Published by Allison & Busby 1 st August 2004. ISBN:
978-0-74908-330-4 (HB) The body of a prostitute is found
at Glasgow’s Queen Street Station, her hands pointing towards her feet, placed
as if in prayer, a small flower pressed between her palms. Psychologist Solomon
Bright is called to assist DCI Lorimer in the murder hunt but before any
conclusions can be drawn, further bodies turn up arranged in exactly the same
careful way and it seems increasingly clear that they have a serial killer on
their hands.
A Small Weeping is wreathed in
Scottish atmosphere as Alex Gray skilful weaves together the contrasting worlds
of the Glasgow streets, a private clinic and the Outer Hebrides. As well as
adding descriptive power to the book such diverse settings also give her the
opportunity to add depth by exploring some differing manifestations of the
healing nature of personal happiness. The simplicity of the needs of a clinic
patient with multiple sclerosis, Phyllis, is particularly affecting.
Throughout the book the hunt for
the killer is pacy and, as you would expect, full of twists and turns and the
result is a taut, suspense-filled thriller with a satisfying ending. And no, I
didn’t guess whodunit. ----- Reviewer: Ruth
Wade
Alex Gray was
born 27 May 1950, Glasgow. She was
brought up in the Craigbank area of Glasgow and attended Hutchesons' Grammar
School. She studied English and Philosophy at Strathclyde University and worked
for a period in the Department of Health & Social Security before training
as an English teacher. In 1976 she lived
in Rhodesia for three months, during which time she got married, and she and
her husband returned to Scotland. She continued teaching until the 1990s, when
she gave the profession up and began to write full-time. Alex is a member of
the Femmes Fatales crime writing trio, together with Alanna Knight and
Lin Anderson. Her novels are all set
around Glasgow and featuring the character of Detective Chief Inspector Lorimer
and his psychological profiler Solomon Brightman.
www.alex-gray.com/
Ruth Wade is
a part-time lecturer teaching creative writing at local colleges and academies.
She spends the remainder of her working week researching and writing crime
novels. Ruth Wade also writes as BK Duncan. Under that name her historical
crime novel Foul Trade (the first in
a series featuring May Keaps, a 1920's Coroner's Officer) was published in
2014.
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