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Diciadain, 09/Mar/2011

Whisky and Crime on Islay

Islay News in stencil

Before you get worried, no, Islay hasn't suddenly become a dangerous crime-ridden place. The crime I'm going to talk about is of the fictional type. A thriller set on Islay. With the name of a whisky. Yes, really. Here's the story:

This isn't the first crime fiction book mentioning Islay, some others I'm aware of I've mentioned three years ago in Islay in Crime Fiction. However, in those books Islay just receives a mention, it only plays a minor role (same applies to the whisky). This is different in the book I've recently become aware of. I think I first spotted it in Between The Covers, the book news section in The Independent. The book is called ‘Smokeheads’.

Yes, just like Smokehead Whisky - Islay Single Malt Scotch.

The author, Doug Johnstone, claims he didn't know of the whisky until after starting writing. But enough about that, what is the book actually about? Well, there are two ways to explain that, starting with a video:

YouTube: smokeheads 3.mov

Alternatively we can try the publishers description:

Four friends, one weekend, gallons of whisky. What could go wrong?

Driven by amateur whisky-nut Adam, four late-thirties ex-university mates are heading to Islay - the remote Scottish island world famous for its single malts - with a wallet full of cash, a stash of coke and a serious thirst.

Over a weekend soaked in the finest cask-strength spirit, they meet young divorcee Molly, who Adam has a soft spot for, her little sister Ash who has all sorts of problems and Molly’s ex-husband Joe, a control freak who also happens to be the local police. As events spiral out of control, they are all thrown into a nightmare that gets worse at every turn.

I haven't read the book yet, haven't even bought it yet, so I don't know if it is any good. However, I thought it sounded good enough to mention and I'm planning to buy it so that I can read it during my Islay visit in April. With a wee dram of Islay single malt of course.

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