Review of Butcher
by Stephen McGinty, published, Aug. 26, 2006, in The Scotsman
THE NOVELS featuring detective Lou Perlman are among the best-kept secrets in crime fiction. After a career as a top thriller writer, Campbell Armstrong's decision to take a break from international espionage and return to Glasgow has meant a rich reward for fans of tartan noir.
Perlman, a detective with Strathclyde Police, has now found himself on extended "gardening leave", yet when a severed hand, neatly wrapped in a clear plastic bag, is discovered in his bedroom by his cleaning lady, what was once a professional interest in the criminal underworld becomes personal.
The fourth novel in the series, and the first published by Allison & Busby, has a manic energy about it. The reader is whisked by an experienced guide through a plot that involves the unimpeded rise of Reuben Chuck, a monstrous ganglord, who in a nod to John Gotti, the New York don, slays all his competition in a single night. Then there is the body of a headless clown found in a nearby loch, the appearance of mysterious body parts and - a novelty in a crime novel - a house that appears to be haunted. Yet the heart of this novel is the crumpled, beguiled figure of Perlman, retreating to his home to listen to jazz and ponder the dark occurrences of the night. This latest novel takes us deeper into the character as he struggles to discover the location of Miriam, the closest his heart has ever come to accepting love, and whose postcards are as brief as they are worryingly oblique.
Over the past three decades, Campbell Armstrong has demonstrated his literary dexterity with various genres: horror, thriller and memoir. Now it seems he has mastered crime. In the 1980s and early 1990s, readers were seduced by Frank Pagan, the protagonist of his international bestsellers, Jig and its sequels. If they haven't already done so they should meet Lou Perlman: they are sure to enjoy his company.
contents©2006 Campbell Armstrong
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