‘JOURNALIST S AT THAT TIME WERE BIG, FUCKING F EROCIOUS MEN'
Blood wri es
Having laid her Garnethill series to rest, DENISE MINA is back with a new heroine. Allan Radcliffe finds a writer continuing to cheerfully break crime fiction’s rules.
nu might e\pcct a writer whn secured her rcputatinn with a [fling nl‘ nn\‘els l‘ncusing on the trihulatinns nl a wnman with l'irst hand e\pcricncc nl‘ childhnnd ahuse. alcnhnlism. ps} chiatric care and murder tn he snmething nl~ a dnur snul. Yet the (iiii‘m'llil/l authnr is strikingl) warm. l‘ricndl_\' and humnrnus. When I cnntact her In discuss her latest which npens with The l’it'lr/ (Mill/(mil she‘s nn her wa_\ tn hnspital tn \isit her IN-ninnth-nld hah) I’ergus whn‘s ‘raging‘ alter a minnr nperatinn. Yet the ‘(‘rnwn l’rincess nl‘ ('rime' remains happ} tn chat ahnut the ideas and inspiratinns behind the new hnnk. Denise Mina‘s t}picall} cnmpulsne thriller is set mainl} in 108! and centres arnund the tenacintis in\estigatinns nl' lirilliantl) drawn hernine. Paddy Meehan. a sinart-mnuthed l8-)c‘;ii‘-iild .schnnl leax'er l‘rnm a staunch!) Irish (‘athnlic lamil} and the nnl} l'emale ‘cnmhny with the Swirls/i I)ui‘/_\' News.
crime series
.-\lnngside Mina's right-nn—the—mnne} e\plnratinn nl
I’add} ‘s grnw ing impatience with her family’s cnnser\ati\c e\pectatinns l‘nr her life and career I‘I'ti\l‘c‘c‘ts. the authnr tackles the inxnhement nl‘ two I l- _\ear-nld htws in the ahductinn and murder iii a tnddler. in t)pica||} unflinching .st_\le. 'l‘he nmel retains Mina‘s talent l‘nr mining (ilasgnw 's dark. seed} underhell}. Yet it‘s her gift l‘nr strnng characterisatinn —- l‘rnm Padd) and her traditinnal latnil} tn the imidintis t}pes she encnunters at the newspaper — that remains mnst ltltpl'c‘sslu‘.
‘I wanted tn write a hingraph} nt a character.‘ she admits. ‘lt's nne nl' tlinse sill}; unwritten rules nl‘ the crime genre that _\nur central character li\‘es l‘nre\ er and
stays the same in every hnnk. a hit like in a snap npera.
I wanted tn get awa} lrnm that and lnllnw' a character
thrnugh hig parts (it her lil‘ef ('ertainl). you feel I’add}
is a rich ennugh creatinn tn hecnme the heart nl annther
popular series. Meanwhile. the newspaper setting is the perfect deVice with which tn explan aspects til the 1980s that are nutwith the nnstalgic glnw nl deer hnppers and New Rninantics. 'Yes. it's nn accident that the hnnk’s set in the mnnth Rupert Murdnch hnught 'l'liv 'I‘i'im's.’ she says. ‘Jnurnalists at that time were big. l'ucking l'ei'ncinus men. .-\nd the w a} that the gm'ernment and the likes nl Murdnch hrnke the hacks nl‘ thnse wild men was hrutal. liunnil} ennugh. penple always talk ahnut the h’lls as a time when penple had lnts nl' mnne}; I dnn’t remember it like that and I think penple ha\'e l'nrgntten hnw hrutal those times w ere.‘ ('ertainl}. ’I’lte [Vic/(I nl‘ B/(HH/ is nn nnstalgia trip. thnugh the perind setting is exnked in a characteristicalI} cnnvincing manner. 'I reall} Imc dning research] Mina acknnwledges. 'I had In read a _\eat’s wnrth nl‘ Duilr R(’('(II'(/.\. .-\nd I stiller than the Irish disease: I'm ttI\\‘;t_\‘s nhsessix'ely watching current
al‘l‘airs prngrammesf With a graphic timei l'nr llt'l/mixc'r
maga/ine and a shnrt film based nn a series she w rnte l‘nr the lire/ting Times in the nl‘l‘ing. Mina is clearly unafraid tn wnrk nutwith the crime genre. It‘s tint
snmething she wnrries ahnut. 'I'm nnt that cnnscinus of
genres.' she sa}s. (time is snmetimes regarded as “lilth” but it's a l'antastic w a} to tell a stnryf
The Field of Blood is published by Bantam Press on Thu 7 Apr.
' VENTS
:3: Denise Mina After her vastly successful Garnet/ill trilogy, it may have been unclear where the Glasgow crime writer would go next. In The Field of Blood, she shows us a new. spunky heroine and a fresh batch of unfurling horror. See preview. Bantam Press.
=3: Various In Bi'zarro World, the superhero follow-up to a 2001 anthology. a bunch of hot indie talents get a chance to let their imaginations run positively wild with their own takes on some iconic comics figures. Harvey Pekar, Evan Dorkin and Eddie Campbell are among those involved. See review. DC/T/tan.
Robert Crumb and Peter Poplaskl Being many things to many people is not an easy thing to carry off, but Robert Crumb has lapped up all the acclaim and attacks which have come his way. In The F? Crumb Handbook, we get all the varying facets of the 60-year-old France-based, San Fran-born comics legend. See review. MO.
>1: Val McDermid To kick off the Crime in the City series. the Fife-born. Manchester-based scribe discusses Torment of Others, her latest vivid psycho- thriller. Ottakar's, Glasgow, Wed 6 Apr
Lauren Bacall The screen legend (pictured) drops into town to chat about her autobiography. No questions about Nicole Kidman. please. Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Sat 9 Apr.
‘ ‘.',:' ‘-'- Art 2.3: THE LIST 29