Category Archives: British Crime Fiction
When I got off the train I saw two blind men helping each other up the stairs
Dead Man Upright, by Derek Raymond Dead Man Upright is the fifth, and final, of Derek Raymond’s Factory novels. It’s being reprinted later this year, after a lengthy period out of publication. It became sufficiently obscure that I’ve seen a … Continue reading
Filed under British Crime Fiction, Crime Fiction, Noir, Raymond, Derek
The girl screamed once, only the once.
Ian Rankin, his first seven Rebus novels Ian Rankin is one of the best known and best liked crime writers in Britain today. His Rebus series of mysteries (now ended) are hugely popular and have been widely translated. TV series … Continue reading
Filed under British Crime Fiction, Crime Fiction, Scottish Literature
There is no future in England’s dreaming
Nineteen Seventy Seven, by David Peace David Peace’s debut novel Nineteen Seventy Four was not an easy read. It was bleak even by the standards of noir. The style was staccato, heavily influenced by Ellroy and the imagery at times … Continue reading
Filed under British Crime Fiction, Crime Fiction, Noir, Peace, David, Serpent's Tail
We all have our weak moments
I was Dora Suarez, by Derek Raymond Noir fiction is moral fiction. Noir is the examination of the horror under the surface of society, and a condemnation of the society which permits that horror. I was Dora Suarez is the … Continue reading
Filed under British Crime Fiction, Existentialism, Hardboiled, Noir, Raymond, Derek, Serpent's Tail
Pity, terror and grief
At its best, crime fiction is moral fiction. It is a forensic examination of the relationship between the individual and society, of our obligations to each other and of the gap between our image of ourselves and our shabby truth. … Continue reading
Filed under British Crime Fiction, Existentialism, Hardboiled, London, Noir, Raymond, Derek, Serpent's Tail
I knocked at a second-floor flat in a dreary house, one of two hundred in a dreary Catford street.
So starts the second of Derek Raymond’s factory novels, The Devil’s Home on Leave, uncoincidentally enough the second Derek Raymond novel I have read and while for me not as interesting as his first (He Died with His Eyes Open, … Continue reading
Filed under British Crime Fiction, Existentialism, Hardboiled, London, Noir, Raymond, Derek, Serpent's Tail
To be an animal that thinks persistently in terms way beyond its lifespan sets us a frightful problem.
And a problem for which He Died with his Eyes Open by Derek Raymond has no comforting answers. He Died with His Eyes Open is a novel I read some months back, I’m covering it here as it is the … Continue reading
Filed under British Crime Fiction, Existentialism, Hardboiled, Noir, Raymond, Derek, Serpent's Tail
THIS IS THE NORTH. WE DO WHAT WE WANT!
Originally posted 11 July 2008. Since I’m still only part way through my current read, At Lady Molly’s (which is volume 4 of Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time) I thought I’d post some thoughts on a … Continue reading
Filed under British Crime Fiction, Crime Fiction, Noir, Peace, David, Serpent's Tail
