A Rendezvous With Death by Gordon Smart
When a schoolteacher, Monica Porter, is brutally murdered in her Glasgow west end flat, DI Shazia Khan leads the investigation to catch her killer and uncovers a tangled web of lies.
Meanwhile, cynical journalist Fergus Mulrein becomes captivated by beautiful Russian model Olga Yevdokimova when she reaches out to him for help.
In Glasgow's violent underworld notorious gangster Paul Murray is determined to maintain his dominance through his powerful connections whatever the cost to others.
The characters' lives criss-cross amidst a background of political conflict and corruption.
Can DI Khan solve the mystery of who killed Monica Porter and why?
About the author
Gordon was born in Brisbane, Australia and grew up in the South Side of Glasgow, Scotland. He studied at Aberdeen University, edited the university newspaper, and graduated in English before working in various jobs: pubs, a carpet factory, a lodging house for the homeless and a fish-processing factory. He started a Masters at Glasgow University but then jumped ship to run a radical bookshop in Aberdeen before deciding to train as a teacher. He taught English in secondary schools in Glasgow, Western Australia and Clydebank before working for Learning and Teaching Scotland as a development officer, then for East Dunbartonshire Council as a Quality Improvement Officer in the education department. He lives in the West End of Glasgow with his family. His interests include playing and watching football, reading, playing guitar, listening to music and watching films. The locations in his writing will be familiar to Glaswegians.
Review
As a proud Glaswegian crime fiction lover, I always love when a new kid comes on the block and ‘A Rendezvous with Death’ has come kicking and screaming onto the scene! It was punchy, fun, and representative of our multicultural city but wasn't afraid to look at the seedier aspects of the city! I loved it!
DI Shazia Khan is leading the murder investigation of Monica Porter who was killed in her house. She is a local French teacher and ex-wife of the council leader Colin Chisholm. Local journalist Fergus Mulrein is being tasked with working out a mystery surrounding supermodel Olga Yevdokimov, who has become captivated by. Soon all the characters will be cross crossing in a political and international dimension that no one sees coming.
I enjoyed this debut and loved being all to recognise all the locations in Glasgow and beyond! Gordon really did manage to capture the essence of Glasgow and its residents. I also loved that the referendum resulted in an independent country in this tale! 😉 I think Gordon and me might get on. Shazia was by far my favourite character as it's rare to see female Asian protagonists in the tartan noir landscape, maybe unique in the sub-genre of police procedurals. She was intelligent, strong, a great mother and has a core of justice running through her. I thought the author showed a lot of empathy in his portrayal of Shazia’s daughter's mental health and autism. It was clear he has done his research on this issue.
The pace of the book builds up in a mix of the police procedural aspects, alongside the more ‘thriller’ branch of Fergus and Olga. For some it may have come across as far-fetched, but for me as a student of Russian studies trust me it wasn't. It's far too real for my liking indeed! I liked all the wee nods to political events that have indeed happened. I devoured this over the weekend and I am looking forward to seeing what comes next from this author.
Let me know if you read this one!
