Anthology #58
Resolution, by Irvine Welsh
This is not an easy read; this author doesn’t do “Cosy Crime”; his fiction can accurately be described as “gritty”. Ray Lennox is a former Inspector from Edinburgh CID, who has relocated to Brighton; he has previously appeared in two earlier novels from this author: Crime and The Long Knives [I thought I had reviewed at least one of these, as the character seems familiar, but if so, I can’t find it, thanks to WordPress’s Byzantine search facility!] He is plagued by self-doubt, characterised by an inner dialogue in broad [and very profane] Scottish argot, which is in stark contrast to his verbal exchanges with his mostly English contacts; he does lapse into the vernacular in his dealings with his younger brother and some erstwhile colleagues. He is oppressed by memories of a sexual assault on himself and a schoolfriend, which happened when they were wheeling their bicycles through a long tunnel near their homes, and which had a central bend which allowed no light to penetrate: a perfect place for deviants to hide. Is he remembering the event accurately, though? Therapy is helping, but there is still plenty of doubt. He is now a partner with another former police detective, English, in a security company, installing surveillance equipment in homes & businesses. When he encounters a man through his current girlfriend, he is horrified that, for all the man’s well-heeled respectability, the man has to be one of the perpetrators of his childhood assault. Drip-fed into the narrative are two separate streams which appear to throw some light on the incident, but it isn’t clear until the end who the author of one of these streams is. For all his macho background, Lennox is no ‘tough guy’, and he ends up the worse for wear in more than one encounter. Thankfully, there is a satisfactory resolution, as suggested by the title, although most of the information is imparted in an email, rather than exclusively from the action. This is not for the faint-hearted! The paperback I read was published in 2025 by Vintage, part of the Penguin Random House group of companies, London [2024, Jonathan Cape], ISBN 978-1-5299-1862-5.
The Peepshow, by Kate Summerscale
If it weren’t for the subtitle, which on the copy I read, is central & prominent: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place, the title of this book could be a non sequitur for readers; it is taken from a book, A Pin to see the Peepshow, of which more later. I would guess that no reader under the age of fifty would be familiar with this notorious case; unless they happened to be a connoisseur of classic British films, such as the eponymous 10 Rillington Place, starring Richard Attenborough [the area is now redeveloped, just south of the Westway urban motorway: look for Bartle Road, W11]. There is, understandably given the ghastly nature of the crimes, a plethora of books already written about it, but here, the author examines it in forensic detail. Given that the outcome is known, the enjoyment of reading the book is different from that of a murder mystery thriller: here as many as possible of the characters involved are minutely examined, and it is the why of the case which is significant, much more than the how. Also, there is the perennial matter of the subsequent doubt over whether the two murders, which initially brought the benighted address to public attention, were actually committed by the man who was hanged for one of them, Timothy Evans. The author does posit a plausible solution, but there will always be an element of doubt, because as well as most of the anecdotal evidence being unavailable, the personalities involved are all now dead. That John Reginald Halliday Christie was guilty of the murder for which he was tried, and several others for which he was not, was never in doubt for most people; but what obsessed Harry Procter, the reporter who interviewed Christie in 1949 about the Evans murders, was that he had not ’twigged’ that Christie had lied through his teeth, and when Christie’s crimes came to light in 1953, he was determined to rectify that error. Another character examined in great detail is the author of the aforementioned book, Fryne Tennyson Jesse, and that book was, in turn, based on the 1922 Thompson-Bywaters murder case. This book’s sources are given in copious notes at the back; annoyingly by text reference, not the usual number convention. Other than that minor gripe, I found this a fascinating read, so I would heartily recommend it to lovers of true-crime non-fiction. The paperback I read was published in 2025 [2024], by Bloomsbury Publishing, London, ISBN 978-1-5266-6051-0.
Death at the Sign of the Rook, by Kate Atkinson
This is the latest outing for private detective Jackson Brodie, and his often reluctant colleague, Reggie, who is a young police detective constable now working in Yorkshire, although originally from Scotland. This is a ‘slow burn’ thriller, because there is little action, other than interaction of the characters, until well into the narrative, when a murder occurs. Brodie has been engaged to locate both a missing painting, of uncertain provenance, and the alleged social worker who looked after the owner, an elderly widow, and the social worker is suspected of having absconded with the painting; Brodie’s clients are the deceased’s middle-aged children, brother & sister twins. The title refers to the name of a hotel within a rambling [and crumbling] mansion which is set in its own grounds, including a deer park. One of the scions of the mansion owner’s family has come up with the potentially money-making wheeze of arranging ‘Murder Mystery’ weekends in some luxury; but at an eye-wateringly expensive price, of course. During the lead-up to the dramatic event, in the professional sense, Brodie becomes aware of an earlier situation which bears significant similarities with that of his current customers: possibly valuable painting goes missing, coincident with the disappearance of a caring nurse, so naturally, inherently mistrusting coincidences, Jackson wonders how much the two cases overlap. There are plenty of well fleshed-out characters in this story, and the author takes plenty of time to describe them, and work them into the tapestry which resolves itself in the dénouement. Brodie is now older, although not necessarily a great deal wiser: he has splashed out on a brand new Land Rover Defender, of which he is inordinately proud; although, to be fair, it does come in very useful when a thick blanket of snow envelops the landscape surrounding the mansion at which Brodie & Reggie find themselves uninvited, but by no means unwelcome guests…. This is another enjoyable outing for Brodie and Reggie. The paperback I read was published in 2025 by Penguin Books, London [2024, Doubleday, an imprint of Transworld Publishers], ISBN 978-1-8049-9452-8.
Crossfire, by Wilbur Smith
For some reason, I thought this author was known for writing ‘Western’ novels, but it would appear not: the grey cells must obviously be misinformed. The cover of this book features a now [for me] irritatingly common & generic device of showing a character from behind, running; that notwithstanding, this is the fourth entry in the Courtney Series: Assegai Sequence: the African name is a reference to the fact that the main character, Saffron Courtney, was born & brought up, as was the author [although the book was completed after the author’s death by David Churchill], in Africa. It is 1943, and although a female Special Operations Executive [SOE] agent was by no means unusual; in fact, there were many of them; Saffron is one of, if not the best. She has narrowly escaped occupied France with her life after assassinating a high-ranking SS officer, and to keep her out of further danger, while at the same time allowing her to continue to be useful, she has been sent to the USA to convince the wealthy & powerful there that the SOE has a vital rôle to play in the forthcoming invasion of Europe. Unfortunately, her mission is already known to the Germans, but also to another interested party, as a result of an ostensibly ill-advised plain-text message which was sent to the British Embassy in Washington DC; of course, it was intercepted by person or persons unknown. Was this a deliberate ploy, of which Saffron was unaware? As the narrative progresses, her training makes her think that she is under surveillance, but if the ultimate goal is her eradication, perhaps it would be better to embrace that to flush out the possible killers? Inevitably, there is doubt as to who the ‘mole’ in the Allies might be, and Saffron has to be extremely careful not to jump to dangerous conclusions. The tension builds nicely over the course of the story, including a tragic turn of events which sours the operation for Saffron. There is a further novel in this series, and other novels in a separate, but connected, Courtney family series, so I will keep a look out for any of these, to enhance my knowledge of them. The paperback I read was first published in the UK in 2025 by ZAFFRE, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK, London, ISBN 978-1-8387-7912-2.
Wilfred Books 