WebNovDec18

52 | www.westendermagazine.com
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BY BRIAN TOAL
WESTENDER’s
COVER TO COVER
For Christmas crime you could do a lot worse than
‘Never Proven’. This is Daly’s fourth book in the
Inspector Anderson series and it’s a real page turner.
Never Proven
by Bill Daly
I was gripped by the plot from
the start, opening with the
brutal murder of John Murdoch, a
former teacher accused of sexual
relations with a young male pupil.
However, the case was not proven,
that ‘bastard verdict’ as Walter
Scott called it, which neither
satisfies the accused nor the
complainant.
Readers will be familiar with
a lot of the locations as the
murder takes place just outside
Cottiers and a lot of the action
darts back and forth between
Pitt Street and the West End.
The descriptions of The Calton
and the bars and characters there
is gritty and realistic, whilst the
Glasgow criminal underworld is
described warts and all. Jim Colvin
is a gangster you wouldn’t want
to meet or be indebted to. In this
fast-paced thriller we are even
taken to Edinburgh on the train to
check out an alibi, although you’ll
be glad to hear that Anderson
didn’t stay to ‘have his tea’ but
returned late afternoon, obviously
knowing that no offers of repast
would be forthcoming.
The central character of DCI
Anderson is months away from
retirement and is not keen to take
on any high-profile or complicated
cases. However, fate has other
ideas as the deceased was well
known due to the media interest in
the sexual misconduct court case
and is fuelled by the involvement
of Glasgow’s own Avenging Angel, a vigilante who claims credit
for ‘ridding the streets of vermin’. Another complication is the
fact that Anderson’s right-hand man, Tony O’Sullivan, is dating
Anderson’s daughter, so no tension there then. The mundanities
of dating, playing football with your grandson and getting home
in time for your dinner and a whisky before bed are interspersed
with brutality (nailing a hand to a cubicle door) and sexual
shenanigans.
The pace is kept brisk by short chapters and short sections
within each chapter, literally causing you to turn pages at a faster
rate. Some more astute readers may guess the culprit before the
end but you can still sit back in smugness as your suspicions are
confirmed. As an addition to the juggernaut which is Tartan Noir,
‘Never Proven’ is highly entertaining, in your face and full of pace.
If you’re planning on getting yourself some Christmas crime for the
long wintry nights, this will definitely fit the bill.