A Double Death on the Black Isle
Page 33
5. Family loyalty is critically important in this novel. Discuss the instances in which the actions or decisions of various characters are directly tied to a desire to protect their relatives or family name. Did you think that the lengths these individuals went to were always justified?
6. On p. 194, Joanne is suffering through another sleepless night when it occurs to her: “I can’t go on like this. I am allowing Bill to win. I will no longer let him win.” In what ways does Joanne change her behavior after this moment in the text?
7. Compare Mrs. Munro and Joanne, and the relationship that each woman shares with Patricia. In what ways are they similar, and in what ways are they different?
8. Place is a very significant concept within the novel and is tied very closely to character. On page 27 Scott writes: “The Black Isle . . . was an island of the mind rather than geography.” What is she saying here about both the physical characteristics of the Scottish Highlands and about the people who inhabit it?
9. Joanne recognizes in herself “that trait that seemed to be one of mothers and women in general, that catch-all phrase used when help was offered—I can manage. Yes she could manage, but only by being first in, last out.” Though much has changed for working women since the 1950s, do you think this has?
10. There are multiple mother-daughter relationships depicted in the novel, and while some are quite loving, others are more fraught. What is the role of the mother in this book and in the society that Scott portrays? Consider both birth mothers and those women who serve as mother figures for those who are not their biological children.
11. Hector’s photographs are an important aspect of the revamped Highland Gazette. Consider the role that the written word plays in the novel in comparison to the photographic image. How does each help tell the stories behind the novel’s unsolved mysteries?
12. In one of their candid conversations, McAllister says to Joanne, “It’s the nature of the job . . . we are part of the town but apart.” What does he mean by this? Do you think this statement applies to all journalists?
13. Scott depicts domestic interiors with great detail. Find the moments in the text when we are taken inside a character’s home. What do we learn about their personalities from the descriptions of their space?
14. In their last exchange, Patricia says to Joanne, “Whatever happened to Sandy Skinner was an accident and I really don’t care if you believe me or not.” What do you think happened? Do you believe Patricia?
ENHANCE YOUR BOOK CLUB
• If you haven’t read A Small Death in the Great Glen, consider reading it on your own or as a group. You might also consider how your reading experience is affected by thinking of a book as a sequel or prequel.
• Reread the May Day scene on page 72–74. Consider researching May Day rituals from other cultures or sharing with the group another memorable holiday ritual that you recall from your childhood.
• Imagine that you are casting the film version of A Double Death on the Black Isle. Who do you imagine playing the novel’s main characters?
A CONVERSATION WITH A. D. SCOTT
This is your second novel. How did your writing process for this book compare to that of A Small Death in the Great Glen ? Was one more of a challenge than the other?
Writing this novel was difficult for a number of reasons but mostly because with a second book, there are expectations—expectation (mostly self-imposed) that the book will be to the standard and hopefully better than the first. Musicians call it “the second album syndrome”—I now know what they mean!
How did your experience working at a newspaper inform your descriptions of life at the Highland Gazette?
I worked on a local newspaper for a year but as an advertising manager, so Mrs. Smart, the business manager of the Gazette, has all my sympathies. Also the paper where I worked was using an old printing press and so I was able to see the physical process of typesetting. “Putting the paper to bed” once a week was a real adrenaline high. That and the sense that the whole community feels they own their local paper is what I gleaned most from working on a small town weekly newspaper.
Were you already thinking about the plot of A Double Death on the Black Isle as you were writing A Small Death in the Great Glen?
The plots of the first three books in the Highland Gazette series were worked out from the beginning. I knew right from the start how the central characters and the fate of the Highland Gazette would progress, but in very broad terms. Alongside the development of the paper I also wanted to show the progression of the decade (the 1950s) as it moved on from wartime towards a new society. What I didn’t know were the many characters outside of the Gazette that I would meet along the way.
Which of the new characters in this novel most intrigued you, and why?
Patricia Ord Mackenzie of course! Even now, I don’t know her and am still intrigued by her. I feel that if I met her I would like her yet at the same time be slightly intimidated. Believe me, there are many of her ilk still living on country estates throughout the UK. Yes, the class system is alive and well.
Spatial relationships and positions are very important in this novel—where the Devil’s Den is located in relation to the Munro farmhouse; where the Dores Inn is located in relation to the Falls of Foyers, etc. How do you keep it all straight when you’re writing? Do you create maps?
First, this is my home. This area is where I was born and brought up. We used to holiday on the Black Isle and I couldn’t count the times we crossed over on the ferry, the old Eilean Dubh (Gaelic for Black Isle). I married on the Black Isle, had children, and my son went to a local one-teacher school there. But, as an aide-memoire, I have an original and very detailed map of the area printed in 1954. The map has great detail and the topography is shaded in beautiful colors.
Of all of these characters, whose voice comes to you the most naturally? Whose requires the most crafting?
Hmmm, that’s a tough question. I find it most difficult to write Joanne as I too want to shake her and say, “Have more confidence in yourself!” But the most naturally? That’s easy. Don MacLeod. I want a best friend just like him.
Tell us about your inspiration for the May Day scene. Was this a ritual you ever took part in as a child?
Yes, it is—in parts. My mother and my grandmother had so many superstitions and rituals that, as a child, it never occurred to me that not everyone saw faeries and bogymen and ghosts. It never occurred to me that standing stones were unusual, that not everywhere were there castles and ruins and fairy wells. The May Day ritual of washing your face in the morning dew was fun. Hanging a cloth at the Clootie Well was fun. Picnicking at the stone circle of Clava was fun but creepy too. It is a strange place indeed.
There is such electricity between Joanne and McAllister! Will it ever be realized?
Wait and see!
Issues of class are very important within the novel. For those readers who might not be familiar with Scottish history and culture, can you give us some background on what the socioeconomic structures of Scotland looked like in the 1950s?
It would take a huge volume to explain that. Back then, everyone knew their place, “The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate.”
One thing we have lost is the pride and status the workingman had in his employment. If you worked on the railways, for the postal office, or on the farm, there was a pride in those essential jobs that seems to have disappeared. As for the Lairds, very few of them left too. Nowadays, the estates are mostly owned by insurance companies or rich people from Europe.
In one particularly evocative passage, McAllister thinks to himself, “The lochs, trapped in the long narrow glen by bleak and beautiful mountains, ended in an equally grand manner on the west coast. They could not be seen, but their presence, their geography, made the town what it is. And the people what they are.” Can you elaborate further on this idea? Do you think every person’s character is influenced by the physical landscape that surrounds them, or is
there something unique to the influence of the Scottish Highlands?
I absolutely believe we are shaped by the landscape of childhood. I believe that throughout our lives our physical environment influences us. But even in the bleakest of circumstances we can find inspiration, be it in a flower, a cloud, a shaft of sunlight. As for the Scottish Highlanders, we are shockingly sentimental about our Highland home. The Bard Rabbie Burns put it best, “My heart’s in the Highlands, my heart is not here . . . my heart’s in the Highlands wherever I go.”
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The rest of the novel's in A.D. Scott's "ingenious" (Booklist) mystery series are just one click away!
See where it all started in the very first mystery of the riveting Highland Gazette series . . .
A Small Death in the Great Glen
* * *
When a shocking murder of one of their own throws the Highland Gazette office into chaos, Joanne Ross must step up to investigate and keep the small town's divisions from tearing the office, and her own life, apart.
Beneath the Abbey Wall
* * *
The fourth gripping, fast-paced installment of A.D. Scott's series, offering another gorgeously written window into the intrigue and quiet beauty of the 1950s Scottish Highlands.
North Sea Requiem
* * *
An atmospheric and thrilling portrait of extremes: from the wilderness of the Highlands to the desolation of Glasgow’s slums; between the rule of law and the laws of the streets; between safe, enduring love and unreasoning passion.
The Low Road
* * *
Return to the grandeur of the Highlands in the next evocative, suspenseful mystery following beloved Highland Gazette heroine Joanne Ross.
A Kind of Grief
* * *
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Also by A. D. Scott
A Small Death in the Great Glen
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by A. D. Scott
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First Atria Paperback edition September 2011
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Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Scott, A. D.
A double death on the black isle : a novel / A. D. Scott. — 1st Atria
Books trade paperback ed.
p. cm.
1. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. 2. Newspaper employees—Fiction. 3.
Highlands (Scotland)—Fiction. I. Title.
PR9619.4.S35D68 2011
823'.92—dc22 2011013152
ISBN 978-1-4391-5494-6
ISBN 978-1-4391-6485-3 (ebook)