Undiscovered Scotland

 

It can sometimes feel as if time on the Isle of Bute has stood still for the last half century or so. That's not a criticism: for many visitors its mid twentieth century feel is very much part of the attraction of this lovely island. Bute somehow seems simpler and more innocent than many other parts of Scotland, a place where people can catch the occasional glimpse of their long lost youth, and of a long gone world.

Which makes it so very fitting that Myra Duffy's whodunit "Endgame at Port Bannatyne" should be set, as the title implies, on the Isle of Bute. The author describes her fiction as "cosy crime", which turns out to be the sort of genteel crime you might expect to find happening around Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, or in the fictional English county of Midsomer. The result, in the case of "Endgame at Port Bannatyne", is a thoroughly enjoyable tale that engages the reader and keeps them engaged throughout. The plot develops in a nicely unpredictable way, with the exception of a murder we suspect the author wants you to know is about to happen, and the conclusion, after a couple of intriguing "false summits", is both nicely satisfying and quite unexpected. The book is also well written, with a clarity that ensures the reader never stumbles over a detail in the storyline.

With the exception of the opening couple of pages, during which the obligatory body is found in a hotel bedroom, the book is written from the point of view of Alison Cameron. She has come to Bute to work as an assistant scriptwriter on a historical film based on a book she wrote. But although Alison knows very little about film making, it soon becomes clear that there is something very strange about the production of "A Man Alone" and about the approach of its director, Sol. Meanwhile Alison has other problems, including her increasing estrangement from her husband and her involuntary attraction to an old friend, who also happens to be staying on Bute. And as death and mishap continue to stalk Port Bannatyne, events take on an ever more dangerous hue...