Out In The Mountains : Arts & Entertainment

My expectation on picking up this book was that it would be yet another lesbian detective novel with murder as a backdrop for a steamy erotic relationship between the detective and the survivor or suspect. I was not ready for an intricate, realistic plot with well-developed male, female, right-wing, and left-wing characters.

What a pleasant surprise! For once, it’s almost incidental that the central character, UK journalist Lindsay Gordon, is a lesbian. The turns of plot and subplot catch and hold your interest while you find your footing in the unfamiliar cultural landscapes of Glasgow and Sheffield.

With flashbacks, foreshadowing, and daydreams, McDermid puts the reader immediately into the unsettled frame of mind that assails Lindsay in the wake of the deaths of her lover, Frances, and one of her colleagues. We are swirled in confusion again when Lindsay is questioned as a suspect in the murder of her adversary Tom “Union” Jack. This trauma is woven with union politics, media jargon, and the intrigue of “who’s screwing whom” during two national Journalistic Union conferences set nine years apart.

With the help of her partner, Sophie, Lindsay travels to union headquarters and the site of the first conference, looking for evidence to prove her innocence. She uncovers a twisted trail of blackmail and corruption, leading her to all manner of unexpected conclusions.

In addition, the story offers an underground tell-all newsletter, harassment, flirtation, closet cases, and homophobia, none of which gets tied into a neat little bow at the end.

This work is tremendously well-crafted and well-researched, opening a window into the business of media in the UK that most of us never knew existed. It is definitely a book I will read again.