One of the joys of the Internet is rediscovering Hamlet’s old truth: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Big Beat from Badsville is a blog passionately devoted to Scottish crime fiction. We barely knew Scottish crime fiction existed till stumbling upon this blog.
Donna, the self-described Broad from Badsville, writes with much flair and devotion. For us in the USA, her posts offer a glimpse into an exotic world of Pulp Metal and maXcrime magazines, “Cows in the Cludgie,” CrimeFest, and Ian Rankin’s “10 Greatest Crime Novels of All Time.” It’s a place where it seems important “to be Scottish and working class.”
Her recent post on “Why I Love Crime Fiction” is as fine a defense of the mystery genre as we’ve seen in a while: “I don’t read for the puzzle, or the mystery, but the fact that there is a crime is a great focal point. There are varying degrees of solution and resolution – but it’s how the characters deal with the situations they are put into that fascinates me. We’re thrown into their lives at an extraordinary time, we see how their lives are affected, and what they do. And not just their own lives, but how that ripples out into society – their family, friends, colleagues – anyone who is touched by the crime, no matter how remotely.”
Ted the Cat (1994-present) is a domestic shorthair blogger and vers libre poet. He also enjoys sleeping, eating, and lurking. Ted the Cat co-habits with Kaze,
also a blogger at 317am.net.
