It came as no great surprise to discover in the afterword to Val McDermid's 1979 that the author spent time as a journalist in newsrooms during the period covered by her novel. My time in a newsroom came much later, when the spike was a digital metaphor, the hot metal presses and long stopped rolling and the future had arrived in the form of nascent internet services. Nonetheless, I could feel instantly the authenticity of McDermid's newsroom: the ambition of young reporters; the high of getting a front page; the camaraderie and rivalry between hacks; the hours poring over copy with lawyers threatening the reporter with jail! I was immediately hooked. I could see the cigarette smoke, smell the whiskey and feel the excitement of chasing down a story.
Nor was it any great surprise that McDermid built a suspenseful and compelling novel around her two young reporters, Allie Burns and Danny Sullivan, making their way in the competitive world of a Glasgow newsroom. It's not unusual to find McDermid called “The Queen of Crime”. She has a string of awards to her name and a nearly unrivaled reputation in the industry. And yet until 1979 I’d not found my way to any of her books, a gaping hole in my crime fiction education. Well, better late than never.
In 1979, McDermid has created an atmospheric and memorable novel that carefully recreates a lost world, not just the newsroom of The Clarion, but also the Glasgow of her early career. Menace lurks on street corners, intrigue in pubs and political meetings and ambition and ruthlessness in the hearts of her reporters and the people they chase down.
The backdrop to the story is the 1979 referendum on Scottish devolution. Having earned their stripes with a scoop about a number of high profile business people engaged in a tax evasion scheme, Burns and Sullivan embark on a more ambitious and dangerous story: a group of nationalists looking to follow the more explosive tactics engaged by their Republican brethren across the Irish Sea.
McDermid provides plenty of breathless moments in a plot that develops with pace and verve, but also takes the time to bring her characters to life – not just Burns and Sullivan, but more peripheral players too.
It´s a terrific novel, and one that happily heralds a new series from McDermid. So, my first McDermid, but assuredly not the last and I definitely won´t have the patience to wait for the next installment in this series. The back catalogue beckons…