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WORK TITLE: A Fine House in Trinity
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Edinburgh, Scotland
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY:
http://sandstonepress.com/books/a-fine-house-in-trinity * http://sandstonepress.com/authors/lesley-kelly * https://portobellobookblog.com/2016/04/20/a-fine-house-in-trinity-by-lesley-kelly/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married; children: two sons.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Has worked in the public sector and as a stand-up comedian.
AWARDS:Scotsman’s Short Story Award, 2008.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Lesley Kelly lives and works in Edinburgh, Scotland. She writes poetry, short stories, and novels and has even tried stand-up comedy. Her work earned her a Scotsman’s Short Story Award in 2008. Her two novels, A Fine House in Trinity and The Health of Strangers, fall into the genre “tartan noir.”
A Fine House in Trinity
Her first novel, A Fine House in Trinity, introduces readers to Joseph “Stainsie” Staines, a flawed hero indeed. Staines, who is an alcoholic, has come into an inheritance. To acquire it, he must return home to Edinburgh, where he faces a variety of problems. The police want to question him about two murders, and someone may be after his inheritance—a mansion in the elegant Trinity section of the city that is in need of a makeover and where the two murder victims died. A Publishers Weekly reviewer called this debut novel “comical” but also “lackluster.” A critic writing in Kirkus Reviews had a more positive opinion, remarking that the book “is less a mystery than a shaggy dog story with a hero well worthy of the starring role.”
A contributor to the Portobello Book Blog interviewed Kelly, an interview in which she spoke about how she became a writer. In 2004, she heard about the Leith Festival’s short-story competition. “I decided to have a crack at it and won—and like a gambler winning his first bet I’ve been addicted ever since!” In a review of A Fine House in Trinity, the blogger commented: “If you want a twist on the crime novel with a large helping of Scottish humour, this is the book for you. A very entertaining fast-paced debut novel.” A correspondent at Lothian Life proclaimed that the novel “is a compelling mystery brimming over with sharp wit, keen observation and peppered throughout with fascinating titbits of Leith history.”
The Health of Strangers
Kelly’s second book, The Health of Strangers, is a dystopian novel set once again in Edinburgh. The country has been laid low by the Virus, a mutated and lethal strain of flu. The Health Enforcement Team is in charge of monitoring people’s health monthly, but the group is widely feared as being a corrupt government agency that is actually behind the outbreak.
A critic at the Portobello Book Blog found the book’s premise “intriguing” and concluded that the novel is “well paced with strong storylines, a frighteningly plausible plot and entertaining banter between its main characters throughout.” Writing online at the Crime Warp, a critic praised the book, saying that the “characters are brilliant” and the “dialogue is spot on.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2016, review of A Fine House in Trinity.
Publishers Weekly, October 3, 2016, review of A Fine House in Trinity. p. 101.
ONLINE
Crime Warp, http://thecrimewarp.blogspot.com/ (June 12, 2017), review of The Health of Strangers.
Lothian Life, http://www.lothianlife.co.uk (July 2, 2016), review of A Fine House in Trinity.
Portobello Book Blog, https://portobellobookblog.com (April 20, 2016), review of A Fine House in Trinity; (June 14, 2017), review of The Health of Strangers.*
Lesley Kelly
Lesley Kelly has worked in the public and voluntary sectors for the past twenty years, dabbling in poetry and stand-up comedy along the way. She has won a number of writing competitions, including the Scotsman’s Short Story award in 2008. Her first novel, A Fine House in Trinity, was longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize.
ABOUT ME
Lesley Kelly has worked in the public and voluntary sectors for the past twenty years, dabbling in poetry and stand-up comedy along the way. She has won a number of writing competitions, including the Scotsman's Short Story award in 2008. She lives in Edinburgh with her husband and two sons.
A Fine House in Trinity
Publishers Weekly. 263.40 (Oct. 3, 2016): p101.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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A Fine House in Trinity
Lesley Kelly. Sandstone (Dufour, dist.), $16 trade paper (302p) ISBN 978-1 910124-95-6
Joseph "Stainsie" Staines, the downon-his-luck hero of British author Kelly's comical but flat debut, left Edinburgh with cash in his pocket and the tally book of the much-feared Isabella Stoddart in his possession. Now the money is gone, Isabella--the mother of Lachie, Stainsie's childhood thug pal--is dead, and Stainsie is the heir. Except it's not money he's getting but a rundown mansion in the city's posh Trinity section, the perfect spot for a guy with no place to stay to crash--and an excellent spot for the police to find a corpse. Stainsie, who seems to have run afoul of the whole of Edinburgh, must not only persuade the police he had nothing to do with the deaths of Isabella and the woman found in the Trinity mansion, or Lachie, who appears to have committed suicide under suspicious circumstances, but also find the real killer if he has any hope of inheriting more than a crumbling house. Kelly peppers her tale with flashbacks of Stainsie's youth-with the fearsome Stoddart clan, but even his colorful memories aren't enough to buoy the lackluster current-day story. (Nov.)
Lesley Kelly: A FINE HOUSE IN TRINITY
Kirkus Reviews. (Sept. 15, 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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Lesley Kelly A FINE HOUSE IN TRINITY Dufour (Adult Fiction) 16.00 11, 8 ISBN: 9781-9-10124-95-6
A ne’er-do-well Scot inherits a mansion.Joe Staines never had much of a family. His Polish grandfather, Josef Wisniewski, leaves him a new British name (picked at random off a map of Scotland) and very little else. His da works too hard to have much time for Joe or his brother, and when his ma takes to drink and disappears, his da tells his sons she’s dead. Small wonder that young Joe takes up with Lachlan Stoddart, a schoolmate who’s shunned by most other kids as fat, slow, and greedy but one who offers the chance to spend afternoons at a home stocked with endless treats: video games, remote-control cars, and free-flowing cash provided by two indulgent parents. Guthrie Stoddart is the reputed head of a gang that makes that cash by selling protection, but it’s Lachlan’s ma, short, squat Isabella, who strikes fear into wee Joe’s heart. Jump ahead a few years. Guthrie’s disappeared. Isabella’s dead. So is Lachlan, who leaves the remainder of the Stoddart fortune to his old pal Stainsie. Attorney Charlotte Spencely reminds him that a pile of debts must be settled before he takes possession of the estate’s main asset: a large house in Edinburgh’s Trinity district. But Joe’s not one to stand on ceremony. When Marianne, his girlfriend, chucks him out with a bucket of mop water, he breaks into the Trinity house—which after all will be his when all the legal folderol is done—and dosses down there. Breaking and entering, even into a house he has some prospect of owning, puts Joe on the wrong side of Old Bill, and soon he’s facing his old pal DS Danny Jamison, who’s perturbed not only over the deaths of Isabella and Lachlan Stoddart, but that of a young girl whose body is squirreled away in a window seat of Joe’s fine house. Told in a series of flashbacks and fast-forwards, Kelly’s tartan noir debut is less a mystery than a shaggy dog story with a hero well worthy of the starring role.
A Fine House in Trinity by Lesley Kelly
20/04/2016Joanne
Regular readers of my blog will know that I do love a story with a local setting. Trinity is a relatively affluent area of Edinburgh and according to Wikipedia is “one of the more desirable neighbourhoods”. Although the housing nowadays is very mixed, it is known for some rather large houses built in the early 19th century. One of these is the ‘Fine House in Trinity’ of the title. Just to give you a picture in your mind, here is Stirling Road in Trinity, although the house in the story was considerably larger.
I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel from Lesley Kelly in no small part because large sections are set, despite the title, in Leith where I was born and brought up. Joseph Staines is the protagonist and quite frankly someone I’d probably avoid in real life. He’s a hard drinker, has dabbled in drugs and is well known to the local police force. And yet, somehow, Lesley Kelly has made him a really likeable character. He recently left Edinburgh in a hurry with the ‘tally book’ (record of debts) owned by the deceased Isa Stoddart. The Stoddarts were a feared family in the area collecting protection money from the local businesses. Joe was a childhood friend of Lachie Stoddart, Isa’s rather unpleasant son, but now he too has died and Joe has come back to meet the family lawyers who have some rather surprising news for him.
This was a really gripping book and quite unusual in that the crime is being investigated by a rather dodgy character rather than the police. Joe’s own life is in danger if he can’t figure out who really killed Isa Stoddart and why. It is darkly funny and I particularly enjoyed the chapters of the book looking back at Joe’s childhood and how he grew up. I think they are the reason why I found him so likeable, because I got to know him as a wee boy and to understand the events which make him the adult he becomes. His dad was a great character and I had a lot of time for him, trying his best for his boys in difficult circumstances. There were a lot of memorable characters in the book including the wonderfully named Wheezy, the priest Father Paul and the very scary Meikle.
If you want a twist on the crime novel with a large helping of Scottish humour, this is the book for you. A very entertaining fast-paced debut novel. I’m looking forward to reading more by Lesley Kelly and rather hope that Stainsey might feature again!
A Fine House in Trinity is published in paperback tomorrow (21st April) by Sandstone Press. My thanks to the publishers for the review copy. You can order a copy here: A Fine House in Trinity
Blog pic
I am delighted that Lesley has agreed to answer my Author in the Spotlight questions so read on to find out more about her.
First of all, would you tell me a little about yourself?
I’m an Edinburgh lass, born and bred, although I did spend about a decade away from here seeing the world (mainly Birmingham, if I’m honest, my world’s not all that big). I live in Trinity, with my husband and two young sons, and work in the voluntary sector.
What inspired you to start writing?
The Leith Festival in 2004 ran a short story competition. I decided to have a crack at it and won – and like a gambler winning his first bet I’ve been addicted ever since! The Leith Festival is also where I tried stand up comedy for the first time, but that’s another story…
Tell me about your journey to publication
In 2008 I won the Scotsman’s/National Library of Scotland Criminally Good Writing competition, with a story about an alcoholic called Staines, who flees town with a stolen tally-book belonging to the local debt collector. I liked the character so much that I expanded the story into a full length novel, which I had professionally edited, then sat on, not quite having the nerve to send it anywhere. I entered the draft into the Caledonian Novel Award, and was long-listed which gave me the shove I needed to do something with the manuscript. My colleague, R.L. McKinney of Blast Radius fame, suggested that I send it off to her publisher, and to my amazement the lovely people at Sandstone Press picked it up!
In a nutshell, what is your latest book about?
The novel begins with Staines returning to Edinburgh, the debt collector having now died under suspicious circumstances. Her son, Lachie Stoddart, Staines’ best friend, has also died mysteriously and Staines is the sole beneficiary of Lachie’s will. Staines thinks that he can nip into Edinburgh to see the solicitor and get out of town again before anyone sees him, but of course he gets stuck. No-one is pleased to see him back in town, and there are a couple of people who would rather see him dead than inherit the Stoddart empire. And the best that Stainsie can muster in the way of support is his fellow dipsomaniac ‘Wheezy’ Murphy…
How did you come up with the title for your book?
If anyone has seen the cover art for A Fine House in Trinity you’ll see that the title is rather ironic! Trinity has many magnificent houses, most of which are now sub-divided into flats. Unfortunately, poor Stainsie has inherited a rather dilapidated mansion.
How do you plan to celebrate/did you celebrate publication day?
My publication day (21 April) is also going to the date of my launch – 6.30pm at Waterstones on Princes Street, Edinburgh. Everyone is very welcome to join us!
(And I’m delighted to say I’ll be one of them!)
Do you have a work in progress just now?
There are a couple of things that I’m working on at the moment – nothing too firmer up though.
What’s your favourite book you’ve read in the past few months? Or favourite three if you really can’t choose!
Got to go for three I’m afraid! I absolutely loved The Silence of the Sea by Yrsa Sigurdardottir, a thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat right up to the final chapter. I also zoomed through We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler, a family saga with a huge twist in its tail. And finally, I know I’m late to the party but I recently finished all 838 pages of Darkmans by Nicola Barker. It was fab but my wrists may never recover!
What are you reading just now?
I’m currently reading Roseanna, the very first Martin Beck novel by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (March 2016)
Tell me about your reading habits: book or kindle, bed or bath, morning or evening?
I’m definitely a paperback person, but now I’m planning a walking trip suddenly having all your holiday reading on a Kindle begins to make sense!
How can people follow you or connect with you on social media?
My Twitter handle is @lkauthor – do come and say hi! And I have a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/lkellyauthor/ and a website at http://lesleykelly7.wix.com/author-blog
And finally, if you could be a character in any book you have read, who would it be and why?
I’ve always been quite fond of Gilbert Joseph from Andrea Levy’s Small Island. I’d like to have his ability to just deal with whatever life throws at me…
From the back of the book
Joseph Staines, an unemployed chef, has left Edinburgh with the tallybook of the late debt collector, Isa Stoddart. Her son Lachie thinks Stainsie killed her, but Lachie has apparently committed suicide. To his surprise, Stainsie is the sole beneficiary of Lachie s will and has inherited a dilapidated mansion. Isa s debtors and the local priest who paid Stainsie to leave town want him gone. A certain young mum, Marianne (whose uncle, Wheezy, is Stainsie’s drinking buddy) does too, and his old school-friend, Detective Sergeant Jamieson, wants to interrogate him about the deaths. Why are the lawyers lying to him, and who is the bruiser asking about him down the pub?
A Fine House In Trinity
I sit on the bench for a minute and stare up at the statue of Queen Victoria. In this light she bears more than a fleeting resemblance to Isa Stoddart. Neither of them were ever amused.
A Fine House in Trinity by Lesley Kelly, is an entertaining twist on the traditional mystery. When Joseph Staines returns to Edinburgh after a six week absence, no one is pleased to see him. He’d been given a large sum of money in exchange for making the feared Isa Stoddart’s tally book, and himself, disappear. But when he receives a call from a Miss Spencely telling him that he’s the sole beneficiary to the Stoddart estate, he knows he’s made the right decision. The only trouble is that he’s not the only one with his eye on the inheritance.
The Stoddart family ran a renowned criminal empire in Edinburgh. Their matriarch, Isa, took over the business after her husband, Guthrie, mysteriously disappeared. When she’s murdered, everything is left to their son, Lachie. But Lachie’s death quickly follows, leaving many to believe that Staines—Lachie’s right hand man—is the killer. Isa’s many debtors now fear for their lives.
But Staines hasn’t just returned for the money. Everyone he knows is in Edinburgh and he’s spent most of his life in the city. A life which has been fueled by drink, drugs and a general sense of apathy. Will Staines redeem himself and make good on his promise to find Isa’s killer, thereby freeing the lovely Marianne, or will he fail as usual?
Written in first person and alternating between past and present, Kelly skillfully shows us who Staines once was, and who he hopes to be, if only he can summon up the courage.
A Fine House in Trinity is a compelling mystery brimming over with sharp wit, keen observation and peppered throughout with fascinating titbits of Leith history.
Published by Sandstone Press.
In The Health of Strangers Lesley Kelly returns once more to the darker side of Edinburgh. This is an Edinburgh living in fear following The Virus pandemic. The Virus is a mutant strain of the flu which has claimed the lives of over a million people in the UK alone. The Health Enforcement Team has responsibility for following up on anyone who has missed their monthly health checks. They are not popular, especially amongst those who think The Virus is some sort of government run conspiracy.
Now normally I wouldn’t say I enjoy dystopian novels but this must be just a little bit dystopian because I certainly did enjoy it! I think that part of the reason is that I could envisage this kind of scenario happening. We have all heard about the Ebola virus which killed so many in Africa, have been warned about the possible dangers of bird-flu and more recently read about the Zika virus in South America. Doctors warn us that antibiotics are losing their effectiveness and that a pandemic of this nature is likely. So it was intriguing to read about this imagined world, where people try to virus-proof their homes, everyone has to carry their health card and everyone knows someone who has died. As I would imagine would happen, conspiracy theories begin to arise, people start to look for alternative therapies and grasp at possible cures no matter how bizarre they may seem. It all seemed scarily plausible.
I also enjoyed getting to know the Health Enforcement Team as they carried out their thankless tasks, trying to track down two young students who had gone missing. Along the way they discover cults, infiltrate secret gatherings, uncover German government interference and investigate possible drug dealing. Bernard, Mona and Maitland all had their own reasons for working in the HET and all had secrets in their home-life they’d rather not bring to the office. This unlikely group of colleagues were all intriguing in their interactions with each other. I was pleased to see from a sneak peek at the back of the book from Lesley Kelly’s next novel, Songs by Dead Girls, that we will get to meet them again and I’m looking forward to getting to know them better.
The Health of Strangers is another great read from Lesley Kelly. It’s well paced with strong storylines, a frighteningly plausible plot and entertaining banter between its main characters throughout.
In a recent interview with The Crime Warp (here), Lesley Kelly described her work in progress like this:
Taste the bitter tang of the illegal drugs you purchased over the Internet in the hope that they will protect you from the Virus. By the way, they don’t work and you just gave your credit card details to some very unsavoury people.
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See the adverts on the TV round the clock about the Health Enforcement Team who will be knocking on your door if you miss your fortnightly Health Check.
· Touch your hand against your daughter’s face, and pray she never catches the Virus. You know that teenagers are most at risk; their healthy immune system will work so hard to fight the Virus it will kill them.
· Smell the incense from that ‘church’ on your daughter’s clothes. You know it’s a cult but she’s desperate for hope.
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Hear the door slam as she storms out. But don’t worry – when she doesn’t come home, the Health Enforcement Team will help you look for her. Or her body.
So really, is it any surprise that when I got the chance to be on her Blog tour and review her new book The Health of Strangers, that I jumped at it? To be honest I was gripped before I even started - Who wouldn't be after that juicy description earlier?
And believe me The Health Of Strangers lives up to my extremely high expectations of it. Set in a post viral Edinburgh, the Health Enforcement Team headed up by Mona and Bernard, stem the spread of the 'virus' by enforcing monthly health checks and following up on those who miss them. When two students disappear Mona and Bernard are thrust into a world of cults, raves and overseas governments.
So, why am I recommending The Health of Strangers to you? Easy! ... The characters are brilliant. Their dialogue is spot on and the relationship between Bernard and Mona is great. Sometimes when an author comes up with such a novel plot, they fail in the execution of it... not Kelly though. She delivers this brilliantly. A truly fantastic read!