Review by Bill Kirton
In his author’s notes, Proops writes of his love for and
fascination with the Hebrides , and it’s the
setting as well as the excellent story, which grows from and belongs to it, that
provides lots of reading pleasure. The prologue takes a real shipwreck and adds
drama and a shivery dimension to it by introducing, without naming them, the mythical
Blue Men of the Minch , who live beneath the
waves around the Western Isles of Scotland. He then incorporates these
creatures into his tale of CID Inspector Edmund Forrester’s search for the
truth behind the mysterious drowning of a crew member who was lost from one of
the fishing boats belonging to the notorious Murdo MacLeod.
It’s set in 1882 and Forrester, an Englishman, knows little
of the people and places of the islands before he arrives. But he soon learns
the special attributes that characterise the men and women who make their
livings from the often bleak lands and terrible seas around them. His voyages
in small boats out onto heaving waters and his encounters with the fists and
threats of MacLeod’s henchmen soon teach him that he’s in a hard, hostile
environment whose beauties and mysteries make it a magical place, but a place
of mortal danger.
The pervasive moods and truths of the Hebrides
shape the characters, good and bad and, because of their mystical otherness,
force the reader to suspend disbelief and accept the reality of the Blue Men in
the waters of the Sound of Shiant. But they’re not just there for local colour;
they’re part of the plot and central to its resolution. With them, as well as
with his characters, Proops evokes the timeless, elemental mysteries and magic
of these islands and waters.
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