Partners in crime
THE HEAT IS MURDEROUS in a sweltering photography studio just off-north London’s Caledonian Road, a fitting locale for the meeting of two Scots: the bestselling crime writer Denise Mina and the comedian and now fellow crime novelist Frankie Boyle. While they don’t know each other well, the two have many friends in common where they live only a mile apart in Glasgow.
Boyle looks particularly uncomfortable in the 30C-plus temperatures, and I half expect the punishing conditions to trigger his notoriously acerbic observational skills. But he’s a surprisingly benign presence, inclined to laughter, and so softly spoken it’s often hard to pick up on what he says. By contrast, Mina is as clear as a bell and unapologetically forthright in her opinions, which it’s fair to say have been well-earned. She is, after all, the seasoned writer in the room, having authored 16 highly regarded crime novels, not to mention three plays and various graphic works. Val McDermid has called her “crime-writing royalty”.
She published her first thriller, the critically acclaimed Garnethill, 24 years ago when she was 32. Boyle, who turns 50 this month, has just made his debut with Meantime, a tale of a Glaswegian addict who haphazardly investigates the murder of his best friend. It boasts impressive tributes from Mina and Ian Rankin on
