The Afternoon Show with Janice Forsyth

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The Afternoon Show

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The Afternoon Show: William McIlvanney Special, Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Tuesday Review

William McIlvanney Special, Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Tuesday Review

BBC Radio Scotland - The Afternoon Show, William McIlvanney Special, Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Tuesday Review

Janice is joined by Ian Rankin and Val McDermid to celebrate author William McIlvanney

On the eve of the release of Laidlaw prequel The Dark Remains, we speak to Ian Rankin about completing an unfinished McIlvanney tale, plus Val McDermid joins to discuss his legacy.

Today’s Afternoon Show with Janice Forsyth is a celebration of William McIlvanney, hailed as the godfather of Tartan Noir thanks to his Laidlaw novels, which kick started Scottish crime writing in the late 70s.

After McIlvanney’s death, his widow Siobhan found notes towards a new Laidlaw novel, a prequel detailing an early case for the Glasgow detective.  She passed it on to his publishers, who approached Ian Rankin, author of the Rebus novels, to complete the work - The Dark Remains.

Ian joins Janice and fellow author Val McDermid to discuss the impact McIlvanney had on modern Scottish crime writing, and the extent to which their work is part of his legacy.  

Val will also talk about her new novel 1979 – the first in a new series featuring journalist Allie Burns.  McDermid’s aim is to create a sequence of novels set at 10 year intervals, through which she can document social, technological and political change in Scotland.  

And the crime theme continues in the Tuesday Review.  Music critic Fiona Shepherd and author Doug Johnstone review:

THE CLEANER – a new BBC1 series starring Greg Davies, centred around a team of crime scene cleaners – the people who come in to clear up once the police have gathered their evidence.

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING – Martin Short, Selena Gomez and Steve Martin play a group of true crime obsessives who find themselves thrown together when there’s a grisly death inside their fancy apartment building.

And the new album from Scottish band CHVRCHES, Screen Violence.

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