North Sea Requiem by A.D. Scott

Published by Atria Books on September 3, 2013

A.D. Scott tells a good story in North Sea Requiem. It is, unfortunately, a 200 page story that takes more than 300 pages to tell. The strong characters, rich atmosphere, and pleasant prose kept me reading but the dragging pace keeps me from giving the novel a strong recommendation.

Nurse Urquhart, the wife of the shinty team's coach, is also the team's laundress. When she discovers a boot in the tub of laundry, she's unnerved to find a leg is still wearing the boot. The story takes an even darker turn when a character who is important to the shinty team takes a large splash of acid in the face and throat, while a shinty player is severely beaten. Could a small town shinty rivalry really get so carried away? Or is something else afoot?

John McAllister finally has a story worthy of the front page of his weekly newspaper. Rob McLean is excited to report it and Don McLeod is itching to edit it, but they are unsettled to learn that people who work for the paper may know more than they're revealing. Meanwhile, reporter Joanne Ross investigates the fate of an American Air Force officer, Robert Bell, who was stationed at an RAF base in Scotland from 1951 to 1952 and whose airplane disappeared in the North Sea. It is now 1958 and Mae Bell, his widow, wants to know what happened. When she starts receiving threatening notes telling her to mind her own business, as did the victim of the acid attack (and, eventually, as does Joanne), the reader wonders how these events could be connected.

North Sea Requiem is a mystery that is often told with a surprisingly light touch given the gruesome events that underlie the plot. (The real mystery to me was: What the heck is shinty? Apparently it resembles field hockey.) The Highlands setting is easy to picture. Atmosphere, dialog, and characters are the novel's strength. The Scottish characters are quirky and quarrelsome and cantankerous, but they pull together when friendship is needed. Most of the men treat women as "wee fluffy creatures that should be kept on the mantelshelf and cuddled every so often" but Joanne Ross is determined to report real news, not just social events and recipes. She's also dealing with domestic drama, knowing that her divorce (like her friendship with McAllister) will fuel small town gossip. Scott's attempts to instill the story with emotion are too heavy-handed, but that's only mildly distracting.

The plot is slow to unfold as the first half of the novel develops the setting and the characters. The answer to the mystery is ... well, it's a little weird ... but a quarter of the novel remains when it seems to be revealed. Of course, with that much story remaining, there are more revelations to come. They are credible and surprising, but the final chapters leading up to the final revelations follow a predictable course. They also fail to convey the sense of urgency that Scott must have intended. Had the plot moved with more vigor after the characters and setting were established, this would have been a better novel. It is an enjoyable reading experience as it stands, but too drawn out to merit a strong recommendation.

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