The Weekenders by David F Ross

I've been unwell this week and had to miss a few things. Unfortunately, one of them was my blog tour stop in Tuesday for The Weekenders by David F Ross. Sincere apologies to David, Danielle and every one at Orenda for the delay, but I'm now recovering and pleased to share my review today. My thanks to Danielle Price for the invitation and to the publisher for my review copy. 

The Blurb

Glasgow, 1966: Stevie 'Minto' Milloy, former star footballer-turned-rookie reporter, finds himself trailing the story of a young Eastern European student whose body has been found on remote moorland outside the city. How did she get there from her hostel at the Sovereign Grace Mission, and why does Stevie find obstacles at every turn?

Italy, 1943: As the Allies fight Mussolini's troops, a group of young soldiers are separated from their platoon, and Glaswegian Jamesie Campbell, his newfound friend Michael McTavish at his side, finds himself free to make his own rules…

Glasgow, 1969: Courtroom sketch artist Donald 'Doodle' Malpas is shocked to discover that his new case involves the murder of a teenage Lithuanian girl he knows from the Sovereign Grace Mission. Why hasn't the girl's death been reported? And why is a young police constable suddenly so keen to join the mission?

No one seems willing to join the dots between the two cases, and how they link to Raskine House, the stately home in the Scottish countryside with a dark history and even darker present – the venue for the debauched parties held there by the rich and powerful of the city who call themselves 'The Weekenders'.

Painting a picture of a 1960s Glasgow in the throes of a permissive society, pulled apart by religion, corruption, and a murderous Bible John stalking the streets, The Weekenders is a snapshot of an era of turmoil – and a terrifying insight into the mind of a ruthless criminal…

My Review

The Weekenders is gritty, not afraid to get down and dirty. It centred on three men - ex footballer turned sports reporter Stevie, court sketch artist Doodle, and local businessman Jamesie Campbell. Stevie and Doodle are fully fleshed out characters,and we see them at their best and their worst : it's very real. We learn a lot about Jamesie's background, some of which is quite tough to read, but whilst we see him with his public facing face on, the rest of his current life is somewhat shrouded in mystery - deliberately. But we do know he married into money and is now the owner of Raskine House, home to the fabled Weekenders parties.

Stevie Millroy was a footballer on his way to stardom until his career was ended by a deliberate injury. He's just beginning a new job as a sports reporter for the Star, but is inexplicably paired up with veteran crime reporter Jock Meikle to learn how it's done. At his first press conference he learns about The murder of a young girl, and he just can't get the crime out of his head...

A few years later, Douglas 'Doodle' Malpas is illustrating a court case when he realises the victim is someone he knew at the Christian mission he attends, run by a local minister.

Featuring in both of these segments, and with some of his own back story in the middle, is local businessman Jamesie Campbell. In public, Jamesie is full of bonhommie, but we learn much more about what he's really like. It's fair, I think, to say he's not a very nice man. His back story is a hard read in places - the author has not shied away from giving raw, gritty details. And we get a real sense of the man.

The three segments all tie in together perfectly and it's well written - I had to consult a dictionary several times and learned loads of great new words! 😀 But, being serious, The Weekenders is about crime and corruption in Glasgow in the 1960s, and the links between criminals, businessmen, the church, sport and the police. It's a messy business and it's laid bare here. I look forward to reading the forthcoming books that will make up The trilogy, and learning more about the secrets of Raskine House.


The Author

David F. Ross was born in Glasgow in 1964 and now lives in Kilmarnock. In 1992, he graduated from the Mackintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow and is now Design Director of one of Scotland's largest, oldest and most successful practices.

His critically acclaimed debut novel, The Last Days of Disco, was long-listed for the Best First Novel Award by the Author’s Club of London. National Theatre Scotland acquired dramatic rights for the book in 2015.

He completed a trilogy of Ayrshire-based books with The Rise & Fall of the Miraculous Vespas and The Man Who Loved Islands. All three novels have been translated into German, published by Heyne Hardcore (Random House). Welcome to The Heady Heights - his fourth for Orenda Books – was published in March 2019.

There's Only One Danny Garvey was shortlisted for Scottish Fiction Book of the Year 2021. It has been called 'a brilliant, bittersweet story that captures the rawness of strained relationships.'

David F. Ross is a regular contributor to Nutmeg and Razur Cuts magazines, and in December 2018 was chosen to contribute a poem commemorating the 16th anniversary of the death of Joe Strummer for the publication Ashes to Activists. In 2020 he wrote the screenplay for the film ‘Miraculous’, based on his own novel.

The Weekenders is David's seventh novel and the first in the Raskine House Trilogy.