1979

The best part of this crime novel was the vivid setting - Glasgow in 1979. McDermid deftly weaves contemporaneous cultural and societal and historical references into the narrative. And she's created an interesting character in Allie Burns, a rookie reporter at a daily newspaper.

What didn't work for me was the actual plot - it was both over-simplified and required a degree of suspension of disbelief that I couldn't muster. That said, this is the first in a series, and I would definitely give #2 a try.

3.5 stars

4.5 rounded up.

Where to start... Well, first, don't read the damn blurb on Goodreads! It has a massive spoiler that doesn't happen until about 80% into the book. I had read the blurb on NetGalley when I requested the book and I'm glad I did. Let me paste it here for you so you don't have to go anywhere else. I'm still pissed about reading the spoiler.

"It's only January, and the year 1979 has already brought blizzards, strikes, power cuts, and political unrest. For journalist Allie Burns, however, someone else's bad news is the unmistakable sound of opportunity knocking, an opportunity to get away from the "women's stories" her editors at the Scottish daily The Clarion keep assigning her. Striking up an alliance with budding show more investigative journalist Danny Sullivan, Allie begins covering international tax fraud, then a group of Scottish ultranationalists aiming to cause mayhem ahead of a referendum on breaking away from the United Kingdom. Their stories quickly get attention and create enemies for the two young up-and-comers. As they get closer to the bleeding edge of breaking news, Allie and Danny may find their lives on the line.

The first novel in a brand-new series for McDermid, 1979 is redolent of the thundering presses, hammering typewriters, and wreaths of smoke of the Clarion newsroom. An atmospheric journey into the past with much to say about the present, it is the latest suspenseful, pitch-perfect addition to Val McDermid's crime pantheon."

Now that we have that out of the way, we can get to the actual review.

I've read a few books by McDermid and I think this is my favorite. I honestly can't wait to get my hands on the next in the Allie Burns series. She's my kind of heroine: smart, brave, and open minded. And she's just starting with her journalistic career so I know there will be plenty of great adventures in her future.

I listened to the audiobook and am not sorry at all because I LOVE a Scottish accent. Helen (Simone Lahbib) from Bad Girls got me hooked. I might have appreciated having both the audio and the ebook for this one because the Glaswegian accent was a bit tough to understand at times and I know I missed some words here and there.

The story and the writing were fantastic. I was drawn in immediately and loved Danny and Allie and wanted to kick brother Joseph in the nuts so many times it would have constituted a workout. Bastard. And because it was set in 1979, there's plenty of misogyny and homophobia and other shit you would expect.

Huge thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for hooking me up with the audiobook and an even bigger thanks to Ms. McDermid for writing such a great book and characters that felt incredibly real. I'll miss Allie and Danny. And Rona. Can't wait to see more of Rona. show less

Allie Burns, as a female reporter in Edinburgh in the late 1970s, faces more than the usual challenges of a young journalist looking to make it big. Fortunately she has an ally in Danny Sullivan, who is willing to collaborate with her on stories without taking the credit or being a sexist pig. Their teamwork starts with a story of a miracle baby delivered on a train and moves up to a hard-hitting story of financial skulduggery that spells danger for the both of them.

This book moves at a decent clip; I started it one morning before work and had read about 100 pages by the time I had to put it down and start working. The atmosphere of the newsroom is brilliantly rendered, and the character of Allie is one I will enjoy following in show more subsequent novels. I did feel the ending was just kind of there; once the narrative pointed out whodunnit, wrapping things up felt anticlimactic. Also, some of the book name-drops read a bit as “inserted for atmosphere” for me, but it could have been my reading mood.

I’d certainly recommend this if any of these apply to you: 1) you haven’t read Val McDermid and want to try a series that doesn’t have a lot of gore; 2) you like Val McDermid’s Karen Pirie series (this is my favourite series of hers); 3) you like Denise Mina’s Paddy Meehan trilogy. show less

As a big fan of Val McDermid I wanted to like this novel more than I did. It isn't that 1979 is a weak novel, I think it is a very good glimpse of the period and sets up the rest of the series very well. I am just used to far more tension and edge-of-my-seat suspense, if not downright fear. So it is less about the quality of the book than about what I was expecting.

Having said that, I loved being transported back to that time period. McDermid mines her own experience as a journalist during this time to offer a fine look at what it was like, terminology and conversational phrases included. I found myself enjoying this aspect as much as the stories/cases that form the crime element of the novel.

While there will likely be other readers show more such as myself who come to the book expecting something grittier or darker, I think most readers will come away both invested in Allie Burns and curious to see where she is in ten years. As a first book in a seemingly very structured series I fully expect to look back on this book fondly after reading the rest of the installments.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

Setting is often a key feature of McDermid's books, and in this case it wasn't just the location (Glasgow), but also the year, 1979. Scotland was about to vote in a referendum on devolution, a proposal that would result in a partial, quasi-home rule Assembly. All across the UK, it was the "Winter of Discontent" with tension over taxes and labor strikes causing inconvenience and shortages, creating a feeling of unhappiness that was exacerbated by unusually cold, wet weather. And across the Irish Sea the IRA was escalating their campaign to separate from the UK with increasing violence.

A rich backdrop of potential plotlines for McDermid's main character, fledgling journalist Allison Burns, newly added to the staff of a major Glasgow show more tabloid. As she struggles to make a place for herself in the testosterone-heavy newsroom, Allie collaborates with another young hack, Danny Sullivan. Their two investigations lead them into dangerous territory, and McDermid does a great job of blurring the lines so that the obligatory murder might have been the result of either - or neither.

Although the book is full of references to pop music of the day, there is one unmentioned album of that year that ran through my head the entire time I was reading - the Kinks' Low Budget, particularly "Superman":

Woke up this morning, what did I see?
A big black cloud hanging over me
I switched on the radio and nearly dropped dead
The news was so bad that I fell out of bed
There was a gas strike, oil strike, lorry strike, bread strike
Got to be a Superman to survive
Gas bills, rent bills, tax bills, phone bills
I'm such a wreck but I'm staying alive

Some of those issues seem to haunt us today, but we are in a better place (well, at least most days) in terms of one cultural element playing a role in this book which I haven't yet mentioned: homophobia. Thankfully, these days it couldn't quite drive a plot, or even a subplot, in the same way that it does in this book.

An easy 5 stars based on comparison with books of a similar genre. show less

Nothing like a good crime novel to while away these cold wet days. Set in 1979 but not written then this novel achieves the almost unconceivable task of recreating that era complete with its sexism, racism, homophobia, smoking, and lack of mobiles.

The story is a good yarn in itself and would have stood in any era.

Not much more to say except it's well worth a read

I've been reading books by Val McDermid for almost 20 years but she continues to surprise me with her plots. I listened to this one, narrated by Katie Leung, and loved the accents. They made the story seem so Scottish in a way that reading a book doesn't quite do.

It's the year 1979 and Allie Burns is a journalist working at the Clarion newspaper in Glasgow. On a train trip back from visiting her family in Edinburgh for Christmas she runs into her co-worker, Danny Sullivan. The train gets stopped by snow and then a woman goes into labour. Danny and Allie help deliver the baby and Allie writes up the story for the paper. Danny doesn't want his part in it mentioned because he's working on a big investigation about an insurance company show more fraud. The company is Paragon insurance and Danny's brother, Joseph, is involved up to his neck. Allie, who is the better writer of the two, drafts the article and she and Danny agree tokeep Joseph's name out of it. Despite this Joseph is fired and Danny's parents blame Danny, causing a huge rift between him and the rest of the family. Allie, meanwhile, has been following the Scottish Independence vote story and has heard some guys plotting to plant bombs like the IRA do. Unable to go undercover herself, she convinces Danny to do it and soon he is plotting to get bomb making materials with the other three. The paper's editor is closely supervising this and he gets a few other staffers involved. The crime beat reporter brings in a source who is with the secret police. When Danny sees him he almost has a heart attack. See, Danny is gay (remember this is 1979 and sex between people of the same gender is still illegal) and he has seen the source in gay bars. Lately, he saw this man "snogging" with another of the terrorism plotters. He tells Allie about this, which means coming out of the closet to her but Allie is fine with that. Since this is a mystery, you know someone is going to be killed but I'm not going to disclose who that is. Read the book yourself.

We are planning a trip to Scotland this summer and we have a few days in Glasgow so I'm trying to get a feel for the place through my reading choices. I think I'll have to read/listen to the follow-up before we go. show less