Review: Danger in dark 1919 Dundee, and a terrific debut for an engaging new female sleuth
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 28, 2014
A welcome new series of murder mysteries from Chris Longmuir, and a terrific start to a terrific idea with this darkly thrilling novel set in 1919 Dundee, Scotland. Yes, Longmuir's gone all historical, and she's created a new female sleuth unlike any I for one have encountered before, with a fascinating history and back story. I had no idea about the beginnings of policewomen in England and Scotland, or their links with the suffragettes whose relationship with the police pre-war was fraught to say the least! Kirsty Campbell is a woman ahead of her times, a policewoman newly assigned to Dundee, where she faces puzzlement and prejudice from her fellow officers and family as well as from those policed in the dark and drizzly tenements and cludgies of the city. Her troubled personal history though is perhaps not uncommon for women of the time, giving her further struggles to cope with as she also fights to discover what's happening to young orphan girls who seem to be vanishing, and nobody much seems to care. Kirsty is angry and defiant, refusing to be victimised, yet emotionally moved by the plight of victimised girls: both proud of her uniform and discipline, and ready to dodge the rules when someone needs help. She begins working with a CID officer, Inspector Brewster, and I hope their working relationship continues in other books as it's very promising despite a prickly start on both sides. Longmuir gives us a powerful sense of place too, every sound, sight and smell of Dundee in 1919 is evoked, a year when the terrible war is over and the still-reeling public are facing great change. Class and gender roles are at a turning point, but poverty creates vulnerability, danger lurks in the dark, and Kirsty Campbell is there to face it, jujitsu trained as she is. Longmuir has created a new protagonist and setting, as well as her customary sure handling of plot and murder, which will grip crime fans for many books to come.