A Bad, Bad Place

Another successful random library selection! After almost DNF'ing from the first paragraph - 'I kick [the dog]. Right in the belly' (I hate animal cruelty in books) - I found myself caught up in both the mystery and the characters. Even the Glaswegian dialect - thankfully not as broad as Trainspotting - developed into a rhythm that was both evocative and engaging (I can't comment on the authenticity, but I'm going to recommend the book to my friend, originally from Bathgate!)

Twelve year old Janey Devine, an orphan who lives with her grandma in the Possilpark area of the city, becomes one of the many unfortunate dog walkers who discover a body while out with her mutt, Sid Vicious. Samantha Watson, the daughter of a local crime boss, has show more been brutally killed and mutilated, in a murder, given the year, that reminded me of the 'Yorkshire Ripper' victims. Janey, in shock, sits with the body, holding her hand and pulling down her skirt, and then does 'a bad thing' before taking refuge in a nearby tunnel - but was she alone? Her memory of the discovery is patchy, the police are less than sympathetic, and Janey becomes fixated with finding out about Samantha's life - and death. She also takes her fear and anger out on poor Sid, which I hated to read.

The narration switches convincingly between Janey, who is not always likeable but very believable in her thoughts and behaviour, and her gran Maggie, still mourning the tragic deaths of Janey's parents and sister in a gas explosion, and also carrying a dark secret of her own. The supporting characters were also well drawn, from Billy Watson and his thugs to Janey's friends and neighbours. Like Janey, I even wanted to learn more about the victim, Samantha, who would usually be relegated to the crime and a plot device - was she a good person? Why was she so cowed by her ex?

I'm not great at figuring out whodunnit, and I found the red herrings equally convincing as the revelation of the murderer, and had to keep reading to find out who killed Samantha. Janey constantly putting herself at risk, and everyone manipulating a twelve year old into doing their dirty work, made for a tense read in places!

No clue as to the accuracy of Glasgow in the 70s, but I was completely drawn into Janey's life and community and loved the dark humour and dialect ('away and raffle yer donut' is now a favourite phrase!) Beautifully and powerfully written, in the same style as The List of Suspicious Things. show less

Janey is in a bad way after finding the mutilated body of a woman near some abandoned train tracks. Her grandmother is at her wits end, trying to figure out how to help the traumatized twelve year old and can’t help but think the girl is holding something back. Something troubling that has led her to go to confession three times. Janey can’t even stand the company of her dog, Sid Vicious, who led her to the body. The truth is, while Janey can’t stop thinking about what she saw, she can’t recall what happened afterword, when she may have seen the killer.

The bereaved father of Samantha, the dead woman, is involved in organized crime in Possipark, an impoverished neighborhood in North Glasgow. The relationship between the residents show more and the police is not good; in reality, its the criminals who are the law in Possil. Janey’s Nana has a miserable job cleaning in a local pub, and is tempted when Samantha’s father offers her a job at a dodgy taxi service. She’s not happy about working for criminals, but she feels for the grieving man and is half-convinced by his claim that he simply wants to do something for the family of the girl who found his murdered daughter.

Meanwhile, Janey has suspects in mind for the murder. She compiles a notebook about Samantha, trying to deal with the shock of finding her body, and gets to know her friends, a librarian who she dated and a group of girls she met at university. But none of it helps. Her anxiety rises as a man begins to follow her, making veiled threats about keeping her mouth shut.

Told in the voices of Janey and her grandmother, both richly steeped in Glasgwegian dialect, this novel is a brilliant evocation of a close-knit neighborhood in the 1980s and the ways a murder sends out ripples through the community. While the focus is largely on the lives of its vivid characters, the mystery is well-plotted and offers a number of twists and turns. Altogether, it’s an impressive debut by an author who knows how to bring this particular time and place to life through two endearing, complex women.

Besides, as Samantha’s university pals tell Janey, Sid Vicious is the best dog name ever.

Reposted from Crime Fiction Review - https://crimefictionreview.com/a-bad-bad-place-by-frances-crawford/ show less

When her dog discovers a dead body, 12-year old Janey falls into a state of confusion. She lives with her Grandmother Maggie, a woman who has experienced enough trauma to know that she needs to protect Janey as much as she can. however, the body belonged to Samantha, daughter of a local gangster, and now Maggie is trying to balance protecting Janey alongside staying away from trouble.
This is a wonderful book which really touches on a lot of emotions. From the coming of age of Janey in a rough Glasgow as the end of the 1970s, to the guilt of the person who finds a body, to the emotional trouble that Maggie has to experience, to survival in a harsh environment riddled with sectarian prejudice, this is a story that delivers on so many levels.

This is a quirky, original read with strong character development, even for the dog, Sid Vicious, and a strong sense of place. The reader follows the thoughts of Maggie and Janey as they try to figure out who is responsible for Samatha's Watson's brutal murder. There are a myriad of choices and they must always be aware of who can be trusted and who is dangerous. It's never quite clear. I felt for Maggie and Janey and the toll it took on each of them over not knowing who the killer was and whether or not they were in danger.