The Death Game: By Chris Longmuir

We're staying with historical crime this week on bookaholic, but moving from Egypt to my homeland of Scotland. In fact we are in my home city of Dundee. 

I have previously read the books in Chris Longmuir's Dundee Murder series and enjoyed them immensely. This series is as good as, if not better than, the last. I love the premise of going back to early 20th Century Dundee, and writing about the first female policewoman in Dundee. The character, Kirsty Campbell is based on this woman. This character is excellent - feisty, single minded and yet vulnerable. This sums up the women of Dundee in my Grandmother and Great Grandmother's time. Chris Longmuir sets the scene well and her evocative writing brings the Dundee of the time to life. There were still some aspects of this life going strong in my childhood. Now before you all think I'm about 100 years old, Dundee was just slow to change in some areas. Having been in several jute mills, and having listened to my grandmother's tales of her life as a weaver, I can assure you that the descriptions are spot on.

This has nothing whatsoever to do with the book, but my grandmother was one of the best weavers in Dundee. She was able to run three looms at once, which is no mean feat, and as far as I know she was the only weaver to do this. As the weavers were paid per piece, it meant my grandmother earned a fairly decent wage. I couldn't help but reminisce here. The book brought up so many memories.

The plot is well written and kept me intrigued and reading. In fact I read this whole book in one sitting, over the course of a day. Before you think this is a short read, it is not. I am just an incredibly fast reader and I was so absorbed in the book I could not put it down. This is the sign of a well written book. I know Chris is now writing the second book in the series, and I, for one, cannot wait until it comes out.

         

That's it for another day. What will I pull out of the bag next time. Well, that remains to be seen. Keep tuned to find out and keep reading.