Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - 1979

"...these were men who had no doubts at all that they deserved their substantial salaries and inflated expenses accounts. Allie considered. She should compare herself to her colleagues more often. Set alongside them, she had no reason to worry. She needed a new motto. 'More gallus, less feart,' as he grandmother would put it. She'd show them. And right now, she'd show Angus Carlyle that he'd been right to give her a job."

It's 1979 in Glasgow and newly qualified reporter Allison (Allie) Burns is working her first job for tabloid newspaper, the Clarion. Life is dominated by sexist, macho men, but Allie is determined to prove she can undertake serious, investigative journalism, not just the 'puff pieces' aimed at women readers. She's clearly streets ahead of many of them, despite her relative inexperience. She teams up with peer and friend, Danny Sulivan and they make a great team reporting on tax fraud, which is rather too close to home for Danny's brother. Their next scoop, undercover with 'tarton terrorists' seeking Scottish independence and a Burns Night plot aided by the IRA, proves deadly.

The first in a new series from esteemed crime author McDermid, is atmospheric and engaging. The author's background as a young reporter during this period helps to make the world she has created come alive. On the cusp of a new decade, Glasgow's language, food, religion, music, fashions and politics, alongside its misogyny and homophobia, are depicted with skill. Allie is a brilliant protagonist, bright and determined, with a real way with words. Full of twists and turns and (without spoiling the plot) there is a sudden, shocking and undeserved death that had me wishing it hadn't happened! An expertly depicted world with an engaging and sparky protagonist, I look forward to reading more of Allie's investigations as the series continues.

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mysterious medium-paced

3.75

This was the first ever Val McDermid book that I've read; I've was sent a free PDF from the publisher, so I was pleased to be offered the opportunity. In my head, I had VMCD as a prolific crime writer of the Tess Gerristen , Patricia Connelly vibes, but this was very different to what I'd expected. It was tense at times, but that was the strongest feeling; there wasn't a really crime in the sense that most other crime fictions approach. This book is about Allie Burns, the journalist and her pal Danny, discovering the 'could be' crime of a politically approached bombing. I'd also say that I think the tag line of the book is slightly misleading. "She's hunting for a story and someone is hunting her." I'm not sure anyone actually IS hunting Allie at all throughout the book. It's an interesting start to a new crime series; I would pick up the next Allie Burns book, but only because I like the approach of a female journalist as the lead, rather than a standard female detective.

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