Hugh C. Rae - Skinner

[dem bones]

Hugh C. Rae - Skinner (Richard Drew, 1988: originally Anthony Blond, 1965)

William S. Grandison/ Westpoint

Blurb:

Skinner is the story of a psychopath.

Skinner is a nondescript member of the sleazy world of petty crime. His only distinguishing characteristic being his predilection for killing - women in particular.

From the outset of the book, Skinner's guilt is not in question - not to his sister and not to the police - Skinner even boasts of it.

But proving it is another matter. Skinner's macabre dance with death and the law embraces four more brutal murders. By a deft twist of the plot, the police get some very hard evidence and ....

As far as I've been able to establish, this is Rae's debut novel and, fifty pages in, it's shaping up something deliciously nasty. Each chapter is written from the perspective of a different character which made me very nervous to begin with, fearing I'd just splashed out on yet more pretentious drivel but, happily, Rae is a better author than that and the documentary feel suits the story.

"He's inclined to this lark then: girls I mean ?"

"Since puberty. Before that he only damaged property, with a bit of amateur theft on the side. But after he found out what the thing behind his fly-buttons was really for he decided to go in for indecent assault. That's his hobby: house-breaking's his trade."

The charmer under discussion is Arnold Skinner, recently released from prison after serving five for armed assault following a string of minor convictions. Skinner has now moved back in with his family, and the set up suits him: Joseph, his fiercely loyal father and fellow petty criminal, rules the roost, but that's just the way doting mum Nora prefers it. Men should be given their head and allowed to piss off to Kerrigan's for a pint or ten whenever they feel so inclined. Everything would be just perfect were it not for his sister, Rosemary. Ever since she became a schoolteacher, the "educated" member of the family has turned a bit unpredictable: why, sometimes - he suspects - it's almost as if she'd no longer be prepared to lie her tits off to protect her brother!

The body of young Harriet Calder has been found in Bluebell Wood on the outskirts of Pickering and the police already have Arnold Skinner fingered as their their prime suspect. He's currently working as a labourer on a gang laying pipes for the water-board and his colleague, Paddy, has already tipped off their guvnor about the fresh scratches to Skinner's face and somehow Skinner knows that he's done so. Fortunately, Paddy is a hard man himself and it's clear he's gonna need to be.

Skinner's alibi is that he spent the night enjoying a double bill at the Glasgow Rialto: "It was rubbish they were showin' though .... One was Corridors Of Blood and the other was one about Al Capone ... They were both lousy." Of course, he's lying but Muirhead and Booth know the guy will round up five 'witnesses' to swear they were with him soon enough. They're not alone in their suspicions. Joseph, Nora and Rosemary are all sure he's the culprit but only one of them is the slightest interested in seeing him brought to justice ....

To be continued ....