A Pound of Flesh
by Alex Gray
Genre: Mystery & Detective
Published by: Witness Impulse
Publication Date: November 7th 2017
Number of Pages: 368
ISBN: 0062659227 (ISBN13: 9780062659224)
Series: DCI Lorimer #9
Purchase Links: Amazon ? | Barnes & Noble ? | Goodreads ?
Synopsis:
In the depths of a freezing winter, Glasgow finds itself at the mercy of not one, but two serial killers
This is Detective Inspector Lorimer’s worst nightmare and beyond anything he’s faced in his many years on the force. Can he find a link between the brutal slaying of prostitutes in the back streets of the city and the methodical killing of several unconnected businessmen?
When the latest victim turns out to be a prominent Scottish politician, the media’s spotlight is shone on Lorimer’s investigation. Psychologist and criminal profiler Solly Brightman is called in to help solve the cases, but his help may be futile as they realize that someone on the inside is leaking confidential police information. Meanwhile two killers haunt the snowy streets and Lorimer must act fast, before they strike again…
Interview with Alex Gray
AB: Please tell us something about yourself and how you became a writer.
Alex: I have written stories ever since I can remember and must have been eight years old when my primary four teacher declared I would grow up to become an author! After leaving University I worked for a time with social services then retrained to become an English teacher, a job I enjoyed until ill health forced me to retire aged 42. One door closed and another opened as I took up my pen once more and the rest, as they say is history!
As for myself, I live happily with my husband and our two cats in a country cottage not far from Glasgow in Scotland.
AB: What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
Alex: That is a hard question as any novel I enjoy is appreciated by me at least! One book I thought would be a best selling blockbuster (but wasn’t) is by the English author, Deryn Lake and is entitled “The Governor’s Ladies”. Romantic, historical fiction of the highest order by an excellent writer.
AB: Who or what would you say has influenced your writing style the most?
Alex: PD James is a big influence as I admire her quality of prose and endeavor to make the best of my own. However I am truly not aware of copying or trying to emulate another writer’s style as such. My own reading over the years is obviously going to be a factor but that is really hard to quantify into saying what was an influence on my style since I have had an eclectic taste in literature since childhood and beyond. I tend to write shorter chapters than some other writers and so, if this is part of my writing style, then the thing most to blame is my energy span, a leftover from illness in the past.
AB: Can you tell us a bit more about “A Pound of Flesh”?
Let me tell you a little about the background research into this book. Years before I wrote it there was a series of prostitute murders in the city, many of the investigations led by a senior detective named Nanette Pollock. Nanette generously gave me a lot of her time, allowing me see the case files as well as to introduce me to a lady who was a former prostitute and heroin addict. That meeting gave me huge insights into a world I did not know and the book became a bit of a journey to show the reader more of the seamier side of life as well as to understand street women in a compassionate way.
There is a lot more to the story as well of course.
One other thing I like about the book is that it was on TV. No, not televised as an adaptation; the book was spotted on a political program in Nicola Sturgeon’s bookshelf when she was deputy First Minister of Scotland! A real irony as I bump off a fictional deputy First Minister in the story!
AB: What is your favorite part of this book and why do you think the reader will enjoy it?
Alex: I loved Lorimer’s fortieth birthday falling on the full moon, just as the action swells up to the denouement. The juxtaposition of a surprise party then a dash to uncover a killer is something I think the reader will enjoy.
AB: As far as your writing goes what are your future plans?
Alex: Next March 22 sees the publication of book 15 in the series, “Only the Dead Can Tell” and I have begun the 16th book that has a deadline of early next summer. So my plans are to concentrate on the new ms and try to write it as best I can.
AB: What are your plans for the future?
Alex: I aim to continue the series for as long as these ideas keep coming thick and fast. Hopefully I will also have time to write the occasional poem, something I very much enjoy.
On a personal note this will be a quiet winter of writing then in February I shall be taking part in two events in a brand new festival, Crime at the Castle. Then it is off to the Isle of Skye to do an event there towards the end of February and hope the roads are not snowbound!
AB: What question do you wish someone would ask about you or your book but nobody has?
Alex:
“Alex, how do you keep looking so young and beautiful?”
(Ha! Ha! Ha!)
Alex Gray
2017
Read an excerpt:
It wasn’t always easy to see the moon or the stars. This city’s sodium glow rose like yellow fog from its streets, blotting out any chance of star gazing. But she knew it was there. That cold white face dominated her thoughts tonight and she shivered as though it already saw her flesh naked and exposed to its unblinking watchfulness. Perhaps it was because she was trying to be seen that she felt such awareness. The red jersey pencil skirt folded over to create a too-short mini, those agonisingly high-heeled sandals cutting into her bare toes; spread across the bed back in the hotel they had seemed the garb of an adventuress.
Now, revealed in the glare of the street lamp on this corner she felt a sense of…what? Shame? Perhaps. Self-consciousness, certainly. But such feelings must be overcome if her plan was to work.
She had already overcome the blank indifference of the girls down in Waterloo Street, their body language both defiant and compelling. Her hips shifted, one slender foot thrust forwards, as she remembered how they had stood, languidly chewing gum, waiting for their punters. Their desperation drove them to return night after night, the price of a wrap of drugs equating to an hour with some stranger.
Her own need was just as strong, fuelled by a passion that would not be spent until she had fulfilled her desire. It was warm in this Glasgow summer’s night and her black nylon blouse clung to her back, making her uncomfortably aware of her own flesh. The thin cotton coat she’d worn to conceal these trashy clothes as she’d tapped her way across the marble foyer of the hotel was now folded into the black bag at her feet, along with her more sober court shoes. When it was over she would slip them on and return the way she had come, hair clipped in a businesslike pleat. She smiled thinly. Being a woman had some advantages; the facility for disguise was just one of them. Her carefully made-up face was stripped of colour in the unforgiving lamplight, leaving only an impression of dark eyes, darker hair tossed back to reveal a long, determined mouth. She recalled what Tracey- Anne, one of the girls at the drop-in centre, had told her: I get through it by pretending to be someone else for a few hours, then I can be myself again.
Tracey-Anne was lucky, though. After tonight she could never again be the person that she used to be. Glancing at the elegant façades around the square, the dark-haired woman suddenly saw these city streets through different eyes: the shadows seemed blacker, the corners harbouring ill intent. Her chin tilted upwards, defying those inner demons tempting her to turn back.
After tonight things would change for ever. When the car slowed down at the kerb her heart quickened in a moment of anticipation that astonished her. She had expected the thrill of fear, not this rush of excitement sweeping through her blood.
The man behind the wheel had bent his head and she could see his eyes flicking over her hungrily, appraising his choice. He gave a brief nod as if to say he was pleased with his first instinct to stop. Her lip-glossed mouth drawn up in a smile, she stepped forward, willing him to reach across and open the window, ask her price. For a moment he seemed to hesitate and she could see tiny beads of sweat on his upper lip, glistening in the light. Then the door of the big car swung open noiselessly and she lowered herself inside, swinging her legs neatly together to show as much thigh as she could. But the gestures were still ladylike, almost reserved, as if she knew that would quicken his senses.
‘How much?’ he asked. And she told him, one shoulder moving insouciantly as if to declare that she wasn’t bothered whether he could afford her or not: someone else would pay that price if he wouldn’t. She glanced at him briefly, catching sight of the tip of his tongue flicking at his lips like a nervous lizard, then he made a gruff noise of assent, looking at her again, as though to be sure of his purchase, before accelerating into the night.
***
Excerpt from A Pound of Flesh by Alex Gray. Copyright © 2017 by Alex Gray. Reproduced with permission from Witness Impulse. All rights reserved.
About Alex Gray
Alex Gray was born and educated in Glasgow. After studying English and Philosophy at the University of Strathclyde, she worked as a visiting officer for the Department of Health, a time she looks upon as postgraduate education since it proved a rich source of character studies. She then trained as a secondary school teacher of English. Alex began writing professionally in 1993 and had immediate success with short stories, articles, and commissions for BBC radio programs. She has been awarded the Scottish Association of Writers’ Constable and Pitlochry trophies for her crime writing. A regular on the Scottish bestseller lists, she is the author of fourteen DCI Lorimer novels. She is the co-founder of the international Scottish crime writing festival, Bloody Scotland, which had its inaugural year in 2012.
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3 comments
Great interview! I LOVE this series and have read this title, and it was quite interesting as to the history and research for it.
Thanks for this nice blog posting. Happy reading and best wishes from Alex
Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions 🙂