Crime & Mystery
Mina does night-time Glasgow very well. It has that damp, watchful feel where every street seems to keep its own counsel.
What stayed with me most was the old, uncomfortable sense of being shut out of a room where something bad has already happened. Not in a neat mystery way, either. More like everyone else has agreed on the shape of the story and you are still standing in the corridor.
That’s the bit I like in crime fiction. The atmosphere is doing half the work before the plot even gets going.
What stayed with me most was the old, uncomfortable sense of being shut out of a room where something bad has already happened. Not in a neat mystery way, either. More like everyone else has agreed on the shape of the story and you are still standing in the corridor.
That’s the bit I like in crime fiction. The atmosphere is doing half the work before the plot even gets going.
That shut-out feeling is often more effective than a tidy puzzle box. Crime gets a bit too pleased with itself when every clue is politely laid out on the table.
Mina setting this in 1984 Glasgow sounds like it would help with that, too. The city can do “something is wrong here” without raising its voice. I’m generally more interested in that slow pressure than in a twist trying to kick the door in at the end.
Mina setting this in 1984 Glasgow sounds like it would help with that, too. The city can do “something is wrong here” without raising its voice. I’m generally more interested in that slow pressure than in a twist trying to kick the door in at the end.
That shut-out feeling does a lot for crime fiction, especially when the setting is doing some of the withholding for you. I’m often more interested in who gets left outside the room than in the twist itself. If a book can make the ordinary details feel slightly hostile, I’m in. Glasgow in 1984 sounds well suited to that sort of pressure.