KEN COCKBURN assesses the art of Ian Hamilton Finlay for the experience of warfare it incited and represents

THE Ospreys were one of the biggest rock bands in the world when their lead singer, Isaac Naylor, committed suicide off the coast of Devon while on police bail following the death of a young fan. But no body was ever found and now, eight years later, in The Death Of Me by Michelle Davies (Orion, £8.99), London music journalist Natalie has reason to believe he’s still alive, and still writing songs.
She has a pressing need for the financial relief which such a scoop would bring her, which is why she’s determined to continue with her investigation even when anonymous attempts to dissuade her turn to terrifying violence.
Gripping from start to finish, this novel also benefits from an interesting setting in the music business and in the dying profession of freelance journalism.

MAT COWARD tells the story of Edward Maxted, whose preaching of socialism led to a ‘peasants’ revolt’ in the weeks running up to the first world war

Reasonable radicalism, death in Abu Dhabi, locked-room romance, and sleuthing in the Blitz

Edinburgh can take great pride in an episode of its history where a murderous captain of the city guard was brought to justice by a righteous crowd — and nobody snitched to Westminster in the aftermath, writes MAT COWARD




