A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford
Frances Crawford is proof that age is not a barrier to becoming a successful author. In 2022, at the age of sixty, she earned a master’s in literature in creative writing with distinction from Glasgow University, followed by winning the Bloody Scotland/Glencairn Crime Short Story Competition in 2023, and she has now published a singularly sensational debut novel, A Bad, Bad Place. This mystery is a whodunit with a compelling plot rife with dark humor and social commentary. Working-class North Glaswegians lived through the lengthy period of decline, high unemployment and social stagnation following the closing of textile mills and sharp reduction in shipbuilding. The city in the 1970’s was described in press accounts as being filthy, slum-ridden and gang-infested. She has witnessed the turnaround with urban renewal and a cultural renaissance that began in the 1990s.
A Gritty Glasgow Setting Comes Alive
Punk music and culture thrived in this gritty environment with Glasgow serving as an epicenter for Scottish punk with groups like The Clash, The Banshees, Simple Minds and others performing in nearby Paisley. The author remains a fan of the genre, and punk music references comprise a leitmotif of the novel. The canine protagonist is a homely pup serendipitously saved from euthanization at the eleventh hour and called Sid Vicious by Janey Rizzo Devine and her widowed grandmother Nana, whose given name is Margaret Mary Devine.
Possilpark, known as “Possil,” a heavily populated, poorer neighborhood in Glasgow, serves as the 1979 setting for A Bad, Bad Place. Times are hard. Sixty-six-year-old Nana works as a part-time cleaner for a grimy neighborhood pub and struggles to keep food on the table and twelve-year-old Janey in clean school uniforms. No assistance from the child’s distant relatives in Italy will be forthcoming. A decade ago, Nana’s daughter, Italian son-in-law, and older granddaughter died as the result of a gas leak explosion in their flat. Janey was miraculously saved when an open wardrobe fell over, which effectively sheltered her from the blast. Rizzo family members respectfully traveled to Scotland for the funeral but ungraciously departed quickly without taking the wee toddler. Janey is smart, precocious, and, when not being grilled by the “polis,” is a regular chatterbox. She alternates with Nana in relating the tragic story of a senseless murder and the extended time period of the investigation and its aftermath.
A Sharp-Eyed Heroine at the Heart of the Mystery
While walking Sid Vicious for his nightly constitutional, Janey lets him off his lead near the embankment by the disused “dummy” railroad tunnel when he charges off, leading her to the unsightly, bloodied body of college student Samantha Watson. The young woman was the only child of notorious gangster Billy “The Ghost” Watson. The local police, Billy and Nana all suspect Janey is not sharing all she observed. Fearing for her own safety, the girl is not ready to reveal what she has gleaned and whom she suspects. It will take nearly six months for the facts to emerge as Janey follows clues, interviews suspects and investigates the crime.
A Bad, Bad Place introduces the readers to the inhabitants of a lower working-class community where everyone knows the most intimate details about each resident, including local thugs and gangsters. Grieving father Billy lends a hand to Nana by providing Janey a small cash reward for staying with his dead daughter until the authorities arrived and also hired Nana for a dispatcher job in his taxi business. Nana can easily relate to his sorrow as she vividly recalls dealing with her heartbreak while raising Janey. Nana’s narration illustrates her wisdom and pragmatism, whereas Janey spews her thoughts in a more random fashion. Both are concerned the killer might assume he can be identified, which would expose the girl to danger. Poor Sid Vicious is temporarily shunned by his beloved owner as she blames him for leading her to the body. There is plenty of action, and humor abounds in this deftly crafted, highly original mystery written in the regional dialect “Glesga patter.”
Frances Crawford has thoughtfully provided an essential glossary entitled: “Whit Ye Sayin’” to clarify the rich blend of Irish, Scots and Glaswegian spoken during this specific historical era, without which a non-native reader might be lost. A Bad, Bad Place is a rare gem.
About Frances Crawford:
As a passionate advocate of lifelong learning, Frances Crawford was delighted to graduate with distinction at age sixty from Glasgow University’s Creative Writing program. Frances grew up in North Glasgow and credits the people of Possilpark and Milton as her writing inspiration. She still lives in Glasgow with her family and likes libraries and punk rock. A Bad, Bad Place is her debut novel.
