Scottish author Lynne McEwan on the classic novel she never finished, why crime fiction is a great way to experience other cultures, and the book she is reading now.
The first book I remember reading:
Once Upon a Time, a beautiful hardback book of fairy tales with some terrifying illustrations. It was translated into English and printed in Prague, so the stories retain a more traditional, less sugar-coated ethos. The Three Bears are visited not by Goldilocks, but by a witch, who they punish for stealing their porridge and sleeping in their beds by hanging her up from the top of a church tower. I sometimes wonder if that book set me on the road to crime writing. It was all murder and mayhem from an early age.
A book I recommend to everyone:
All The Colours of the Dark by Chris Whittaker is the book I’m currently encouraging folk to read. A young boy, Patch, intervenes in a girl’s abduction and is taken himself instead. The consequences echo through not just his life but his best friend’s Saint’s too, as both become set on their own quests to find lost girls. It’s a love story, thriller and coming-of-age tale all wrapped up in a page turning epic. You won’t be able to put it down.
The best book I have read in this year:
My Heart is a Chainsaw by Blackfeet Native America author Stephen Graham Jones. It’s a crime/horror crossover with a kick-ass female lead. It was recommended by a writer friend, otherwise I’d never have picked it up, horror not being my thing at all. It has a fabulous dark humour and I learned so much from it. Crime fiction is such a diverse genre and a great way to experience the grassroots of other cultures. Reading outside your comfort zone every once in a while can definitely pay big dividends.
The book I am most looking forward to:
Hang On St Christopher by Adrian McKinty is out in the spring. It features the outsider cop Sean Duffy and is set in Northern Ireland of the 80s and 90s. I love a crime series where you get to follow a character through not just a number of cases, but their hopes and dreams for a different future and the hard grind of trying to make them happen. These Edgar Award-winning books bring the setting and period vividly to life through twisty plots and wry humour.
A book I didn’t finish:
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I know it’s a classic, and some people love it, but I couldn’t get past the first fifty pages, which is the point I feel it’s fine to stop reading any book that isn’t grabbing you. I didn’t connect with the style or the humour and I’m not sure I ever would, so a second go isn’t on the cards. The fact that the title has given us a useful phrase to describe a situation you can’t escape from due to contrary rules is enough for me.
An author that has inspired me:
Tom Benn, recently named The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, was one of my tutors at the University of East Anglia, and he was generous in sharing his process with us. His book Oxblood has a trio of strong working-class Manchester women at its centre. It something I’ve tried to follow in my own DI Shona Oliver series, which reflects my own upbringing in Glasgow. Writing can be a solitary business so I’m inspired by my fellow authors, published and unpublished every day.
The book I am reading now:
Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson. This brilliant homage to Agatha Christie-style murder mysteries is a gripping and highly entertaining read. A grand country house, a snowstorm, and a cast of likely characters – vicar, army major, eccentric dowager – and the stage is set for private-eye Jackson Brodie in this, the sixth novel in the series. There’s humour and twists aplenty as art thefts are investigated and an escaped murderer is loose on the moors. It’s rumoured to be the last outing for Jackson Brodie, but legions of fans, myself included, will be hoping for more.
Glasgow-born Lynne McEwan is a former newspaper photographer turned crime author. She’s covered stories including the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the first Gulf War, and many high profile murder cases. Her DI Shona Oliver series is set on the Solway Firth which forms the border between Scotland and England, and where Shona is also a lifeboat volunteer. A Troubled Tide (Canelo) by Lynne McEwan is out 27 March.
Read more of The Good Books here.
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