Black follows up in style
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THE only problem with a successful debut is that, when it comes to a follow-up, the pressure is invariably tenfold.
With last year’s crime novel, Paying For It, former Press and Journal reporter Tony Black garnered widespread praise.
Crimespree Magazine compared the Scots author with the likes of Ian Rankin and Simon Kernick, while cult Irish noirist Ken Bruen said Paying For It was “an adrenaline-pumped novel that is as moving and compassionate as it is so stylishly written”.
Far from resting on his laurels, however, Black is set to turn things up a notch when Gutted, the second book in the Gus Dury series, comes out on Monday.
“In a lot of ways, I was just testing my wings with the first one,” says the 37-year-old, who now lives in Edinburgh.
“Gutted, and I’m quoting better qualified people than me on this, is a step up. The plot’s a lot more complicated and the characters are tested to their limits, especially Gus.
“Scottish noirist Allan Guthrie said Gutted was one of the best crime novels to come out of Scotland, which completely blew me away. It had me pinching myself to see if I was dreaming.”
Although thrilled with the response to the novel so far, Black admits that the success of Paying For It was something of a bugbear.
“There’s a bit of a ‘difficult second album syndrome’ that stalks sophomore novelists, and I definitely felt it,” he says.
“I was made well aware that because everyone had been so nice about Paying for It, there would be folk waiting to give me a kicking – but, so far, the reviewers have been even kinder to Gutted.”
Like Black’s debut novel, Gutted begins with a grisly murder. This time, the gangland owner of a pit bull terrier that killed a three-year-old girl is found “gutted” on Edinburgh’s Corstorphine Hill.
Dury, the protagonist who Black describes as “a reluctant PI and an enthusiastic alcoholic”, is assigned to investigate.
“About a year or so has gone by, which by Gus’s count, is at least 365 bottles of scoosh,” explains Black.
“At the end of Paying for It, Gus had managed to upset quite a few bods at Lothian and Borders Police and he’s now well and truly a kent face.
“At the start of Gutted, he’s caught up in another brutal city killing and he suspects it’s not going to be long before he’s put in the frame.
“Add to that the fact that he’s inherited a pub – which is like putting a pyromaniac in charge of a fireworks factory – and it’s clear to see things have gone from bad to worse for the poor bloke.”
Black still works part-time as a journalist, but stresses that any similarities between him and former hack Dury, who he says is “a miserable git”, end there.
However, the author says that his time at the Press and Journal has undoubtedly played an important part in his new career.
“On a superficial level, it means I’ve got no fear of deadlines or word counts,” he says.
“I’ve never seen a hack mooning around the newsroom waiting for the muse to strike. When you’ve got a daily paper to put out, there’s no time for things like writer’s block.
“It teaches you discipline and it teaches you to get those words down on the page, which is no bad thing at all.”
Gutted is published in hardback by Preface/Random House and is out on June 8, priced £16.99. Paying For It is published in paperback by Preface/Random House and is available now, priced £6.99.
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