Wrapping Up 2025 (in a Bin Bag)

It's that time where we go once around the sun again and take a look back at the year just gone. I guess I should do the same, but I don't have a lot of nice things to say.

As many of you know, I was made redundant from my job back in June, and I've been struggling to find another job since then. There seems to be a large culture of ghosting job seekers at the moment, during the application and even the interview stage, and it really takes a toll on you. On top of that, there's a lot of companies returning to working in the office, meaning that remote and even hybrid roles are hard to come by. That makes things difficult when you can't drive and public transport is unreliable. I sometimes wonder if job boards and railway companies have some kind of secret deal to pitch you jobs that are anywhere but local, so you have to buy tickets. It's a mess, but anyway.

In terms of writing, I recently set myself up on Itch, a website for selling indie games which has since developed a growing market for e-books (good when people don't want to give Jeff Bezos money). While I can't sell print books on there, there's a lot of potential for digital sales. There's also the opportunity to take part in bundles with other creators. I got involved in the first one of those in September, including The Lady's Favour in a "Talk Like a [Queer] Pirate Day" bundle, organised by Felix Graves. After all, I established in "The Pirate King" that Kestrel and Scar are in a matelotage (a sort of civil partnership), and I myself am asexual, so my work was eligible for it.

I stepped down from the committee at the Writers' Summer School in August, and am now looking to spread my wings a bit in search of other events (the job situation combined with the financial commitment means that's not on the cards next year). In this regard, I recently expanded into author signing events, assisting my good friend Val Penny at her stand at two such events: "Sugar and Spices" in Sheffield in July, and "Authors at the Armouries" in Leeds in October.

As for other projects, I started drafting a new story for First Draft Fall called "Escape from Crab Island". This is intended to be a prequel story in the Kestrel and Scar series, depicting how they first met. I hope to work more on it next year, but things have been very up in the air lately. Other than that, I managed a couple of poems and republished a serial I wrote a while back.

Happy writing, and see you in the new year.

Book Review: Queen of Grime by Helen Forbes

Things have been a little quiet lately, so I've been catching up on some reading. One thing I checked out this month was Queen of Grime, a crime thriller by Helen Forbes. This review is part of a Reading Between the Lines blog tour organised by Lynsey Adams.

Blurb

The Queen of Grime is about to pay. Big time. 

Erin Flett is used to clearing up the sad debris of forgotten lives and tragic deaths. A crime and trauma scene cleaner from a deprived Edinburgh housing estate, she’s made a good life for herself and her daughter. But a secret from the past is about to catch up with her.

Ten years ago, Erin told a desperate lie with serious consequences. Now, someone else knows, and they’re determined to make Erin and her loved ones pay.

Following a terrifying late-night attack, the tension mounts until Erin doesn’t know who she can trust. As she struggles to keep her family safe, little does she realise just how close the danger is…

Queen of Grime is the first in a new series introducing Erin Flett, crime and trauma scene cleaner, and a rich cast of characters, set against the backdrop of the city of Edinburgh. With an occasional undertone of dark humour, it is a tale of family lies and family ties, friendships, secrets and loss.

Review

Going into this book, Helen Forbes does an excellent job painting a grimy yet vivid setting. Erin's dayjob provides its fair share of groteque imagery, but that's not the main focus.

There's a wide array of characters, and no short amount of sleaze as we're kept on guessing about Erin's mystery tormentor. Suspects include: Johnny, the deadbeat son of Erin's best friend Gladys; Adam, an unassuming man whom Erin befriends at the pub; and Matthew, whom she takes on as an assistant cleaner. And while all that's going on, we see that Erin's Jess has befriended a man named Sean. It's creepy, and keeps things tense as you read on to learn about the secret from Erin's past.

In another subplot, we follow Erin's cousin Kirsten as she works as a lawyer but is also dealing with a traumatic incident from her own past. At first, you wonder if it's connected to Erin's past, but then more comes to light. I don't want to elaborate due to spoilers, but it's paints a bleak picture.

Queen of Grime is available on Amazon as an e-book and paperback. If you want a bleak little tartan noir, I recommend it.

About the Author

Helen Forbes is an author of Scottish crime fiction. She lives in her home-town of Inverness, in the Scottish Highlands. Helen began by writing contemporary and historical fiction, with no intention of turning to crime. It was a chance remark at a writing group about one of her short stories that led to her debut police procedural novel, In the Shadow of the Hill, set in Inverness and South Harris, featuring Detective Sergeant Joe Galbraith. Madness Lies is book 2 in the DS Joe Galbraith series, set in Inverness and North Uist.

Helen has had two standalone crime thrillers published by Scolpaig Press. Unravelling, set in Inverness, was published in July 2021. Deception, set in Edinburgh, was published in January 2022.

Spoils of the Dead, a novella, was published in November 2022, and Queen of Grime, the first in a new series, was released in December 2022.

Helen would be delighted to hear from readers. Please contact her and join her mailing list on her website www.helenforbes.co.uk to get her author news and a free copy of the novella, Spoils of the Dead.

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Happy writing, and happy holidays.