Fall from Grace

Number two – Fall from Grace – a darker affair. Loss of reputation, a dangerous and dissatisfied wife, a homo-erotically inclined cold-blooded murderer, McLevy’s past in the shape of his mother’s suicide and insanity back to haunt him; all led to a wild night-storm and the Tay Bridge disaster. The fall out from that terrible accident permeates the rest of the novel and though there is a deal of McLevy’s black wit some additional humour comes in the shape of one William McGonagall – I am very fond of Mister McGonagall – he sacrificed his whole life to produce some of the worst poetry the world has ever seen and his dreadful verse is a macabre counterpoint as all these strands collide. McLevy ends up in the ocean with a desperate man for company. And the inspector cannot swim.