IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)

The Bath Literature Festival

The Bath Literature Festival is on from Saturday 4 March to Sunday 12 March 2006 and features quite a few crime fiction authors:

Mo Hayder

Morag Joss

Jules Denby

Nicci French

Sarah Paretsky

Alexander McCall Smith.

Other well known authors include:

Margaret Atwood

Jane Gardam

Jacqueline Wilson

Joanne Harris

Penelope Lively

Julie Myerson

Joanna Trollope

William Boyd.

New authors include:

Helen Oyeyemi

Shiromi Pinto

David Nwokedi

Diana Evans (winner of the Orange Prize for new writing).

It looks like booking can be done online. Bath is a great city, good for day's visit or a whole wekeend...

Now You See Me by Margaret Murphy

Following on from “The Dispossessed”, here we have a new series that started with a hardy sapling and is now putting out some very strong and far reaching roots in “Now You See Me”. 

A really good series thrives on a good character or characters and the trio we got to know and love in “The Dispossessed” is back:

DI Jeff Rickman is handling his first major case since the trauma he suffered in the year before and also dealing with the ongoing family repercussions of his brother’s brain injury.

DS Lee Foster is the one who gets more involved in this investigation and proves to be the character we explore in this story.

DC Naomi Hart provides a perfect complement to Foster, his actions and reactions, as well as sharp tongue in response to Foster’s liberally applied charm and flirtation.

In a nutshell:

We start with a missing person, one Megan Ward.  What she leaves behind is so little that she appears to have no real life or history. At about the same time, Patrick Doran, owner of Safe Hands Security, suffers at the hands of a computer hacker, losing a lot of money, including a secret stash that the Inland Revenue does not know about.  Then, Ward’s land lady is killed resulting in the return of Ward the cipher, who proves she is both very real and potentially very dangerous…

Ever on the ball with contemporary issues and developments in real life crime, Murphy’s plot mixes modern world cybercrime with the more conventional, dirty and well known type of crime.  Indeed, there is something of a cliché within the book, but in Murphy’s hands it is handled very skilfully and results in a long passage of extremely tense, page turning and believable prose.  You know what’s going to happen, the victim seems not to realise it and the anticipation is immense.

As for the cybercrime element, I think Murphy was very courageous to use it in the plot.  Most of us now have enough of the language and understanding to run a home PC, but there is still a very “techie” side and it’s the complexity of that on which hackers thrive.  The detail was just about enough - any more would have led to descriptions that just summarised research, any less would have created a fish net.  As it is, the plot is well fed and explained and you will even find some tips in there to help protect yourself against cyber crime and stolen identity.  (And if you’re reading this online, this is something you need to think about, so I’ve added some links and info below.)

The skill in this story comes from dishing out a first course of victims only.  It’s not until the main course that it becomes possible to distinguish the carnivores from the vegetarians.  You’ll certainly make it to pudding and find yourself having experienced a very satisfying and informative read, when the table is finally cleared.

Lastly, having read the second book in this series, Liverpool is starting to come through as a character in its own right.  Its past, its present and its future is all there.  New wealth and incoming money sit alongside areas for which regeneration remains a dream.  I spent a week working in Liverpool in 2003 and Murphy’s descriptions in “Now You See Me” brought back some vivid memories.  I notice that at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival this year, Murphy is on a panel “Setting the Scene: The Gritty City”, (Saturday 22 July at 12-1pm, to be confirmed.)  I’m sure she’ll have much to contribute, bringing Liverpool even more to life.

Read more about Margaret Murphy and her books here.

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The Real and Present Danger of Cybercrime

In the UK, the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit, (NHTCU), part of the National Crime Squad, was launched in 2001.  A press statement released on 5 April 2005 notes the results of a survey of some 200 businesses in the UK. Using the data gathered, the NHTCU estimated the total minimum cost to UK-based businesses with over 1,000 employees at £2.45 billion.  The facts speak for themselves.  Of the companies surveyed:

89% had experienced some form of hi-tech crime;

90% had suffered unauthorised access to, or penetration of their systems;

89% had suffered theft of information or data.

But it’s not just companies that are targets, it’s also people, individuals like you and I. 

Arming yourself with knowledge is the first step to protecting yourself.  A visit to the NHTCU’s site and the  page on frequently asked questions,  FAQS, will provide you with a long list of the types of frauds and crimes and links for further information, including how to protect yourself.

The NHTCU is also the founder sponsor of “Get Safe Online” where you will find easy to understand guidance on protecting yourself, your PC and your business.

For more information about the risks out there, try this page and then go on to investigate the “related stories” at the bottom of the page.  It makes some very interesting reading.

In “Now You See Me”, the novel by Margaret Murphy, which I discuss above, Ebay is mentioned in the plot.  On setting up this blog I created a specific email address at which I can be contacted because that email address is in the public domain, on my “about” page.  Surprise, surprise!  I’ve had a couple of spam emails since then, both headed up “Ebay”, the first asking me about how I intended to pay for something ordered.  The second email, I deleted, without even reading it.  I’ve never ordered anything from Ebay, you see.  This is not to suggest that Ebay itself is rife with cybercrime, but, like my email addy and on a much grander scale, it’s out there in the public domain and it will be used, even in name only, by those who seek to gain illegally.  Also, anyone who has suggested, due to their own limited systems, that I send them my card details by email in order to pay for something, has always received short shrift from me, plus a follow up phone call.

I’ve never been one to cavort my email addy on any forums I’ve had the privilege of adding some comments to, either.  That’s another open door to spam and possibly, more and greater risks.

At one time, someone alerted me to the risk of cookies.  I noticed that some on my PC included my log in name.  With that and my ISP, it wouldn’t take much to try and work out an email address.  That might explain some spam I received in my main email account.

We all know why websites use cookies, well, the reasons they tell us: ease of logging in; storing various and relevant bits of data to assist us in our next visit...  It’s the latter that bothers me.  Companies use them to create marketing data, to target me more efficiently with products and services.  As a result, I clear my cookies regularly and not only just before I switch off the PC, but during use.

I make sure my protection software is up to date.

So, back to basics.  A good start is the “Get Safe Online” site. Make your online world a safer place.  And don’t forget that hard copy things like bank and card statements are better shredded or burned than simply cut up and placed in a dustbin.

The book, “The Falls” by Ian Rankin, and then for something loosely related to that on TV…

I read the book, or tried to, in advance of the UK TV screening, as TV adapted books tend to have me coming down on one side and forgoing the pleasure of the other medium.  Having become hooked on “Inspector Morse” on TV, I could never manage a book.  When “Wire in the Blood” veered off into stories other than those in Val McDermid’s books, I lost interest in the TV series.  And so it came to pass, “The Falls” was due on TV, so I had to read the book first, as Ken Stott’s debut in the role of Rebus was not about to escape my radar.

So, to the book alone.  Apparently, it’s not Rankin’s best or one of his best, so some say.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Quite a few different strands to the plot, all of which kept me reading, as I had no idea where it was going to go.  If I thought I had a clue, I soon found myself being led down another path.  As for who did it and why, I just had to reach the end to find out.  Some good twists made it a very entertaining read.

And now to the TV episode…  First things first, I needn’t have feared the TV episode spoiling my reading pleasure.  The title to this post does mention “loosely related”.  Think: various elements of the book thrown into a sort of Woolworth’s pic’n’mix bin, then chuck a small fish net into it, grab what comes out and make another entirely different story out of it.  If Rankin gets his way and crime fiction makes it more noteworthy in literary and education circles, a future GSCE question in a subject called, say, “Arts & Media”, may go like this: “Compare and contrast Ian Rankin’s book “The Falls” with the TV episode.  Which one did you enjoy the most?  State your reasoning.”   I’d guess the little cribbing book would carry something like this:

The book opens with a missing person (female); the TV epi with a dead body (male).

The dead body is that of retired gynaecologist/obstetrician Dr Joseph Devlin, but in the book there’s a character called Donald Devlin, who is a retired forensic pathologist and who is very much alive all the way through.

Philippa “Flip” Balfour and David Costello are characters in both the book and the TV epi, but their roles within the story are very different.

The Arthur’s Seat coffins feature in both book and TV epi, but in the TV epi they have smiles on their faces, which is instrumental to the new/revised plot.

Rebus is at the start of pursuing museum curator Jean Burchill in the book; in the TV epi she’s called Miranda and they have an “on/off” relationship which he says he wants to make “on” again, given the chance…

In the book the Balfour mum is troubled and not too much in evidence; in the TV epi she’s a steely blonde who can give Rebus a run for his money and match his own sharp tongue.

Ian Rankin wrote the book, but in the TV epi his involvement is limited to a speaking part, running down the street to aid a victim of crime and shouting “Oi!”

Yes, I could go on, but I think you get the picture.  The TV episode was not about being true to the book but about creating a franchise based around another well known and loved fictional detective, who has not made it to screen before with reverberating success.  Serious, die hard Rebus fans can only be disappointed, where the stories of the books are not brought to screen with a “copy and paste” discipline.  Does Rebus even remain Rebus, the character they know and love from the books?  Er, no.  The most telling part for me was his explanation to Siobhan, when at the museum, of his relationship with the curator.  He came across as all cocky.  In the books I’ve read, Rebus has never pursued a woman with such cockiness.  (That’s why so many female readers like to read about him.  It’s not just the cases they like to read about…)

However, taking the TV episode on its own, with no preconceived ideas, it made decent TV viewing.  Stott was as great as I expected him to be, given that the character of Rebus had been moulded into another form.  (He’s a remarkable actor.)  I also liked Siobhan, a conscientious officer, and formidable but still learning foil to Rebus, well played by Claire Price.  It was great to see Sharon Small as Miranda/Jean, all glammed up, in wonderful wardrobe, sashaying her hips with confidence, as she walked towards the Arthur’s Seat coffin display, leaving the dowdy Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers of “The Inspector Lynley Mysteries” well behind.  (But I’d also guess that she and Stott may have downed quite a few after filming the horribly crass, but aiming to be romantic scene, at the football ground.)

As for the plot of the TV episode, and it was definitely a new one; I have to say that I guessed it (correctly too) pretty damn quickly.  That may be the reason I don’t watch much TV these days.  I think that crime dramas focus too much on one area of the KISS approach – keep it simple stupid!  That area is “stupid”.  OK, no one likes anything too demanding, especially if dinner is to be eaten at the same time, as well as texting your kids and answering the land line, but please, try not to be so linear!  And, like the Midsomer Murders, it’s often possible to guess “who dun what” by the quality of the guest appearances.  (I won’t say which actor did it for me, because that’s a spoiler.  Needless to say, there were other factors too.)

Rebus on screen is a variation of Rebus in the books.  Existing avid readers of the Rankin books may be horrified at how much that variation has taken a leap.  Other readers may be more welcoming.  For those who have not read the books, there will be some that don’t even try, others that will.  Those who do venture into the books as a result, will find a treasure trove of much more in terms of character, place and challenging plots.

I watched one original Rebus episode with John Hannah as Rebus when I had not read a book.  Even without reading the books, something did not gel for me.  My conclusion was that Hannah was miscast.  Now I’ve read some of the books, I can better understand why I thought that, at the time.  As I’ve read the books, I have had someone like Stott, if not the man himself, in my mind.  That is what swung it for me.  It’s decent TV viewing because the lead role had the right actor and other production qualities are in place.  For the future, I’d say it could make “good TV viewing” if they dropped the humour in Rebus and the cockiness.  It could even make “pretty damn good viewing” if they stayed within the realms of the plots as written by Rankin.

TV screening has to cut it down I know, but Rankin does it better.  It’s as simple as that.  Cut but don’t re-create, then you’re on to a winner.  The rest is already in place.

If new to Rebus, you can check out the author’s site here: http://www.ianrankin.net/

Get reading is my message.  The reading is GOOD!