by Mystery Scene contributing editor Jeff Marks

In honor of a rather dour old Scottish woman’s birthday (my grandmother’s 88th), I thought I’d list 5 of my favorite Scottish mysteries.

1972 New English Library paperback ed.

1. THE FIVE RED HERRINGS (1931) by Dorothy L. Sayers. Of course, this Lord Peter Wimsey novel is number one. Not only is it by one of the best of the Golden Age British authors, the dialect is so thick that I had to read it aloud in order to understand the dialog. It was responsible for a rather odd Midwestern version of a Scottish burr for weeks.

2. MACBETH by William Shakespeare (1603-1606). It’s so cursed that you’re not even supposed to say its name. How are you ever supposed to market that today? The ultimate story of greed and desire, it makes Machiavelli look like a saint.

3. DEATH OF AN OUTSIDER (1988) by MC Beaton featuring Constable Hamish Macbeth of the sleepy Scottish town of Lochdubh. I love all of Beaton’s books including the Agatha Raisin series, but the Hamish Macbeth books set in Scotland are by far my favorites.

Ian Rankin claimed the 2004 Edgar for Best Novel with his Resurrection Men. Photo by Barry Zeman.

4. Anything Inspector Rebus. Having started with NAMING OF THE DEAD (2007), I’m a latecomer to the sizable fan club for Ian Rankin’s dour Edinborough detective. But by now I’m several books into the series and waiting anxiously to see what Rankin will do with Rebus post-retirement. Start with KNOTS & CROSSES (1987), the first Rebus nove.

5. PAYING THE PIPER (1988) by Sharyn McCrumb in which American and British archaeologists gather for a dig at a prehistoric burial site on a small Scottish island. The author pokes a little fun at those who make lists like this of all things Scottish.

Jeffrey Marks is an award-winning biographer and novelist as well as a Contributing Editor to Mystery Scene. His next book is a biography of Anthony Boucher, due out spring 2008. www.jeffreymarks.com

One of the most enjoyable facets of editing a magazine like Mystery Scene is the research. Finding photos, writing captions, tweaking articles and reviews, all this requires a lot of rooting about in the history of the genre.

Which is why I recently re-read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

There’s no doubt that this tale of racial and class injustice in the Deep South of the 1930s qualifies as an important book. First published in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird won the Pulitzer Prize and has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. It is taught in the majority of American schools, and is regularly chosen for “One Book, One City” programs. Recently, librarians voted it the best novel of the 20th century.

Impressive credentials, but dry, very dry. These kind of descriptions don’t convey the sheer pleasure of reading Harper Lee’s novel. Here’s a typical comment from Scout Finch, the book’s narrator, discussing her brother Jem. Atticus Finch is their father.

“The sixth grade seemed to please him from the beginning: he went through a brief Egyptian Period that baffled me - he tried to walk flat a great deal, sticking one arm in front of him and one in back of him, putting one foot behind the other.  He declared Egyptians walked that way; I said if they did I didn’t see how they got anything done, but Jem said they accomplished more than the Americans ever did, they invented toilet paper and perpetual embalming, and asked where would we be today if they hadn’t?  Atticus told me to delete the adjectives and I’d have the facts.” 

This excerpt isn’t a vital part of the narrative but that’s the point. Lee doesn’t skimp on any aspect of writing. The narrative voice, characterizations, setting, plot, and moral vision of this novel are all equally important and equally well-done. This isn’t a dry sermon, it’s a living, breathing slice of life.

Be good to yourself, read, or re-read, To Kill a Mockingbird.

The upcoming Fall Issue #101 of Mystery Scene has an interesting article on Harper Lee by Art Taylor which we think you’ll enjoy. It includes opinions from Carolyn Hart, Margaret Maron and Michael Malone — three writers who know about about Southern literature.

–Kate Stine, Editor