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Lament For A MakerEditions
Review
I must admit that it took me a little while to get into this book. I started it on a train journey down to Cornwall one Bank holiday weekend, and as I read, I became more and more preoccupied with just how much later than scheduled I would arrive at my destination. In addition, the first narrative in the story is that of an old Scot, Ewan Bell, and it is full of echt Scottish expressions - ‘loup’, ‘nearest-going’, ‘quean’ etc. – and at times I found all that a bit wearying. But let me assure you that it is worth persevering – other narratives follow, and with the arrival of Inspector Appleby light is gradually shed on the strange circumstances of Guthrie’s death. It is a dark, atmospheric tale – which should perhaps be read by the fireside on a winter’s evening as a storm rages outside – rather than by the pool under the dazzling Tuscan sun where, as it happens, I finished it. Perfect escapist reading! - review by Dan Fenton |
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John Sandoe [Books] Ltd |
First published in the 1938, this is an ingenious ‘Golden Age’ detective story in which the loathsome laird of Erchany, Ranald Guthrie, falls to his death from the ramparts of his castle on the wildest of winter nights. Did the laird, who had increasingly been displaying signs of madness, succumb to the demons that haunted him, and jump of his own accord? Or was he pushed? (If you can’t work out the answer to that one, you might not get much from this book…)
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