionally since 1992, and her DCI Lorimer books are said to bring Glasgow to life in the same way Ian Rankin’s have brought Edinburgh to prominence. She has won the Scottish Association of Writers’ Constable and Pitlochry trophies for her crime writing, and is the co-founder of the new Scottish crime fiction festival Bloody Scotland, which kicked off last year in Stirling. In the past, we’ve reviewed her book Sleep Like the Dead, and now she’s back with her 10th Lorimer novel, The Swedish Girl. So we decided to ask her about the new book.
Tell usa bit about yourself?
I am a keen lover of books, always have been from the time I could read and, with what my parents termed ‘an overactive imagination’ , I guess that a career as a writer was always a possibility. Even my teacher at primary school said I would grow up to be an author. Maybe all that gazing out of the classroom window finally paid off! I have had other careers though and did enjoy my time as a secondary school teacher of English, trying to encourage a love of literature into tender young minds. Nowadays I live in a country cottage with my husband and our cat, not too far from Glasgow, the background for the Lorimer books.
How would you introduce new readers to The Swedish Girl, and Detective Lorimer?
New readers could easily begin meeting Lorimer in any of my books but if they wanted to see the development of the relationships of my key characters then they might wish to start with Never Somewhere Else and follow the series. The Swedish Girl sees Lorimer at a stage in his career where he is an established senior officer but there are other characters like Kirsty Wilson who appear for the first time. Eva, the title character, is such an intriguing person that the mystery is not just what happens to her but who she really is beneath the surface.
What makes Lorimer different from the run-of-the-mill fictional policeman?
Lorimer is different because he is normal! I never tire of telling people that normal doesn’t mean boring! He is happily married, though childless, and he has no huge chips on his shoulder that one finds in so many fictional detectives. He is well educated and cultured like many real life senior cops I have met, and he enjoys a nice whisky when he can, though not to excess. Like myself, Lorimer is a keen bird watcher and I enjoy describing moments when he sees the natural world as a foil for the darkness he encounters in many of his cases.
swedishgirlCritics say you bring Gasgow to life in the same way Ian Rankin evokes Edinburgh. What’s your reaction to that?
Ah, I agree with that comment and I expect Ian would as well! We both see our respective cities as backdrops for our stories and like to weave in real locations. I think many writers have a keen eye for setting a scene and enjoy actually going out and recording bits of our cities. As my friend crime writer Alanna Knight always says, she has to ‘walk the paths and touch the stones’ to bring a story to life. Ian and I both do that, I believe.
What is it about Scotland that makes it such a good setting for a great crime novels?
Scotland is tremendously varied. There are the urban places like Glasgow where the crime rate is higher than in other parts, and then the wonderful west coast landscapes and my beloved Hebrides. Contrast is a great thing. Just a quick 20-minute drive from the city takes one down the road towards Loch Lomond and spectacular scenery. Perhaps crime writers enjoy juxtaposing such contrasting backdrops? But you know, crime can happen anywhere and I don’t think Scotland is especially suited to crime fiction more than other small countries. It is rather a case that many of our good writers just happen to be exponents of this particuar genre. Perhaps our traditional education system has given rise to that? I was certainly exposed to a vast amount of both English and Scottish literature growing up. And there is a lot of truth that there is a dark thread that runs through much of the latter.
Your first job was as a visiting officer for the Department of Social Security in the Govan area of Glasgow. Did that experience provide material for your stories?
Oh yes, I reckon that my time as a DSS officer was a bit like a post graduate education in social awareness! Meeting people from different walks of life was an eye opener – from the wee fly men who worked the system, alcoholics who drank away the money needed to feed and clothe their families, to the old pensioners who battled on, denying themselves their right to financial benefits lest it seemed like charity! I learned a lot in that job and some of the characters I encountered must have provided material for my stories later on.
What prompted you to set up Bloody Scotland?
I could say a couple of bottles of Prosecco! My pal Lin Anderson and I were at a Crime Writers Association conference enjoying our after dinner drinks and chatting about how many really good crime writers lived and worked north of the border. It was a simple step to suggesting we begin our own crime writing festival, a sort of ‘Harrogate of the North’ as Lin put it. I offered the name Bloody Scotland out of a sense of fun – imagine asking a crime writing pal if they are going to Bloody Scotland next year! And so our idea took root and flourished.
What’s next?
Finishing book eleven, a story set against the run-up to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games that takes place in summer 2014. Then this year’s Bloody Scotland from September 13 to 15 in Stirling. We have a magnificent line-up of authors again. I will also be taking part in other Scottish festivals like Glasgow’s Aye Write in April and the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August.
Quoted in Sidelights: “I thought I was late for a beginner, but the publishers said they preferred someone with life experience. Not that younger writers don’t have something to say, but experience can enrich it.”
“his love of birdwatching, long and happy marriage, tendency to introspection,” but “he’s not her.” “I’d have made a rubbish detective,” Gray told Christie. “I’m far too gullible and have a terrible memory.” “but my Glasgow is the city of culture, of art galleries and concerts too,”
Jobs Cars Homes Announcements Advertise My Business Newsletter Register Login Culture Books Edinburgh Festivals Film TV & Radio Theatre Music Fashion Art Regions Inverness, Highlands & Islands Aberdeen & North East Dundee & Tayside Glasgow & Strathclyde Edinburgh, Fife & Lothians Dumfries & Borders News Politics Transport Education Environment Health UK News Opinion World Odd Celebrity Friends of The Scotsman Obituaries Consumer Sport Football Rugby Union Tennis Golf Cricket Athletics Boxing Horse Racing Cycling Motorsport Snooker Hockey Business Companies Markets and Economy Management Lifestyle Gadgets & Gaming Culture Travel Health & Wellbeing Family Personal Finance Wealth Management Homes Outdoors Cars Read This Heritage People & Places Historic Events Clans Myths & Legends Castles Traditions & Culture We Know Scotland Future Scotland Tech Innovators Big Ideas Start up Scale up Giving Back Charities Business in Action Heroes Alex Gray on how ill-health influenced her writing Author Alex Gray at her home in Bishopton. Picture: Robert Perry Author Alex Gray at her home in Bishopton. Picture: Robert Perry JANET CHRISTIE Published: 14:45 Saturday 08 March 2014 Share this article Sign Up To Our Daily Newsletter 0 Have your say Ill health prompted Alex Gray to turn to crime at 51 and her best-selling novels have been celebrating and dissecting Glasgow’s mean streets ever since, finds Janet Christie A cupcake topped with a swirl of icing on which a chocolate truffle is balanced is poised half-way to Alex Gray’s glossed lips. There’s the murmur of polite conversation and the chink of teaspoon against china in the elegantly-tiled Glasgow tea room where we sit. To the casual observer we could be discussing the provenance of her snazzy suede boots and purple sequined top, or the merits of first flush darjeeling over lapsang souchong. But we’re not. We’re talking murder, prostitution and terrorism, things that are all in a day’s work for this crime writer whose 11th Glasgow-based detective novel, The Bird That Did Not Sing, is published this week. “Hard-bitten crime writer?” says Gray. “The only thing that’s hard-bitten about me is this cupcake,” she says and takes a bite. Given the subject matter of her books and androgynous name, some of her readers are surprised to find that Alex Gray is a woman. “It’s Sandy really, Sandra. My mother wanted me to be Alexandra so Alex is short for that and Gray is my middle name. I have men coming up to me at book signings saying I thought you were a man. It confuses them. There was a deliberate sense that I didn’t want a woman’s name on the first book, to say this is a women’s book. I wanted it to be for everyone. But 80 per cent of crime fiction readers are women of my generation,” she says. And how old is that? “Old enough to know better than to tell a journalist,” she laughs. “Well, you can look it up anyway, I suppose, so I’m 63.” Publishing her first book at 51, Gray felt she came late to the scene but thinks her books benefit from her having lived a little. “I thought I was late for a beginner, but the publishers said they preferred someone with life experience. Not that younger writers don’t have something to say, but experience can enrich it,” she says, looking out onto the rain-lashed Glasgow city centre street. We’re a mere five-minute walk away from the lane where her main character Bill Lorimer meets a junkie informer at the site of her prostitute friend’s murder, and narrowly escapes with his life. It’s this juxtaposition of civilization and lawlessness that captivates Gray and why she used the Norman MacCaig quote, “the frontier is never somewhere else,” as a title for one of her books. “Murder can happen anywhere, in nice places to nice people too. That’s what makes it horrific. It always happens to someone else? No it doesn’t. It can happen to anyone,” she says. “Scratch at the veneer of respectability and underneath, human beings are still the same primitive, cruel people they always were. Hopefully civilization has made us less reluctant to crack each other over the head, but open any newspaper and it’s full of murders. “It’s romantic and wrong to paint a world that is too upbeat and all the ends finish up nicely. Real life isn’t like that,” she says. Gray’s books are set in her home city and follow detective superintendent Bill Lorimer as he solves yet another murder. Yet the streets she portrays are not all mean for Lorimer and his wife Maggie. “The thing I wanted to show from the very beginning was my Glasgow. It was William McIlvanney who inspired our generation. He made me think it was possible to write about my city and I’m so proud of it that it irked me when other writers portrayed it as all Sighthill and the Gorbals, the East End and gang culture. There is that, but my Glasgow is the city of culture, of art galleries and concerts too,” she says. Not that Gray ignores the harsher side of her home town and her time as a DSS home visitor showed a different Glasgow that also finds its way into her books. “The DSS visiting was eye-opening. It made me grow up a lot. I had been to school and uni, lived in something of a rarefied, sheltered atmosphere, but then I found myself on the streets of 1970s Govan. The police went about in twos, but I was on my own, visiting people in Dickensian tenements with rat-infested basements. I met some real characters who gave me an insight into real life in a very deprived area, saw babies with rickets, old men with hypothermia and that made me see the city in an objective way. I think that finds its way into the books,” she says. Gray was always destined for a life of crime. Miss Galbraith, her primary four teacher, said she would grow up to be an author and she did. A lover of crime fiction she devoured PD James, Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh. “All the classics. But I wasn’t English upper class and the puzzle wasn’t the thing that dominated my mind. I’m more fascinated by the psychology, ever since I read Crime and Punishment at 14. Why do people do these things? And by the repercussions and ripples they cause,” she says. “I hope my books are very moral. At the end of the day good will come out, though you might lose some good people along the way. There was a really nice Egyptian policeman I had killed that upset a lot of people. But these things happen,” she says, wielding a fork with forensic precision to remove the chocolate from the top of her cupcake. Gray has been a full-timer writer ever since she was diagnosed with ME 21 years ago and had to give up the teaching that followed her DSS stint. Her health has been chequered ever since, but she views this as material. Having survived Asian flu as a child during the 1959 pandemic, she has had her thyroid removed, endured back surgery, ME and viral pneumonia. “I have a rotten immune system and have had umpteen operations,” she says cheerfully. “But I’ve survived lots of things. I’ve got books to write! Maybe that’s why I have a preoccupation with life and death.” Although Gray admits there are elements of her in her detective hero Lorimer – his love of birdwatching, long and happy marriage, tendency to introspection, he’s not her. “I’d have made a rubbish detective. I’m far too gullible and have a terrible memory,” she says. Neither is Lorimer the typecast ‘tec with a broken marriage and empty fridge. “He’s more up to date than Taggart, say. He’s not the heavy drinker with the chip on his shoulder. Lorimer’s normal and that’s much more interesting,” she says. What she does share with him is his dogged approach – she’s been up since 5:30am writing today – and is a stickler for research. “It’s crucial; it sparks authenticity for the reader. I had no criminals or police in my family, knew nothing about crime other than what I’d seen on TV so I had to find out. I wanted it to be authentic so from the outset I approached the chief constable for advice.” She’s also researched the pathology of neck injury, done a course in forensic medical science at Glasgow University, studied forensic psychology and belongs to the legal medical society. “I did go to a post-mortem once at the mortuary but you’re not allowed to do that these days – health and safety,” she says. The Bird That Did Not Sing is set against the backdrop of the Commonwealth Games, as the city gears up for its moment in the international spotlight. Away from the press conferences and PR, the police and MI6 deal with terrorist threats and the underside of the tourist invasion: increased prostitution and human trafficking to satisfy it. There are murders and a plot to blow up the opening ceremony by misguided patriots. “I thought it made a change from al-Qaeda. I got the idea for this book from visiting the Olympics. We saw the football at Hampden then went down to London for a week. I was nervous about the Underground and saw all the security there and that sowed the seeds of what if? What if something goes wrong with the Glasgow Commonwealth Games? What if there was a threat to blow up the opening ceremony? My daughter said, you can’t write that!” But she did. As well as writing the Lorimer books – the 12th is due out next year – she is the criminal mind behind the Bloody Scotland festival. Now in its third year, this celebration of Scottish and international crime writers takes place in Stirling and is growing. Why launch a book festival? “Because I’m totally mad and I like prosecco. Lynn Anderson [fellow crime writer] and I were on our second bottle at the Crime Writers Festival and decided we would have ‘the Harrogate of the North’. It started as a tipsy idea and became a huge amount of work. There are masterclasses, workshops, readings, and it’s quirky and Scottish too. The name was my idea because I like to imagine the likes of Ian Rankin and Stuart MacBride saying to people, “Are you going to Bloody Scotland this year?” So what about the Commonwealth Games? Is she worried about going, about a terrorist attack and that she may have tempted fate? “I’m terrified. But I’ve got tickets for the Games so I’ll be there. Also, there is a huge security operation taking care of things we’ll never hear about. I’m not going to the opening ceremony though!” she says. The Bird That Did Not Sing by Alex Gray is published by Little, Brown on Thursday, £12.99. Alex will host a launch event at Waterstones, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow at 6pm on Thursday, (0141-332 9105) and will give a talk and do a signing at Blackwell’s, South Bridge, Edinburgh on Wednesday, 26 March at 6:30pm (0131-622 8229); Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s Crime Writing Festival, 19-21 September (www.bloodyscotland.com). Sponsored Links . Irving, Texas: This Tiny, Unknown Company Is Disrupting A $200 Billion IndustryEverQuote Insurance Quotes Have Skin Tags, Warts, Or Moles? Here's the Easiest, Pain Free Way to Remove Them!SmartLifestyleTips You Will Never Shop on Amazon Again After Seeing This Site.Tophatter Forget Your 401k If You Own A Home (Do This Instead)The Easy Loan Site Prepare To Be Wowed By Dental Implant Pricing In 2018Dental Implants | Sponsored links Here’s Why Guys Are Obsessed With This Underwear…The Weekly Brief | Mack Weldon Casinos Don’t Expect You to Do This. But They Can’t Stop YouSlots - Billionaire Casino Thinning Hair? 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Print Marked Items
Gray, Alex: THE SWEDISH GIRL
Kirkus Reviews.
(Dec. 1, 2017): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Gray, Alex THE SWEDISH GIRL Witness Impulse (Adult Fiction) $2.99 1, 9 ISBN: 978-0-06-265925-5
Four university students are thrilled to be sharing a luxury flat until their fifth roommate is murdered.
Stunning Eva Magnusson's wealthy father doesn't let grass grow under his feet. First he buys her a posh flat in Glasgow when she moves there from Sweden to do a course at the university; then he personally vets her flatmates: policeman's daughter Kirsty Wilson, a nurturing young woman who loves to cook; quiet, young Colin Young, a budding writer; hefty Roger Dunbar, a useful sort to have around; and Gary Calderwood, an Englishman closest to Eva in social class. When Kirsty finds Eva beaten and strangled, all her flatmates are forced to dig deep into their hidden thoughts about her. The police find that Eva had sex shortly before her death, and when DNA proves it was with Colin, DI Jo Grant arrests him for murder. Certain that he's innocent, Kirsty goes to her father's boss, Detective Superintendent Lorimer, to ask for his help. But he can't get Colin out of prison and only angers Grant when he asks her to dig deeper. The beating and strangling of several other pretty young blondes opens the possibility that Colin's innocent. When Lorimer encourages Kristy to search Eva's room and ask questions about her life, she's shocked to learn that Eva has had sex with all her male flatmates plus any number of other men. Lorimer also enlists his friend professor Solomon Brightman, a psychologist and criminal profiler who's helped him with other cases. Brightman interviews Colin and does think him innocent but also thinks that whoever is killing the other young women did not kill Eva. So Kirsty's left to continue her amateur sleuthing while the professionals hunt down every clue in hopes of finding a killer or two.
The 10th in Gray's popular Glasgow series (A Pound of Flesh, 2012, etc.) is sure to please fans as it continues to delve into the lives of the cops who solve the tricky mysteries he sets them.
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Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Gray, Alex: THE SWEDISH GIRL." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2017. Book Review Index Plus,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A516024641/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=975f8f7e. Accessed 31 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A516024641
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Gray, Alex: THE SILENT GAMES
Kirkus Reviews.
(Jan. 15, 2018): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Gray, Alex THE SILENT GAMES Witness Impulse (Adult Fiction) $2.99 3, 13 ISBN: 978-0-06-265926-2
A moment of nostalgia causes problems for a Glasgow police officer.
DS William Lorimer has a lot on his hands. The Commonwealth Games will soon begin in Glasgow, and there's been a credible threat of homegrown terrorism. When a big explosion, perhaps a trial run, causes extensive damage in a wooded area, Lorimer is seconded to help the counterterrorism force in their investigation. At the same time, he can't resist an invitation to attend a school reunion run by his first love, Vivien Fox Gilmartin, whom he finds just as lovely as she was when she broke up with him to pursue an acting career. After their reunion, Vivien phones him hysterically to say that she's found her husband, Charles, a famous theater director, dead in the flat they're renting while he works to bring African theater groups to Scotland. His death appears to be a heart attack, but forensics show that he was poisoned. In addition, the police learn of the discovery of the body of a young African woman who has only a small tattoo as a clue to her identity. They suspect that she was part of a scheme to provide sex workers for the influx of visitors to the games. Since Vivien has no other friends in the area, Lorimer and his wife, Maggie, take her in while her husband's murder is under investigation. Maggie berates herself for feeling that Vivien is less interested in her late husband than in Lorimer, who must hand off the case because he's personally involved. Tracking down the tattoo leads to more stolen girls and a man who may be involved in both the trafficking and the terrorism, but Charles' death remains a mystery.
An excellent procedural in which Gray (Keep the Midnight Out, 2015, etc.) does for Glasgow what Ian Rankin did for Edinburgh in the annals of crime fiction.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Gray, Alex: THE SILENT GAMES." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2018. Book Review Index Plus,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A522643002/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=8dd08f3c. Accessed 31 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A522643002
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Quoted in Sidelights: “psychological suspense” “considered a rising star in British crime fiction.”
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Gray, Alex. A Small Weeping
Rex E. Klett
Library Journal.
130.2 (Feb. 1, 2005): p57. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Full Text:
GRAY, ALEX. A Small Weeping. Allison & Busby, dist. by International Pubs. Marketing. Feb. 2005. c.298p. ISBN 0-7490-8330-1. $25.95; pap. ISBN 0-7490-8325-5. $15.95. M
Detective Chief inspector Lorimer, already investigating the murder of a prostitute in a Glasgow subway, suspects a serial killer after learning of a new victim. The second victim, a nurse, succumbs in a private clinic, but also holds the signature red carnation. A third victim clinches the notion and intensifies the focus on police procedural elements. A feisty pathologist, moody superintendent, promising new rookie, and visiting black American detective all add strong appeal, while the psychological suspense is an added bonus. Fans of other Scottish mystery authors like Ian Rankin may enjoy. Strongly recommended for most collecitons. Considered a rising star in British crime fiction, the Glasgow-born Gray is also the author of Never Somewhere Else.
Rex E. Klett is director of Learning Resources, Mitchell Community College, Statesville, NC Klett, Rex E.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Klett, Rex E. "Gray, Alex. A Small Weeping." Library Journal, 1 Feb. 2005, p. 57. Book Review
Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A128255230/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=3ac00be2. Accessed 31 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A128255230
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Five Ways to Kill a Man
Publishers Weekly.
259.42 (Oct. 15, 2012): p45+. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2012 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Five Ways to Kill a Man
Alex Gray. Sphere (IPG, dist.), $11.95 trade paper (424p) ISBN 978-0-7515-4078-9
Scraps of a psychotic killer's pre-homicide musings alternate with jerkily amalgamated passages unveiling police angst, both public and private, in Gray's pedestrian seventh procedural featuring Glasgow police detective William Lorimer (after Glasgow Kiss). As the killer progresses through the senseless murder of one helpless old lady after another, Lorimer investigates the suspicious death by arson of financier Sir Ian Jackson, and classily fends off vamping advances by resentful Det. Insp. Rhoda Martin, who's after his job, while his wife, Maggie, struggles with her mum's stroke-related problems, which illuminate British socialized medicine. Gray tries too hard to flesh out her slim plot with one conventional device after another, and though she labors mightily to mask it in a crescendo of gory malice and some ham-fisted attempts at twisted psychological motivation, she telegraphs the killer's identity too soon, and pounds it home through the observations of Lorimer's profiler colleague, Dr. Solly Brightman. (Dec.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Five Ways to Kill a Man." Publishers Weekly, 15 Oct. 2012, p. 45+. Book Review Index Plus,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A305745542/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=ea67036d. Accessed 31 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A305745542
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The Riverman
Publishers Weekly.
259.12 (Mar. 19, 2012): p67. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2012 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Riverman Alex Gray. Sphere (IPG, dist.), $8.99 mass market (420p) ISBN 978-0-7515-3873-1
First published in the U.K. in 2007, Gray's solid fourth book featuring Det. Chief Insp. William Lorimer (after 2005's Shadows of Sounds) finds the Glasgow detective investigating the drowning death of Duncan Forbes, a partner in the prestigious accounting firm Forbes Macgregor, who surfaces in the river Clyde. Gray's narrative makes it obvious that something is wrong at Forbes Macgregor as the remaining four managing partners attempt to deal with the crisis. Police efforts are further fueled by the disappearance of one of the firm's rising stars and the death of another key employee. Psychologist and profiler Solomon Brightman adds his expertise, while Lorimer struggles to get a grip on the partners' personalities and actions. Patient police work uncovers some surprising links to other crimes. Gray's series should appeal to fans of both procedurals and psychological dissections of crimes. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Riverman." Publishers Weekly, 19 Mar. 2012, p. 67. Book Review Index Plus,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A283705196/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=b2ab0be8. Accessed 31 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A283705196
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Quoted in Sidelights: “covers well-trodden terrain in a too familiar manner.”
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A Pound of Flesh
Publishers Weekly.
259.25 (June 18, 2012): p39+. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2012 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
A Pound of Flesh
Alex Gray. Sphere (IPG, dist.), $27.95 (400p) ISBN 978-1-84744-393-9
Gray's ninth procedural featuring Glasgow's net. Supt. William Lorimer and psychologist Solly Brightman (after 2011's Sleep Like the Dead) covers well-trodden terrain in a too familiar manner. The Glasgow police must deal with two serial killers--one preying on prostitutes, the other on affluent businessmen. One of the latter victims turns out to be Edward Pattison, Scotland's new deputy first minister, whose slaying only ratchets up the pressure on Lorimer and his team. Once again, Lorimer asks Brightman for help in getting inside the minds of the murderers they seek. Trite setups include a capable woman who ends up a hostage after making the sort of mistake that would have a movie audience screaming, "Don't go in there?" The resolution of the two mysteries does nothing to impress the reader with the lead's acumen. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"A Pound of Flesh." Publishers Weekly, 18 June 2012, p. 39+. Book Review Index Plus,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A294068576/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=4715d1e4. Accessed 31 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A294068576
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Quoted in Sidelights: “a masterly plotted and very imaginative story,”
“uses the bleak, snowy, heavily leaden weather to great effect” “a very sensitive portrayal” . “It was a cracking good thriller and I was thoroughly engrossed until the final page.”
Reviews
Gray, Alex - 'A Pound of Flesh'
Paperback: 480 pages (Dec. 2012) Publisher: Sphere ISBN: 0751543845
Detective Chief Superintendent Lorimer has been appointed to head up a Serious Crime Squad during one of the coldest winters that Glasgow has experienced. This really gripping story about the murder of a series of prostitutes and their clients, in Glasgow by two separate serial killers opens in a very dramatic fashion. There appears to be no link between the two killers but there does appear to be a lot of bloodshed. The poor girls that are being slaughtered are described by this very talented author as so in need of a fix to feed their drug habits, that they stand out on freezing street corners so scantily dressed that you would imagine they should, perhaps, suffer at least chilblains in their cold mini skirted legs. Also, being killed at this particular time are several well-dressed business men - could the two crimes be connected?
DCS William Lorimer's appointment comes at a time when these are the first cases he has to handle. He needs to flex all his management skills on his new team drawn from many different sources and also give a daily press briefing on the progress of his team. Lorimer asks his friend Solly Brightman, a psychologist, to help him out. The enquiry takes on a new intensity when a prominent national politician from the Scottish Parliament is killed. Lorimer gets his team to check out all the important leads they are given but he is disturbed when he realises that the investigation is being sabotaged from within, when some vital confidential information is being leaked.
This very exciting story is further enhanced by the closeness of the relationship between Lorimer and his wife and separately hints of a relationship between a lesbian member of the enquiry team and one of the serial murders. The author uses the bleak, snowy, heavily leaden weather to great effect slowing the action right down and making the job of the investigation dramatically decelerate as the detectives have to fight their way around the city through weather-delayed traffic and freezing temperatures. The masterly plotted and very imaginative story moves on to the dramatic denouement.
This expertly researched book gives a very sensitive portrayal of the poor unfortunate girls who are so addicted to crack or heroin that to get their next fix they have to sell their bodies to men who should know better. I understand that this the author's ninth crime novel, but my first experience of her work which was absolutely excellent. It was a cracking good thriller and I was thoroughly engrossed until the final page. I will look out for her name in the future and I will try to check out her back catalogue. Recommended.
Terry Halligan, England
December 2012
Details of the author's other books with links to reviews can be found on the Books page.
More European crime fiction reviews can be found on the Reviews page.
SHADOWS OF SOUNDS
by Alex Gray
Allison and Busby, May 2006
288 pages
6.99GBP
ISBN: 0749082380
Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada
The Scottish crime novel is alive, well and delivering some hearty kicks with hob-nailed boots. There's Denise Mina in Glasgow, Ian Rankin in Edinburgh and Stuart MacBride in Aberdeen. Also in the fray is Alex Gray in Glasgow -- but she's not yet in the same league as the other three.
SHADOWS OF SOUNDS is the second in the police procedural series to star DCI Bill Lorimer, and it feels too much like crime writing by numbers. The plot is serviceable, the writing technically efficient, but the characters just aren't there.
Lorimer is a one-dimensional hero with some bland colleagues and a snotty boss. There's the obligatory rocky private life, as his wife Maggie has gone to America to teach, and he's not sure if this signals the end of his marriage. And his sidekick, psychologist Solly Brightman, is totally unmemorable.
The action takes place around a symphony orchestra. George Miller, the City of Glasgow's orchestra leader, meets a nasty end in his dressing room before a performance. It turns out Miller had a very tangled love life and was an unpleasant bit of work who wasn't at all fussy who he took to bed.
SHADOWS OF SOUNDS is a quick and easy read. But it's the kind of book where, the more I thought about it, the more little things in it niggled me. The newspaper bit, for example, is not only annoying, but also inaccurate. The journalist would have seen Lorimer in court rather than reveal his sources. And Gray's attempt at a news story proves that most non-journalists just can't capture the writing style required for news writing -- this 'article' was artificial beyond words.
And one other aspect stops me from recommending the book with a clear conscience. Gay relationships form a significant part of the plot, and Gray's portrayal of them is on the surface matter of fact. But underneath it there's more than a hint of hidden homophobia.
When Lorimer, playing the good Samaritan, takes a homeless young man into his house after the lad has been involved in an accident, the assumption from some people is that he must have ulterior motives. And in the end -- and this really isn't giving much away -- there are no sympathetic gay characters, and all their relationships end in tears. It left a faintly nasty taste in the mouth.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, June 2006
THE RIVERMAN
by Alex Gray
Sphere, May 2007
320 pages
18.99GBP
ISBN: 1847440266
Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada
Accountants seem to get bad press for being boring and grey-suited. After reading Alex Gray's THE RIVERMAN, you might decide it's not a profession to recommend to your friends and family if they value their life!
Duncan Forbes appeared to have led a blameless life. But when his dead body is fished out of the River Clyde in Glasgow, and his wife is told he was having an affair, what looks like an accidental death provides Strathclyde Police with a far-ranging murder enquiry.
I never quite know what to make of Alex Gray's books. She's being touted as Glasgow's answer to Ian Rankin. All I can say is that the blurb writers might want to read a little more widely in the burgeoning Scottish crime fiction scene!
Like Gray's earlier books, THE RIVERMAN has a good central story, this one featuring our dodgy neighbourhood accountants. But even though Gray feels like she's doing all the right things, in the end the book is rather a plod (no pun intended!) There's a spark missing somewhere.
I think the problem is that we never really care about her lead characters in the same way we do for Rebus and Siobhan, or for Denise Mina's Paddy Meehan. The cop hero, DCI Bill Lorimer, and his shrink sidekick Solly Brightman just aren't that fascinating.
And it's not helped that the book is told from quite a few points of view. Focussing on Lorimer and one other person might have ensured we got closer to the main characters.
If you read the previous book in the series, SHADOWS OF SOUNDS, you'll recall that Bill's teacher wife Maggie was on an exchange trip to America. She's home again, but some of the threads set up last time are simply ignored this time out, and there's a really annoying angle where Maggie is convinced her husband slept around while she was abroad – and it's the kind of clumsy plot device that could have been solved, shock horror, by having two characters actually bothering to talk to each other.
Speaking of which, the book's new American angle seems promising at the start, but soon becomes a bit dull. Come to think of it, that pretty much sums up the book. The ending's OK, but by then I was sort of drifting and not that engaged with what happened. The whole book felt like an excuse to include all the research Gray had found out about the real-life riverman.
I seem to recall complaining last time out about some inaccuracies in the portrayal of journalists. This time out Gray could have put the riverman to one side for a moment and done some homework on what a D Notice is and how it relates to the media.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, May 2007
GLASGOW KISS
by Alex Gray
Sphere, April 2009
368 pages
19.99 GBP
ISBN: 1847441947
Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada
I'm still having difficulties getting a handle on Alex Gray and keep thinking I should be enjoying her books more than I do. She's a good writer, but she's being pushed too hard to be something she isn't – no way does she do for Glasgow what Ian Rankin does for Edinburgh.
Her hero is DCI Bill Lorimer, aided and abetted by his schoolteacher wife Maggie. In GLASGOW KISS they both play an equal role in the investigations, as a colleague of Maggie's is accused of raping a pupil who then disappears.
The school scenes are by far the best of the book, as Gray has a sharp eye for the way teenagers speak and behave. And one of the threads involving abused teenager Kyle Kerrigan is far stronger than the 'official' sub-plot where police are investigating the disappearance of a toddler.
The book could do with less rhapsodising prose and more dialogue to move it along. A sharper edit would help as well – Lorimer's tame shrink friend Solly's beard waggles sagely rather too often. And Gray resorts too often to one of those dreaded lazy writing techniques 'had she but known that . . .' Some of her journalism-related scenes are rocky and would benefit from some better research. And surely social services would have been called in long before Kyle's father came out of prison.
To be honest, Lorimer is rather grey and dull. And none of his colleagues stand out as people you'd want to get to know better. The fact that most of the characters lack shade and depth keeps the reader constantly at arm's length.
What stops a competent book being better is the ponderous nature of Gray's writing and the fact that everything is in black and white. Psychiatric hospitals are shiny happy places. Colleagues who don't like the saintly Eric Chalmers are seen by Maggie as Very Nasty People. And both the main plot and sub-plot are tied up with breath-taking ease, speed and triteness.
I'll give Gray another go, but her books have moved into last chance saloon for me.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, April 2009
Reviews
Gray, Alex - 'Five Ways to Kill a Man'
Paperback: 352 pages (May 2010) Publisher: Sphere ISBN: 1847441971
In this seventh Lorimer and Brightman outing, DCI Lorimer and his wife Maggie are attending the wedding of psychologist Solomon Brightman and pathologist Rosie Fergusson.
Elsewhere in Glasgow, there is someone killing old ladies and making the deaths look like accidents. When prominent businessman Sir Ian Jackson and his wife Pauline die in a fire and there seems to be little progress, Lorimer is promoted to Superintendent and asked to review the case. He is soon aware that DI Rhoda Martin who was still on the case doesn't want him around (thinking that she should have been promoted after DCI Colin Ray resigned).
Whilst DSI Lorimer is trying to review the case, his mother-in-law Alice Finlay is taken to hospital with a stroke. When he tries to support Maggie during hospital visits, he very quickly realizes how difficult Colin Ray's life had been when he tried to look after his dying wife.
The only lead that seems to be available for the apparently unlinked arson attack and the deaths of the old ladies are the sightings of a black clad cyclist. When more old ladies die, Lorimer asks Solly for his insight into the case and he convinces Lorimer that a serial killer is on the loose. Solly is writing a book on female serial killers (of whom there haven't been many), but he is certain that this killer is a woman - but who?
After his review, it appears that the Chief Constable had directed DCI Ray not to look at motives other than that for local youths (and not to enquire into Jackson's private life). Lorimer finds that there are some shocking omissions in the case which he simply cannot ignore. The arson case is going nowhere and the only lead Lorimer has is an ex-gardener recently sacked by Jackson.
Then the serial killer gets closer to Lorimer and his family - can he unravel the clues and save the next victim?
Alex Gray produces a novel that holds the interest of the reader from start to finish. The story line develops William Lorimer, his wife Maggie and their friends (including Solly and Rosie). She shows that policemen are not always able to concentrate entirely on their current case - although Maggie does usually let him focus on work and reduce distractions. Gray brings Glasgow to life and yet again shows the very human side of policemen. Her novels are consistently well written and this seventh volume only adds to the long running story of William Lorimer.
Paul Blackburn, Scotland
June 2010
Details of the author's other books with links to reviews can be found on the Books page.
More European crime fiction reviews can be found on the Reviews page.
The Darkest Goodbye by Alex Gray
Book Cover
We meet newly-appointed Detective Constable Kirsty Wilson as she prepares for her first day serving in Glasgow CID; her first day out of the uniform that has been her constant companion since joining the police; and her first day doing the job she has wanted since joining the police, and long before. Kirsty knows what she is getting herself into. Her father is a soon-to-retire detective inspector, and one of their closest family friends is Detective Superintendent William Lorimer, the man heading the CID department Kirsty has been appointed to.
It doesn't take Kirsty long to begin to question just how well she really understands what she has taken on. On her first morning she accompanies her CID mentor and immediate boss, Detective Sergeant Len Murdoch, to attend the suspicious death of an elderly woman: suspicious because it happened immediately following an unscheduled visit by a previously unknown nurse. Before she's had a chance to catch her breath, she is on the scene of another death, this time the savage murder of a well-known Glasgow drug dealer. Then another vulnerable person is murdered in their sleep, and the police begin to realise that there is a killer at large and other murders are likely to happen: and equally likely to have happened already and gone unnoticed, mistaken for natural causes.
Alex Gray doesn't write simple, linear stories, and in "The Darkest Goodbye" she weaves a complex and entertaining web that shuttles the reader between the worlds of Kirsty Wilson, William Lorimer, and other, darker, characters, who seem sure they can carry on just as before, despite the increasing police interest. As a result the reader is often a few steps ahead of the police in terms of understanding what is going on, though the author balances this beautifully with an ability to withhold just enough to veil the central questions of who is behind the dreadful scheme that is uncovered, and what their true motivations really are.
A sense of place is often so important to really good Tartan Noir, and it certainly is here. The modern Glasgow that serves as a backdrop to the plot lends a character that is in turn fascinating and threatening, and the result is a thoroughly good read. This is a book we'd heartily recommend, and one that has the added benefit of requiring no knowledge of the author's earlier works that share the Glasgow setting and some of the characters.
Quoted in Sidelights: “are by far the most moving and successful parts of this book,”
“an interesting character,” “weak on occasion”
Reviews
Gray, Alex - 'A Small Weeping'
Paperback: 256 pages (May 2005) Publisher: Allison & Busby ISBN: 0749083883
Detective Chief Inspector Lorimer and his team, part of the Glasgow police force, are called in to investigate the death of a prostitute, whose body was found at the train station with a flower between her hands. Rapidly running into a dead end, the case is rudely awakened when Kirsty MacLeod, a nurse at a local care home, is found dead in a similar manner. Following any lead that he can in a case that frustratingly runs into dead ends, Lorimer and his sidekick, a psychological profiler called Solomon Brightman, travel to Harris, one of the Hebridean Islands in the north, not only because the dead nurse comes from the island, but to interview two patients who have abruptly been sent there on "respite leave" the day after the murder. The interview with the dead girl's Aunty Mhairi, the depiction of life on the remote island, and the uncovering of Kirsty's brief, poignant life, are by far the most moving and successful parts of this book.
Back in Glasgow, Lorimer struggles to make any sense of the investigation, as yet another nurse is killed and the witnesses seem unable or unprepared to help, including the reticent manageress of the care home. At the same time, Lorimer's wife Maggie, increasingly frustrated at her empty marriage to a man who is never home, plans a year's teaching exchange in America.
Although I enjoyed this book, I felt that the police procedural aspects were quite weak on occasion. Lorimer is an interesting character, but he seems to spend most of his time with the profiler, rather than his police colleagues, in trying to solve the case - in the process, missing quite a few promising avenues. Divine Lipinski, a stimulating and unusual visitor from the Florida FBI who arrives at the start of the book, fades away and is not developed. The identity of the murderer is also evident right from the start, so for me it was a question of how the plot would all tie in together, rather than who did it. There is an interesting twist in the tail of the case, and the story and character of Phyllis, a woman with multiple sclerosis, is a highlight, as well as Phyllis's role in the eventual capturing of the villain. But the book is not helped by the expectations placed on it by the jacket blurb comparing Lorimer to Inspector Rebus (because they are both Scottish, one presumes): this series needs time to mature before these kinds of comparison can be made.
Maxine Clarke, England
March 2008
Maxine blogs at Petrona.
Details of the author's other books with links to reviews can be found on the Books page.
More European crime fiction reviews can be found on the Reviews page.
Quoted in Sidelights: “Only the Dead Can Tell is, quite simply, superbly written and plotted,” . “It sums up everything that is golden and enthralling about a good book.”
By my reckoning this is the fifteenth outing for Alex Gray’s veteran Glaswegian copper, William – now Detective Superintendent – Lorimer. A woman – who, if witnesses are to be believed, was a deeply unpleasant person – is found stabbed to death, her hands clutched around a top-of-the-range kitchen knife. Dorothy Guilford was widely disliked both within her own family and further afield while her husband, Peter – by contrast – has few detractors. Yet the working hypothesis of the police investigating Dorothy’s demise is that Peter Guilford did the deed.
OTDCT COVER SMALLLorimer has become bogged down in a partially – and only partially – successful investigation into murder, prostitution and people trafficking based in Aberdeen. In the Granite City some entrepreneurs, denied a living by the decline in the oil and gas industries, have taken to trading in other commodities – human lives. However, to borrow the memorable line from The Scottish Play, Lorimer’s team have “scotch’d the snake, not kill’d it.” The head of the gang responsible for taking young and innocent Romany women from impoverished Slovakian villages, and setting them to work in Scottish brothels is known only as “Max”. The very mention of his name is enough to silence witnesses, even those who have every reason to long for his downfall. But how – if at all – is Max connected to Peter Guilford, arrested for his wife’s murder, but now beaten within an inch of his life while on remand in Glasgow’s Barlinnie prison?
Alex Gray gives us an enthralling supporting cast. Ever present are the consultant psychologist, Dr Solomon Brightman and his wife Rosie, a pathologist who has the essential – but unenviable – task of literally eviscerating the human bodies which are the result of murder most foul. Young Detective Constable Kirsty Wilson goes above and beyond the call of duty to make sense of the confusing and contradictory ‘facts’ of the Dorothy Guilford case. All the while, though, she is facing a personal dilemma. Her boyfriend has just won the promotion of his dreams – a prominent position in his bank’s Chicago operation. But will Kirsty cast aside her own imminent promotion to Detective Sergeant, and follow James in his pursuit of The American Dream?
AlexGrayThe British police procedural – the Scottish police procedural, even – is a crowded field, and each author and their characters tries to bring something different to choosy readers. Where Alex Gray (right) makes her mark, time and time again, is that she is unafraid to show the better things of life, the timeless touches of nature in a summer garden, or the warmth of affection between characters, particularly, of course, the bond between William and Margaret Lorimer. Here is one such moment:
“She smiled as he selected a bottle from the fridge. The dusk was settling over the treetops, a haze of apricot light melting into the burnished skies …….she pulled a cardigan across her shoulders as she settled down on the garden bench, eyes gazing upwards as a thrush trilled its liquid notes. Live in the moment, she thought, breathing in the sweetness that wafted from the night-scented stocks.”
This is not to say that Gray wears rose-tinted spectacles. This is far, far from the case, and her scenes depicting the violence – both emotional and physical – that we inflict on one another are powerful, visceral and compelling.
A particular mention needs to be made of the deft touches Gray uses when writing about Margaret Lorimer. Here is a woman much to be envied in many ways. She has a loving husband, a stable and prosperous home life, and a teaching career in which she touches the lives of so many young people in her school. And yet, and yet. A cloud hovers over Margaret, and it is one that can never be blown from the otherwise blue sky. The couple’s inability to have children sometimes weighs heavily, especially when friends and colleagues are gifted with children. But Gray never allows Margaret to become embittered, and if she envies Rosie and Solomon, for example, then she keeps it to herself.
Only The Dead Can Tell is, quite simply, superbly written and plotted. It sums up everything that is golden and enthralling about a good book. It is published by Sphere, and will be out as a hardback and a Kindle on 22nd March.
OTDCT FOOTER
Quoted in Sidelights: “There is plenty of suspense … and Gray plays cleverly on the contrasts between the family lives of the investigators and the investigated.” “will more than satisfy fans of Gray, and there’s plenty for the new reader to get their teeth into.”
LOUISE FAIRBAIRN Published: 12:14 Thursday 22 March 2018 Share this article Sign Up To Our Daily Newsletter Sign up 0 HAVE YOUR SAY The 15th novel in Alex Gray’s Detective Superintendent Lorimer series begins with the death of a middle-aged woman, Dorothy Guildford, in her own home, the evidence pointing firmly towards her husband, Peter, as the person responsible for the knife embedded in her chest. Pathologist Dr Rosie Fergusson isn’t convinced, however, and she clashes with the detective who’s in charge of the case. Meanwhile, Lorimer is temporarily in Aberdeen, overseeing a major operation against human trafficking. After wrapping up a series of raids rescuing young women from forced prostitution, he returns to Glasgow, where it is believed the ringleader is based, and begins a quiet investigation into Peter Guildford’s possible links to his own case. When the suspect is attacked while on remand in Barlinnie, DC Kirsty Wilson, detailed to guard him in hospital, begins to wonder if there is more to the case than meets the eye – why target the husband if it’s “just another domestic”? Interviews after the prison attack throw up a man called “Max” as the leader of the trafficking gang, and Guildford’s reaction to hearing the name is enough for Lorimer to get the bit between his teeth. Gray’s main good guys – Lorimer, Wilson, Fergusson and her husband, psychologist Professor Solomon (Solly) Brightman – are all thinkers, not given to impulsive actions (no rushing off after the bad guy without back-up here). They also tend to play within the rules, so there are no favours exchanged with shady characters, and definitely no sloping off for a few pints in the middle of a shift. Find a Home in Los Angeles Explore our new communities in Northridge and Walnut. View home plans and more! Promoted by Shea Homes My preference is for a little less thought and a little more action, but by keeping most of the violence off the page, Gray lets the reader’s imagination fill in the blanks. It also means that what violence is seen packs a bigger punch – Dorothy’s death is all the more shocking for not just being one in a series. There is plenty of suspense too, and Gray plays cleverly on the contrasts between the family lives of the investigators and the investigated. By the halfway point we’re no nearer finding out what is going on, let alone who is masterminding things, though plenty of secrets are being unearthed. A missing Slovakian girl, Juliana, turns up, complicating Lorimer’s case; new facts come to light about Dorothy; and a dead body connected to the mysterious Max is discovered. The team have a stack of theories, but until they see how the threads weave together they won’t get very far. Indeed, Gray has packed so much in that at times it feels as if the book will burst at any moment. Then Solly makes a crucial breakthrough and everything starts to click into place ahead of a final showdown in a Govanhill tenement. Only The Dead Can Tell will more than satisfy fans of Gray, and there’s plenty for the new reader to get their teeth into. Only The Dead Can Tell, by Alex Gray, Sphere, £18.99
Read more at: https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/books/book-review-only-the-dead-can-tell-by-alex-gray-1-4710740
Quoted in Sidelights: “It’s not so much a police procedural with one standout character, but a fine illustration of the various organs of law enforcement and their individual roles in bringing criminals to justice. It’s written with fine eye for detail and the background has been immaculately researched.”
Only the Dead Can Tell
by Alex Gray
Superintendent William Lorimer and his Major Incident Team uncover links between an apparent domestic murder and a vicious team of people traffickers.
Review
When Dorothy Guildford is found stabbed to death in her Glasgow home, all the signs point to her being murdered by her husband Peter. Forensic psychologist Rosie Ferguson is convinced there’s more to the case that meets the eye and soon finds herself in conflict with senior investigating officer DI Alan McCauley, who is certain the police have their man and is not too fussy about making his case.
Meanwhile as DC Kirsty Wilson searches for evidence that will put Guildford behind bars, she is shocked to discover a link with a human-trafficking operation that Detective Superintendent Bill Lorimer has been investigating for months in the northern oil city of Aberdeen. But before they can question him properly, Guildford, on remand in Glasgow’s famous Barlinnie prison, is brutally attacked in the showers and left in a coma from which it is unlikely he will recover.
With one person dead and another barely hanging on to life, the clock is ticking for the investigators – then the stakes are suddenly raised when one of their own undercover officers is kidnapped by a gang run by a ruthless madman who clearly cares nothing for human life.
More murders follow as the plot builds towards its climax. It’s brutal, but never gratuitously so, and taken all round is one of the best descriptions of a police operation I’ve read – with every character, even those in the walk-on roles, believable and playing their part to the full.
This is the 15th in the series featuring detective Bill Lorimer, now a Superintendent and head of Police Scotland’s Major Incident team. It’s not so much a police procedural with one standout character, but a fine illustration of the various organs of law enforcement and their individual roles in bringing criminals to justice. It’s written with fine eye for detail and the background has been immaculately researched – in fact part of the plot is based on truth and the co-operation between Police Scotland and the Slovakian force to bring down a people trafficking and white slavery and prostitution ring. But it is Alex Gray’s ability to bring her protagonists to life which lifts this far out of the ordinary.
From a talented young DC, torn between her career and her love for her boyfriend who has been offered a job in America, through the heavily expectant forensic psychologist convinced that what looks an open and shut domestic is not what it appears, but terrified of repeating a mistake from her early career, to Lorimer himself and his long-suffering and supportive wife, all are totally believable and intensely human.
It’s time we heard rather more of Gray and William Lorimer south of the border. She’s well worth the read.
Reviewed 31 March 2018 by John Cleal
John Cleal is a former soldier and journalist with an interest in medieval history.