Stewart Gilmour returns to Stonemouth on the
North East coast of Scotland five years older, a bit wiser, but only a little
less terrified than when he fled the town a week ahead of his scheduled, but
aborted, wedding day.
The reason for his hasty departure and exile
becomes clear as he edges his way back into town. The gang boss he offended has
apparently been persuaded, reluctantly, to allow him back for the weekend to
attend a funeral; but that does not mean he will be made welcome, especially by
his ex-fiancée’s troop of brothers who revel in their reputation for intimidation
and violence.
As Stewart picks up the threads of his
former social scene, it prompts remembrances of times past that cumulatively
flesh out and reveal his current predicament. The back story and the tension
filled funeral weekend move forward seamlessly to a fitting climax.
Here Banks is back where I prefer him, in
Crow Road territory, mixing romance, mystery, violence, humour and I suspect a
bit of his own personal philosophy, to great effect. We will get no more, as he
died last year, but this penultimate novel is one to savour.
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