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2000s: You have not been to this side of Edinburgh!
2000s: You have not been to this side of Edinburgh!
‘Stainsie’ had left Edinburgh with a pocket stashed with cash and the ‘tallybook’ of Isa Stoddart, one of the city’s most notorious debt collectors. The book contained names of all those who owned her money. Isa is now dead, her son Lachie thinks Stainsie killed her but now Lachie is dead. Suicide?
Now Stainsie is back in town and finds that he’s not welcome. Someone has left him a surprise however and he finds that he’s the sole beneficiary of Lachie’s will and he now owns a rather run down mansion
There’s a lot of people asking questions about Stainsie however and many people are certainly not happy at all that he’s back.
“They tell you that Edinburgh is the most beautiful city in the wold, the Athens of-the-Whatsit and all that shite, but see when you’re stuck on an East Coast train staring at Marionville industrial depot, you could be looking at the arse end of anywhere.”
Talk about setting the scene, this is the Edinburgh Lesley Kelley introduces you to.This is the city which we see over the course of one week.One week of dark alleys, hovering in the shadows and climbing up the stone stairs to a certain house in the Trinity side of town
Two sides of the city here – Leith and Trinity.Leith is home to Stainsie and Trinity. Not where Stainsie imagined every getting a house – and certainly not a victorian one over three floors. The bulg of the sotry takes place in Leith and the streets, back alleys, docks all feature.
However, this is Leith as you have never seen it before.
Susan: @thebooktrailer
Joseph Staines – now there’s a lead character I won’t forget in a hurry. It’s not that I particularly like him, well he’s pretty hard to like really but he’s kind of an endearing character. How does Lesley make a heavy drinker and a guy well known to the police not the kind of man you have to hate?
The Edinburgh setting worked really well – brought back memories of both living there and of Train spotting territory. I liked the flashbacks in the novel where you found out more about Staines and how he got to where he is now. And the dialogue well that was just great fun and gave the book a real edge.
The entire plot of the book was very unique and the threads of a murder, a will and a large victorian house are all woven together in one heck of a plot. There are some very funny moments in this novel too – images I will never be able to get out of my head.
Impressive for a debut and I will definitely be looking out for book two
Author Guide: Lesley Kelly Destination: Edinburgh Departure Time: 2000s
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