Squeaky Clean by Callum McSorley - Bloody Scotland official blog tour
I was so excited when Bloody Scotland approached me to be on the official blog tour for this years festival. It is running this upcoming weekend - the 15th to the 17th September and I thoroughly recommend going. It is my favourite crime festival!
I knew instantly that I wanted to feature ‘Squeaky Clean’ by Callum McSorley. Bloody Scotland does an amazing job of championing debut authors and I wanted to highlight this! Firstly they have the panel ‘Pitch Perfect’ where unpublished authors get the opportunity to pitch their work to the festival and also to publishing insiders. Then there is the ‘spotlights’ throughout the whole weekend where newly established authors get to introduce themselves and read from their work. Then we have the amazing Alex Gray who wades her way through a massive list of debut authors and picks her favourites from the year on her yearly panel. Finally, there is the ‘Debut Author’ prize which features a list of amazing debut books from the past 12 months. My book of the year was on the list for it last year ‘The Wolf Hunters’ by Amanda Mitchison. Therefore, I wanted to read and review a book from this years list.
I knew I wanted to review ‘Squeaky Clean’ as I adore a well-written police procedural and its set in my home city of Glasgow!
Half the Glasgow polis think DI Alison McCoist is bent. The other half just think she's a fuck-up.
No one thinks very much at all about carwash employee Davey Burnet, until one day he takes the wrong customer's motor for a ride. One kidnapping later, he and the carwash are officially part of Glasgow's criminal underworld, working for a psychopath who enjoys playing games like 'Keep Yer Kneecaps' with any poor bastard who crosses him.
Can Davey escape from the gang's clutches with his kneecaps and life intact? Perhaps this polis Ally McCoist who keeps nosing around the carwash could help. That's if she doesn't get herself killed first.
About the author
Callum McSorley is an author based in Glasgow, Scotland. His short stories have appeared in New Writing Scotland, Gutter Magazine, and Shoreline of Infinity. SQUEAKY CLEAN is his first novel.
Review
‘Squeaky Clean’ is a dark and comedic look into when people get sucked into organized crime without meaning to! Although it is dark and packed full of disturbing scenes of violence it is also full of humour and ‘HWFG’ Glaswegian attitude. It's raw and tender in places and sickeningly violent in other places. It's this juxtaposition of dark and light that makes this debut feel fresh and exciting. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and flew through it in one day.
As readers of this blog might know I like to champion books that use ‘Scots’ in their work. There is a renaissance happening when it comes to actually using our language in literature and I was so pleased to see it here. It was probably always going to feature due to the characters and the setting but Callum doesn't shy away from using everyday Scots speech rather than just the cliches. It would be natural for the characters to speak that way so that's why it's been included. There is a cabal of great young Scots authors - Graham Armstrong, Emma Grae, Kirkland Ciccone, Ely Percy to name but a few and I can see Callum slotting in here very easily.
I loved the premise of this book - set in a car wash in the East End of Glasgow, it follows young Davey Burnet a worker there and how he manages to completely mess everything up! I felt heartsore for Davey, he is a hard worker just trying to get this life back together after splitting up with his girlfriend and mother of his daughter, plus losing his job at the big Tesco. He ended up working in the carwash with its owner Sean who is too busy rolling joints and watching Russia Today to help out! When the big man Paulo brings his motor in to get cleaned one day his life changes dramatically. One kidnapping later and Davey owes Paulo a lot of money and a lot of favours! This is not a man you can say no to! Plus to top all this off there is the polis sniffing around the carwash. DI Alison McCoist, yes Ally McCoist, what an unfortunate name for a detective in Glasgow! Half of her colleagues think she is bent and the rest just think she is useless in her job. After making a huge mistake in a murder case she has been given the cold shoulder and getting all the crap jobs that come into the team, hence she is at the car wash!
I loved Ally! She might be in disgrace with her colleagues, being laughed at by even her own family but I really took to her straight away. Police protagonists can be seen as being cliched when they have these problems as its has been done many times before but Callum manages to make her problems realistic and easily believed. She was really just following the evidence and not thinking outside the box. But she is also determined and dogged when it comes to the car wash, Davey and Paulo. She still wants to be seen as competent and wants to prove that not just to her colleagues and family but also to herself. I really related to Ally and I cant wait to see what happens next in her story, especially after that resolution!
This is a great debut novel. Full of great characters and its a wee microcosm of Glasgow on the page. Each character is someone you recognise from living here and it was a great representation of Glasgow. It calls on the history of Glasgow from the time of huge violence and gang wars. Thankfully, Glasgow has become less violent over the years but it's naive to think that there aren't people out there that don't reflect this book. This was an engaging and engrossing read and I thought the plot and characterisation was excellent! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for what Callum is doing next!
You can find Callum’s book in all the usual stores but also in my crime fiction bookshop - ‘Murder at the Bookshop’!
https://www.murderatthebookshop.com/shop/p/squeaky-clean-by-callum-mcsorley?rq=Squeaky
Callum will be appearing on the Debut Panel which is taking place on Friday 15th September at 5pm at the Central Library!
https://bloodyscotland.com/events/bloody-scotland-debut-prize-shortlist/
A little birdie also told me that he will be leading the torchlight procession down to the Albert Halls from the Castle! And of course he will be there for the announcement of the McIlvanney Proze winner as he has been shortlisted for that prize as well!!
https://bloodyscotland.com/events/reception-torchlight-procession-the-mcilvanney-prize-and-bloody-scotland-debut-prize-sponsored-by-the-glencairn-glass/
If you see me about this weekend please stop me and say hello!!! Bloody Scotland really is the highlight of my year.
