Kiss Her Goodbye (Hard Case Crime)

If you can get thru the first half-dozen chapters (or so) of the author calling every other character and/or street character the same name (starts with T, has a W, and ends with T) then you'll be pleasantly surprised with the double murder mystery that develops over the course of the rest of KISS HER GOODBYE, a double-dose of tough love for the main character, a small-town Scottish mob enforcer ironically named Joe Hope. The lowdown: after spending a night away from his estranged wife, Hope is given the news that his daughter has committed suicide. He believes Adam -- her cousin -- failed to watch out for the young girl, but before Hope can arrange a formal sitdown with the man he's caught by the police and charged with the murder of his own wife! Hope must stay one step ahead of his lawyer, his (somewhat) love interest, and the police if he's going to save his skin and hold those responsible for these two crimes. Allan Guthrie holds up his reputation for noir thrillers here, delivering a wealth of characters the average reader probably will hold suspect until the very last few pages, but there's little more to get excited about. The mystery unfolds rather predictably, but KISS HER GOODBYE is a quick, guilty-pleasure-read like much of the HARD CASE imprint. It's one of the stronger early entries in the line, and, on those merits alone, it deserves to be read.

Joe Hope, enforcer for Edinburgh money lender Cooper (no first name), prides himself on never having taken a life. With a baseball bat as his weapon of choice, he walks a fine line between inflicting pain and meting out death. Now, in close but seemingly unrelated incidents, Joe has lost two people in his life and finds himself the only suspect in a murder investigation. There to help discover the truth behind the murder (and who is trying to frame Joe) is his long-time "friend", Tina (a prostitute by trade), Ronald Brewer, a young, baby-faced lawyer, and Adam Wright, a relative of his wife and friend to his daughter. On the other side of the fence is DS Monkman, one of Orkney's finest. Heavy on both characterization and plot, this second book by Allan Guthrie (Two-Way Split) is not for the squeamish. The subject matter is dark, with intense violence and gutter language. The climax, with a twist in the last few pages, however, makes this an outstanding read!

Kiss Her Goodbye is a deliciously dark tale of revenge and betrayal set in Edinburgh and the Orkney Islands, Scotland. Allan Guthrie has followed up his outstanding debut novel, Two-Way Split with another taut thriller that races through a criminal world where the rules are largely ignored, the violence is frequent and no-one can be trusted. When Joe Hope goes to work he usually takes a baseball bat with him. He works as a leg-breaker for his loan-shark friend, Cooper, encouraging punters to be more prompt with their payments next time. He's a man used to violence, dealing it out on a regular basis. When it comes to dealing with pain, though, he's not so assured, particularly when the pain is the raw emotion of finding out that his daughter has just committed suicide. Before he has a chance to deal with his grief properly he is hit with another body blow, namely the murder of his wife. But this time, he finds out when the police arrest him for it. He didn't love the woman but he certainly didn't kill her. He smells a set-up but has no idea who it could be, or why. To save himself he has control his rage and put a fiendish plan into place to catch the real killer all the while evading the police. This is a well-constructed story capturing attitude and dialogue admirably well, the characters jump out of the pages as fully formed individuals. At times the violence is extreme but wholly within the context of the story serving to establish the main character's personalities. From the Orkneys back to Edinburgh, inside prison cells and interrogation rooms, a loan-shark's house and a prostitute's apartment, the story whizzes along at great pace setting up a dramatic ending. Once again Allan Guthrie has written a thoroughly entertaining mystery and is a worthy addition to the already strong Hard Case Crime library.

For Joe Hope, life in Edinburgh, Scotland isn't easy. He does not particularly like violence but inflicting violence and pain on others is his life's work. Well known for his ability to wield a baseball bat with great effectiveness, Joe Hope does his work on behalf of Cooper. When folks can't or won't pay back the money they owe, Cooper, who has been his friend and employer for years, has Joe help with the payment process. They will pay up-one way or the other. In fact, the day Joe found out his only daughter, Gemma, was dead he was at Cooper's having just finished a session with a debtor. It was bad enough that Gemma apparently killed herself by overdosing on pills. What made it worse was the fact that Joe had trusted Adam Wright, a distant cousin as well as owner of some sort of writing colony near Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands to keep her safe. He failed and failed miserably. His daughter wanted to be a poet and now she was dead. Joe's wife, Ruth, had said all along this was bad idea and she had reason to hate Adam's guts. Now, she blames Joe in a series of violent heated arguments and Joe blames Adam. Now that she has died, Joe intends to follow through on his promise to Adam as Adam has a lot to answer for. Before he can get to Adam, he is arrested for murder. Not in the death of his daughter, but for the murder of his wife. There is no doubt it was murder since she was found in the trunk of Joe's car at the airport and her body had clearly been beaten repeatedly with a baseball bat. As evidence against him mounts and Joe, with some help goes on the run, he must find a way not only to clear his name but to also bring justice to those who framed him so well. This is a violent, intense story that spins a dark tale from the very first page. Violence is heavy theme, almost to the point of being a major character throughout the work. With very page, violence lashes out or sits coiled and ready to strike as Joe lives a nightmare. A nightmare that is skillfully depicted, as Joe seems to inch steadily closer to losing his mind, as he is overwhelmed with pain and rage. His suffering comes through in stark and vivid detail as the work steadily and engrossingly moves forward exploring the thin veneer of civility that covers us all. This intense well written mystery featuring a wide and deep cast of characters and a complex situation is a worthy offering in the noir field and well worth your time. Book Facts: Kiss Her Goodbye By Allan Guthrie Hard Case Crime Published by Dorchester Publishing Co, Inc. www.hardcasecrime.com 2005 ISBN # 0-8439-5355-1 ARC-Scheduled Publication 03/07/05 This entire review previously appeared online at The Readersroom. Kevin R. Tipple © 2005

I had always thought of noir fiction as being a purely American thing, inspired as it was by mid- and post-war disillusionment and the consequences thereafter. However, crime happens everywhere and, if nothing else, Trainspotting proved that the Scots can get just as nuts as Americans -- not that that's necessarily a good thing. Part of a recent trend so widespread it has its own name ("tartan noir"), Kiss Her Goodbye by Allan Guthrie is a portrait of the other side of the ocean, and shows just how similar the responses of humans are given specific circumstances. Joe Hope is an enforcer (not unlike Nolan in Two for the Money); his friend Cooper loans people money and, if it is not collected, brings Joe with him -- and Joe's baseball bat, an odd accessory for Edinburgh -- to offer some incentive in the form of broken bones. (If more motivation is needed, hitman Park is at the ready.) When word is received of the suicide of his daughter, Gemma, Joe immediately flies to visit her cousin Adam in Orkney, with whom she was staying, to deliver his particular brand of blame. Instead, he is greeted by the local police, there to arrest him for the murder of his own wife, Ruth (the evidence is circumstantial but damning). Caught in a presumably impossible situation, and still in the process of grieving his losses, Joe then conspires -- along with his lawyer and hooker girlfriend, Tina -- to discover what really happened, and why someone would want to frame him. Meanwhile, Adam isn't being very helpful because he has Gemma's diary, which contains information that could ruin everything. Guthrie (Two-Way Split) is a fiend with his pen, and he's not just "taking the piss," either (to quote his main character). Not content to follow a formulaic narrative flow, he keeps the suspense up throughout Kiss Her Goodbye, leaving the important answers for the final ten pages. And he doesn't waste time on closure: after a literal head-cracker of an ending and two pages of wrap-up, it's over. Considering how Guthrie keeps us guessing throughout Kiss Her Goodbye, his ending isn't as inventive as it could have been; it's just a little too pat after the intensity and imagination of what came before. To be fair, though, it does arise organically from the characters' expected behaviors and, after being sent through the wringer for 200 pages, an easy ending is a bit of a relief. Joe Hope is a fascinating character with some intriguing flaws (including one I never would have expected, although I suspect Freud would have a field day with it); in fact, all of the characters are fully realized -- except perhaps Ruth, but she is really more of a plot catalyst than a necessary character. Kiss Her Goodbye is a welcome addition to the Hard Case Crime canon -- and comes with another terrific cover from Chuck Pyle (Grifter's Game). It's got enough violence and pathos to satisfy even the most jaded crime reader, and it offers solid insight into the realization that everybody is