ANDY HEDGECOCK relishes two exhibitions that blur the boundaries between art and community engagement
Crime fiction with Mat Coward: May 21, 2024
Dodgy deals in Fife, trouble in Tinseltown, London Chinese, and traps for ex-pats
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews I Am Martin Parr, September Says, The Monkey, and The Gorge
RITA DI SANTO applauds a touching and witty opener that touches a hot topic in Germany: the future of the immigrant population
SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
PAUL FOLEY recommends an extraordinary double bill that packs a punch and leaves you reeling
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a play about AI that results in a deadening disconnect for its audience
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
THE last surviving boss of one of Scotland’s premier crime families says he’s ready to do a deal, in The Devil You Know by Neil Lancaster (HQ, £16.99) — the location of a body from a long unsolved murder in exchange for transfer to a safer prison.
But DS Max Craigie and his colleagues in the Fife-based anti-corruption unit know there must be more to this than meets the eye: no Hardie ever helps the polis — that rule is part of their DNA. Can Max find out what he’s up to in time to stop it?
Endearingly eccentric characters, tense action and lots of lovely, authentic detail for the procedure fan explain why this series is rapidly picking up readers.
More from this author
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
A landmark work of gay ethnography, an avant-garde fusion of folk and modernity, and a chance comment in a great interview
ANGUS REID applauds the inventive stagecraft with which the Lyceum serve up Stevenson’s classic, but misses the deeper themes
Similar stories
Daring Scottish gothic, a murderer in their midst, the best spy story of the year and a classic list of clues
Don't look now, Salo revisited, pain in Spain, and teenage murder
Fatal fame, the deadly dinner party, fictitious husbands and Bangalore backstabbing
Inverted cliches, undercover interns, cruising to murder, and gruesome leads in Leeds