Last year Ali Karim bumped into Tony Black in London while drinking with
Ken Bruen to celebrate the release of Cross. At that stage, Black
was scribbling away on a novel entitled Paying for It while also
helping out at PulpPusher. We chatted and it was obvious that Black knew
the crime genre well. Black then did a few pieces for us at Shots Ezine
including an insightful piece on Ian Rankin. I kept telling him to
concentrate on his fiction as I read the opening to 'Paying for it' and
found his prose stark and compelling, like his short fiction which found
homes at various zines such as Out of The Gutter. I just heard
that Random House are publishing Paying for Itthis summer, so
what's this cheerful tale of the Scottish Underworld all about? Random
House kindly sent me this synopsis
Gus Dury once had a high-flying career as a journalist and a wife he
adored. But now he is living on the edge, a drink away from Edinburgh's
down-and-outs, drifting from bar to bar, trying not to sign divorce
papers. But the road takes an unexpected turn when a friend asks him to
investigate the brutal torture and killing of his son, and Gus becomes
embroiled in a much bigger story of political corruption and illegal
people-trafficking. Seedy doss-houses, bleak wastelands and sudden
violence contrast with the cobbled streets and cool bistros of fashionable
Edinburgh, as the puzzle unravels to a truly shocking ending
I tracked Black down, who was just recovering after the Hogmanay
festivities and decided to ask him a few questions on his debut work.
Ali: So tell me about your background because your lead character Gus
Dury shares your vocation I guess?
Tony: Like Gus, I'm a trained hack. Fortunately I've managed to avoid
some of the career ups-and-downs of Gus, but my work has provided quite a
bit of inspiration for my writing I think it must have been soon after the
Scottish Government devolution [from Westminster] that the idea for Gus
started to germinate. I remember having to deal with a new layer of B-list
politicians who were clearly enjoying the limo lifestyle a little too
much. One particular encounter with a Government minister who turned up
for a press call with an entourage to put Queen Victoria to shame still
vividly sticks in my mind. A lot of Gus's motivation comes from a desire
to right wrongs, and expose falsehood and corruption; I'd like to think I
share a lot of his moral impulses ... but of his thirst for a good dram, I
couldn't possible comment!
Ali: Tell us a little about what Gus gets up to?
Tony: At the start of Paying For It, Gus is content to drink
himself to oblivion but when his surrogate father-figure Col asks him to
look into the brutal killing of his son, Billy then Gus knows he must help
out a friend in need. It's true that Gus thinks he's washed-up and is past
helping himself, but the more he uncovers in the case the more his moral
compass guides him to the solution. It's almost a journey of discovery for
Gus, I think he realises by the end of the book that he isn't the failure
he thinks he is. When Gus was growing up his father was a bit of a
sporting celebrity, a footballer he describes as 'a studs-first sweeper
that would have made Vinnie Jones look like a shandy drinker'.
Unfortunately, he didn't leave his aggression on the pitch and Gus, and
the rest of the family, were often victims of it. Throughout the book, Gus
battles with this, it's his main demon.
Ali: And why Edinburgh Especially as Rebus casts a long shadow?
Tony: Well, Edinburgh is a truly inspiring place, it has everything you
could possibly ask for in a setting for a crime novel. There's the sheer
beauty of the buildings, there's a castle on the main drag, c'mon! The
split-personality of the place with the twisting closes of the Old Town
and the geometric precision of the New Town. The Gothic traditions, the
history, the multicultural Edinburgh. I tried to get in the head-banging
frustration of the little man in the face of a wider established order,
but I don't think it's just Edinburgh society I'm targeting. The 'you
scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' mentality pervades every society,
it's human nature. What Edinburgh society has is a very old, very
established cadre of privilege which the vast majority of people are
excluded from, however, from time to time it will rear its head. Gus Dury
detests that 'old school tie' slipperiness and I'm sure exposing its
follies are every bit as much a motivator as righting wrongs ... it's all
wrong to him.
And like the line from the Wesley Snipes movie, Passenger 57,
I'm betting on Black, but don't just take my word for it - as the
Edinburgh Evening News this week named Tony Black as a novelist to watch
out for [together in surreal fashion with fellow Edinburgh based
crime-writer Alexander McCall Smith] - click here for details. So as we
started with Ken Bruen, we'll leave the last word to the gentle Celt. So
what did Bruen think of Black's debut novel? "The narrative blasts
off the page like a triple malt." The only response to that is "I'll
drink to that" and Ken Bruen and I did.
An edited version of this article first appeared at The Rap Sheet
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