A gritty crime thriller. Glasgow man Bill Ingram waits in the city's Central Station to meet his daughter, returning home from London for Christmas. When the last train pulls in, and she doesn't get off it, he makes a desperate overnight dash to find out why. His search for her takes over his life, costing him his job and, as he withdraws from home, family and friends, he finds himself alone, despairing of ever seeing her again.
At Amazon UK here.
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Alan has previously featured with reviews of his two earlier books - The Cabinetmaker and Blue Wicked, as well as a favourite features post regarding Books, Music and Film.
Today he has more of his favourites...........FOOD, DRINK and PLACES!
Food (I know there are more than ten but I love food.)
Cheese - Soft goat's cheese or Manchego
Vegetarian
dish -
Ratatouille
Breakfast
cereal - Bran
flakes with sultanas
Fast food - Burritos. Discovered these on
holiday in California
Curry - Lamb Dhansak with naan bread
Bread - White cob from the Co-op
Meat - Lamb just shades it, but roe
deer venison superb
Dessert - Trifle just beats rhubarb
crumble & custard by a whisker
Tapas - Morcilla; beautiful Spanish black
pudding
Vegetable - Onion, followed by aubergine
Salad - Rocket & spring onion, mustard dressing
Fish - Sea Bream or Turbot, with
Scallops
Potatoes - Mashed with skins
Surf and
turf - Beef
fillet with lobster tail.
Drink (Just managed to keep this down
to ten)
Real Ale Leezie
Lundie Pale Ale. I don't normally enjoy real ales but this one is lovely.
Cocktail - Jolly rodger (Particulary apt
for the first drink in harbour after a rough day's sail.) Made from dark rum,
Galliano, apricot brandy & orange juice
Short - Dark rum, usually with Coke
With a Curry - Cobra. Cold and crisp to put
the fire out!
Stout - Guinness. A meal and a drink in one
glass. Great when you're in the mood, or in Ireland.
Red wine - Syrah
White wine - Sauvignon Blanc just pips a
nice Verdicchio
Heavy - Belhaven best
Cider - Magners. Hard to beat, sitting outside on
a hot simmer day
Bottled beer - Peroni. A few bottles with
pasta or pizza is just right.
Places
The first three are wonderful places to visit; even
more magical to sail into.
Canna - Inner Hebrides. Wild outside,
sheltered anchorage. Café Canna is the only eating place but it's fantastic.
Tarbert,
Loch Fyne - One of
the best natural harbours, great bars and eating places. Wonderful scenery.
Tobermory,
Isle of Mull -
Picture postcard beautiful. Great food and the Mishnish bar is one of a kind,
often jumping with live music.
 |
| Tobermory |
The
Canary Islands - All
year round sunshine, total relax-time for me.
Marseille - If I'm honest, the whole of the French
south coast, full of spectacular food, wine and scenery. I find the people much
friendlier than in the north, and they're happy when you make the effort to
speak French.
 |
| Marseille |
Edinburgh
- In my
opinion, no city in Britain matches it for the wow factor, and it's very
European in its cultural outlook. Sacrilege for a Weegie!
Ceridigion, South-West Wales. The old
Cardiganshire. I lived there for four years and I couldn't have been made more
welcome. I even learnt welsh. Pob hwyl I chi.
 |
| Ceridigion |
Barnsley,
South Yorkshire. I
worked on a farm just outside Barnsley as a student, and I still have great
friends down there; fellow farm workers and all honest Yorkshiremen. The Old
No. 7 pub in those days had the best juke box for punk in town, and I got a
taste for Tetleys.
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The next leg of the tour is tomorrow at It Takes a Woman!
Thanks again to Alan for his time.
Good to see you back! And a very nice selection of goodies from Mr Jones. By coincidence I found one of his earlier books on my shelf yesterday - surely you must have sent it to me? Must be a sign I should move him up the list...
ReplyDeleteAnyone who likes tapas and Syrah gets points in my book! And thanks for sharing about Bloq. It does sound like a compelling premise for a story.
ReplyDeleteCol, I like Alan Jones' choice of foods. It made me hungry as I read. I was tickled at the mention of "Curry - lamb dhansak with naan bread." Dhansak is a combination of peppered brown steamed rice and spicy dal mixed with mutton (lamb) or chicken, to be had with mutton or chicken kebabs and tangy salad. The dal is made of split pigeon peas.
ReplyDeleteNow dhansak is a very popular dish of the Parsis in India, the highly educated and progressive Zoroastrian community known for its strong faith in their messiah, adoption of Indian and Western culture, apolitical bearing, entrepreneurship and industry, and philanthropy. They love their food and drink, and generally mind their own business. The Parsi-Zoroastrians first migrated to India, from Persia, a few hundred years ago. In fact, I'm married to a Parsi!
Thanks for the info on this dish, Prashant!
DeletePeggy, you are welcome. Dhansak, a rice-dal combo, is usually made on Sundays.
DeleteI am not in the mood for a "gritty crime thriller" today, but I have heard good things about Alan Jones' books, so maybe someday.
ReplyDeleteI began reading the Quentin Bates series right after I saw the blog tour post featuring his new book, and I loved the first book in the series.
Great interview, Colman! I know Alan better now!
ReplyDeleteI wanna thanks to a great extent for providing such informative and qualitative material therefore often.
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