Reviews
This novel treads the fine line between crime and comedy
Fast paced and compelling, Feliks Berisovic arrives from his East European homeland to bring back the great-granddaughter of the last Archduke to Scotland. With the best of intentions he rescues the wrong woman, antagonises a psychopath and shoots an undercover agent, incurring the wrath of everyone, including security forces. And there’s always a danger the…
Read MoreA party problem will make the wee ones smile
Mac and Bob and the Party Problem is a colourful and imaginative children’s book which is a fun read for little ones who appreciate the illustrations and medium-sized ones who love the tale. Even Mummy can relate to the plot, which sees Mac invited to a party only to realise that he has nothing to…
Read MoreFinding Scotland’s best dishes from a campervan
Pitch Up Eat Local lets local food tell the story of the UK’s most beautiful areas. Food and travel writer Ali Ray has travelled the country meeting the UK’s most passionate producers. Accompanied by beloved campervan ‘Custard’, she learns first-hand how to cook regional dishes, including cullen skink, cranachan and Highland beef kebabs in Scotland,…
Read MoreFinding the greater truth in a fascinating book
Jellyfish is a sparkling and powerful collection of writing. Janice Galloway takes on David Lodge’s assertion – ‘Literature is mostly about having sex and not much about having children; life’s the other way round’ – and scent-marks her multi-layered fiction with what she believes to be the greater truth. Razor sharp tales of two of…
Read MoreLifting the lid on the very best of Tartan Noir
What is Tartan Noir? Which authors belong to this global crime fiction phenomenon? Which books should you read first, next, again, or not at all? Len Wanner investigates the genre’s four main sub-genres – the detective, the police, the serial killer, and the noir novel. Covering four decades of literary history, he provides close readings…
Read MoreA celebration of Scotland’s diesel trains in print
Colin J. Howat’s latest book on trains is a broad look at first generation diesel multiple units throughout Scotland. First Generations Scottish DMUs covers virtually the entirety of Scotland and encompasses locations from Arbroath to Carlisle. With lots of detail and a mixture of black-and-white and colour photographs dating from 1976, this will be a…
Read MoreA Scottish family bus business that grew and fell
The McKindless Group by David Devoy is the story of a family business which got out of its depth. The McKindless bus company started off as a small operation of a few buses, a lorry and two coaches in 1987. After providing mostly school contracts and private hires, the company began to venture into local…
Read MoreThe rise and sad fall of the Strathtay Bus Group
Strathtay Scottish Buses by David Devoy is an interesting tale of expansion, contraction, and ultimately the oblivion of the group. Strathtay Scottish was a product of the state-owned Scottish Bus Group’s attempts to prepare for deregulation and possible privatisation in the mid-1980s. Eventually, after being taken over by several different entities which culminated in the…
Read MoreAn educational history of Edinburgh’s Trams
The once controversial Edinburgh trams have now become part of the city’s furniture. In this informative guide featuring previously unpublished images of the city’s trams network, Kenneth Williamson charts the history of the system from the horse-drawn trams which ran from Haymarket to Leith in 1871, to the first electric trams which started to operate…
Read MoreScottish history – without the boring bits
Presented as a chronicle of the curious, the eccentric, the atrocious and the unlikely, Scottish History Without the Boring Bits is a unique historical account of Scotland’s past offers a colourful melange of the episodes and characters that have spattered the pages of our nation’s story. From the War of the One-Eyed Woman to the…
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