A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford review – Much more than just a murder mystery

A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford: The review

It’s 1979, and 12-year old Janey has discovered the body of a young woman near a disused railway. It’s a gruesome sight for a 12-year old to witness, and Janey can’t quite get over it. Her gran, and her guardian, Maggie, wants to help her – but doesn’t know how.

Set in the depths of working class Glasgow and smattered with Glaswegian dialogue throughout, A Bad, Bad Place is much more than the tale of a murder. This is more about the aftermath of discovering a body, how a crime can affect an entire community, and how a little girl is supposed to cope with being the only key witness to such a terrible act. 

But more than that, it’s also the tale of Janey and Maggie, their lives together, and their personal struggles, both together and apart. They share a tragic past, and with a backdrop of poverty and everyday crime, they are both complex, intriguing characters. Over the course of the book, you’ll learn more about both characters, how Maggie came to be Janey’s guardian, and the devastating weight that both characters carry around with them every day.

Uncovering exactly what happened to the young woman that Janey discovers is a key part of the novel, sure, but just as enjoyable is getting to know Janey and her gran. It’s easy to come to care for both characters, as well as their dog Sid Vicious, who’s just as big a character as either of them. Equally important are the cast of sub-characters that all breathe life into A Bad, Bad Place. From shady neighbours, family friends and well-known crime bosses, there’s a colourful mix of good and bad here, making a believable tapestry of any working class estate.

I have a lot of love for A Bad, Bad Place, and while getting to grips with the odd bit of Scottish dialect can be a bit tricky if you’re unfamiliar with it, it gives the book a lot of heart. This is a debut novel from Crawford, and a seriously incredible achievement: I spoke briefly to Frances at last year’s Harrogate Crime Fest, asking her what she did before she wrote the book. “Nothing,” she said, “I was signing on.” 

It’s clear she’s poured her own lived experiences into this book, from the emotion and soul that spills out of every page, from the larger-than-life background characters that brings it to life. Writing a debut later in life, Crawford is a real inspiration, and I genuinely hope this novel is a huge success for her.