'25 December - theme: courtesy of Mum: Tartan noir
Absolution(Anderson & Costello #1) by Caro Ramsay
Tartan noir - a popular genre of dark, gritty Scottish crime fiction. This particular example was set in Glasgow with sections taking part on the Ayr coastal road. These were the sections I related to. It helped that I was reading this in the UK in winter with big cold Norfolk skies to inspire me.
This particular example of Tartan Noir was not especially dark or gruesome. It tried to link two police (or polis) cases from 20 years apart but honestly the link was a bit flimsy. It could have been two shorter stories, or Caro Ramsay could have just abandoned the older story in favor of a simple short preface. I felt like I was supposed to like DCI McAlpine but I simply didn't, and when he (spoiler) died at the end I simply didn't care.
I think Caro Ramsay is trying to be the next Stuart MacBride or Ian Rankin and although they show promise, their is neither the humor of MacBride or the depressing bleakness of Rankin. Keep practicing Ramsay!