Undiscovered Scotland

 

True crime books come in many different guises. Some look at the crimes that took place in a particular era, and often in a particular settlement or area. "The Law Killers: True Crime from Dundee" by Alexander McGregor takes as its focus the City of Dundee, but it looks exclusively at a particular type of crime, murder. And rather than looking at crimes from a particular period (after all, murder is thankfully not that common), it takes a broad look at murders that have taken place throughout the era during which court and official records and media reports allow detailed accounts to be written.

The main body of the book comprises 25 chapters, each leading the reader through the details of the crime or crimes committed by (or believed to be committed by) a particular individual. Murder is a subject than can be both compelling and repelling, often simultaneously. The author's approach is perfectly gauged. He doesn't hide the unpleasantness so obviously inherent in the subject matter from his readers, but neither does he seek to sensationalise his coverage. Each individual chapter is very well written, with just the right balance between the detail, gory or otherwise, and the need to keep the story moving. And given the author's background it goes without saying, but we'll say it anyway, that the account of every case featured in the book feels to have been exhaustively researched.

In his introduction the author notes that: "Murder is a funny old game. The end result is the same but the journey to that hellish destination is always different. The route can sometimes be straightforward enough, uncomplicated and not too difficult to understand why some people travelled in that direction. At other times, the trip can be as complex and unfathomable as the travellers themselves." Perhaps the one thing to come out of the series of accounts presented here is that while some murderers conform to the stereotype of beasts, many murders are done to, and by, what can otherwise seem to be perfectly ordinary people; people who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and in the wrong company or circumstances. And that's what's really scary about this book...