Book Review: The Quaker, by Liam McIlvanney

Available in bookshops nationwide. 

Three women are murdered some weeks and months apart. DI Duncan McCormack is put in charge of why the murders haven’t been solved and why the murder squad haven’t managed to find the killer, getting him off the streets. There is fear amongst women as to where and who the killer will strike next.

McCormack is bought down from the Highlands in Scotland to Glasgow to join the investigation. He finds shoddy police work with nothing linking to anybody or where the murderer could have come from. The killer is nicknamed ‘The Quaker’ because of third hand memories of a man dressed in a suit, with a regimental tie and a religious pin on the lapel of his suit.

Who is The Quaker? Is he part of an organised crime syndicate or is he part of a network with a member of that syndicate inside the police force?

This is a ripper of a story with hardly a page where some new information isn’t imparted to the reader building up the profile of the killer. I found it difficult to put down the book at times but sleep is one of the necessary parts of life, so I was often waiting for another “spare” moment to pick up where I had left the off. The ending is superb.

Reviewed by Christine Frayling

The Quaker
by Liam McIlvanney
Published by HarperCollins NZ
ISBN 9780008259921

The Great NZ Crime Debate, WORD Christchurch 30 August

The Great NZ Crime Debate

This year the Great New Zealand Crime Debate was convened to debate the moot “Crime Doesn’t Pay”. On the affirmative team were lawyer Marcus Elliott, crime writer Paul Cleave and US novelist Meg Wolitzer. On the negative team were Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel, journalist Martin van Beynen and satirist Steve Braunias. The debate was MC’d by writer Joe Bennett.

It was a highly enjoyable night of silly fun. The emphasis was on jokes rather than arguments; name-calling rather than logic. All participants spoke well, although no one came close to Bennett in terms of sheer showmanship. A grand night was had by all.

After the debate was the presentation of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. The finalists were Joe Victim by Paul Cleave (Penguin), Frederick’s Coat by Alan Duff (Random House), My Brother’s Keeper by Donna Malane (HarperCollins) and Where the Dead Men Go by Liam McIlvanney (Faber).

And the winner is! Where the Dead Men Go by Scottish Kiwi Liam McIlvanney. Although he has only lived in NZ for few years (and still has a very strong Scottish accent), McIlvanney says he is proud to be a New Zealander and loves seeing his books in the NZ section of bookshops. Resident in Dunedin, he told me that his favourite bookshops are UBS Otago, Scribes, and Unity Books Wellington.

Lots more WORD festival fun to come. Bring it on!

Reported by Elizabeth Heritage, Freelance Writer and Publisher
http://elizabethheritage.co.nz/