This really gives readers a pause for thought. Just how traumatic it can be for a 12 year old finding a dead body, let alone one that was mutilated?
The police just want the details to find the perpetrator, the deceased girl’s father wants revenge whilst also grieving. Maggie is trying to protect her grand-daughter and yet still maintain her finger-tip grip on staying solvent.
The writing is both descriptive of location and the emotions. A book that entertains and gives plenty to think about.

I nearly gave up on this book purely because of the Glaswegian dialect - a lot of which I either didn’t understand or couldn’t get the gist! However, I am extremely glad I didn’t give up as once I had become a little more acclimatised to the way of writing, the rewards were worth it! Do think that perhaps an explanation of the meanings, either at the beginning or end of the story, might be helpful! Loved the characters and especially the endearing relationship between Janey and her grandmother but particularly fell in love with Sid Vicious., the wonderful family pet. Having a 12 year old girl finding a dead body and then experiencing the repercussions arising from the horrendous discovery was certainly an excellent and novel way of relating a crime story, especially when told, alternatively, from the grandmother’s and then the granddaughter’s point of view. I thoroughly enjoyed the occasional humour and could totally relate to the way Janey’s recollections would suddenly go off on a completely different tangent. My advice to any reader? Don’t give up - it’s well worth getting used to the dialect!

A grittier, less innocent story similar to The List of Suspicious Things. Whereas that was two kids playing amateur sleuth, this story sees 12 year old Janey who stumbles onto an actual dead body, and how it affects her mentally afterwards, and her grandma Maggie who is her guardian.

I wouldn’t say it’s the cheeriest or happiest of stories, as life is clearly hard for them, and they’ve had family loss years ago, on top of the latest crime discovery. But the characters are well written. And if you like open endings then you’ll appreciate this one.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

This was a good story however I personally found it too long winded for not a great reason, plus it was quite hard to read the dialect to begin with.

An interesting novel as it is told by two narrators, the first is from 12 year old granddaughter, Janey, who with her dog Sid Vicious discovers a dead woman. The other narrator is her grandmother, Maggie, who is a tough Glaswegian who has to deal with the fall out from the local gangster as the murdered woman is his daughter. Janey is traumatised as both the police and the gangster interrogate her to find out all she remembers, but Janey has hidden some of the worst memories and that results in her finding it difficult to know who to trust.
It was a difficult read at the beginning as the novel is written in a heavy Glaswegian dialect, but I soon became used to it.

Bad, Bad Place explores the aftermath of a murder discovered by 12-year-old Janey while out walking her dog. Set in the late 70s in the north of Glasgow, the story is told through the eyes of Janey and her Nana, Maggie.

You get to see all walks of life, from every-day folk to gang leaders, while experiencing the impact of the crime. Like the author, I grew up in the north of the city so the locations felt familiar and easy to picture.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK Transworld Publisher for an Advance Readers Copy.

Set in working-class, industrial Possilpark, Glasgow in 1979, A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford is a book that will definitely leave a mark on you once you have finished reading. It is an extremely powerful and emotional read.

The main character is Janey Devine. Janey is 12 years old and when she took her dog Sid Vicious (who is a character in his own right!) out for a walk she came across the body of a woman called Samantha Watson, who had been murdered and left on an abandoned ’dummy’ railway. We hear very often that bodies are very sadly often found by dog walkers and in this book, we see the appalling discovery through two very distinct points of view. Firstly, Janey who found the body and then her Nana, Maggie. I have not read a crime book before that was told from a child’s perspective and found Janey’s vulnerability and rawness deepened the storyline. Also many books are told about the impact of the victim and their family so it was very powerful to read a book from the perspective of the person who found the body, and the effect on their family and the wider community too.

For anyone to have found Samantha would have been absolutely awful enough, but for a child, absolutely horrendous. Janey did what she thought was one of the kindest things she could do but not realising that this would not allow the police to have the full picture. Samantha was the daughter of a local gangster, Billy Watson, who so many of the residents feared and where the community became silent where he was concerned.

What Janey saw and experienced that day haunts her every day and night. When speaking to the police, Janey leaves out some vital information, but understandably Janey was so frightened and traumatised when she found Samantha. The murder shocks the community and as everyone started to find out it was Janey who found the body, questions are fired at her continually. The rumours were flying around the community and the police were doing all they could to find the murderer and get to the truth.

Thank goodness for Janey’s nana, Maggie. She is Janey’s rock and as one who has experienced trauma and hidden secrets herself, she is fiercely protective of Janey and does everything she can to help her cope with the aftermath. Maggie is so worried about Janey’s safety but also that her own extremely painful past may come to light which she has tried to hide for so long.

A Bad, Bad Place is full of twists and turns. I have to say I did not guess the murderer and was kept on tenterhooks until the end! There is also humour in the book which allowed the characters to get through each day and survive the awful situations they were in. The humour allowed us a true insight into the characters and showed us their true resilience.

The writing is extraordinary – you have the setting so vivid in your mind and you have the local Glaswegian working-class dialect, which once you get into the rhythm of it (it did take me some time), it totally flows. The phrases, the slang – you feel part of the conversations and you could soak in the tone and setting and sense the feeling in the phrases. The tension throughout the book was off the charts which made it such a gripping and intense read. Very cleverly written. For her debut book, I think this is an outstanding read and I look forward to reading more by Frances Crawford. And finally, the cover was so striking and intriguing it makes you immediately want to open the book and start reading!

Thank you very much to Random House UK and Transworld Publishers for my advanced copy. This review is based on a NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.

The one thing that caught my eye with this book was a the cover, it was so unusual and with the title running through, it looked really intriguing.

It was a great read. Set in 1979 Glasgow, the name of everyone's lips is Janey Divine, not for any good reason but because this twelve year old girl finds a murdered woman on the 'dummy railway' and from that point on her childhood is reshaped.

The victim, named as the daughter of one of the local gangsters in the area, causes fear throughout the community and Janye's nana is deeply afraid for their safety. Janey claims that she didn't see anythinig and can't remember anything but the police keep badgering her for more information. When the gangster takes an interest, there is more at stake than ever before.

It was a cleverly written narrative and interestingly, it was dual point of view. The first point of view is that of Janey, a child and another victim in this crime. The second is the grandmother who, whilst protecting her granddaughter, is fighting grief and loss of her own.

The area in which the book is set does not sound like a nice place so suits that title nicely.

The different perspectives add different layers to the novel, especially as they are at two ends of the generations.

I did however struggle with the use of the vernacular. Some of the phrases and sentences were a little hard to grasp initially but once I got into the swing of it, it came quite easy.

Overall, a good, but challenging read.

‘A Bad,Bad Place’,by Frances Crawford,is an absolute belter of a crime debut ,that feels authentic and realistically depicts Glasgow of 1979.
The story is narrated in separate first person sections from the viewpoint of Janey, a twelve year old girl who finds the horribly mutilated body of a young woman and also by her Nana Maggie who both struggle with the aftermath of this traumatic discovery.
With the police investigation complicated by bias towards the likely perpetrator of the murder, Janey tries to piece together her fractured memories of the crime scene to find the menacing individual before it’s too late and those who she cares about suffer at the hands of a killer on the loose.
This tale delves smartly into the psychological aspects and impact of murder on those left behind almost as much as seeking out the person responsible.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK,Transworld Publisher ,for an Advance Readers Copy.

It took me a while to get into this and it wasn't until approximately 60% that I started to enjoy what I was reading. The narrative from both a child and her grandmother was unique to the story and the way their story was through their own slang did add a personal touch. The story was fed into throughout with many additions from Maggie's own past and Janey's hazey memory from 'Dummy railway day'. It wasn't quite for me however that wouldn't stop me from recommending it to others who I think might enjoy it.

I enjoyed this book and particularly enjoyed the characters - Maggie reminded me a lot of women in my life. I found the central mystery gripping although I did find the ultimate reveal a bit predictable. Ultimately I would recommend this to customers looking for a good crime story and particularly to fans of The List of Suspicious Things, as I found the two very similar.

P.S. I absolutely LOVE the cover!

I've read some excellent books that have children as the main narrator, and this one just joined that list.
Perfectly set in the 70s, this book deals with the aftermath of 12 year old Janey finding a dead body.
The trauma it inflicts on her, and how her nearest and dearest cope.
There's the obvious who did it aspect, but also why, and what is Janey hiding?
Definitely tugged on my heart strings with the relationship between Janey and Maggie.
An excellent read.

I enjoyed this book, it feels like an authentic picture of ordinary people in Glasgow in the 70's. You can almost hear Janey and Nana's voices they're so distinct which made this hard to put down.

A Bad, Bad Place is the story of the fallout from a murder. 12-year-old Janey discovers the mutilated body of a woman while walking her dog, and the months following this are told through the eyes of Janey and her Nana.

Set in the late 70’s in Scotland, the tale is built around the mystery of who killed Samantha, but as it is told by Janey and her Nana it beautifully shows the wider consequences of that one event. We’re introduced to the whole spectrum of society, from ordinary people to thieves to gang leaders.

This was an intriguing read, and although it took me a few pages to get into it, once I was hooked I didn’t want to put it down. This is the first crime book I’ve read with the majority told through the eyes of a child, and it was a refreshing change. The impact of the murder on Janey’s relationships with everyone was very well done, and Nana’s struggles to bring up a child and protect her while dealing with her own grief and secrets are heartbreaking at times.

All the characters felt very real with none of the cartoon villains you sometimes get in crime books, and Janey and Nana’s voices were clearly distinguishable. The end left me wanting to know more, but not in a frustrated way and I feel like that was the perfect place to leave it. Although there isn’t a lot of high action is this book, it is full of raw emotion and exploration of what it means to be a community.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Set in Glasgow in 1979, we meet 12 year old Janey who has the misfortune to stumble across a dead body, a trauma for anyone let alone a vulnerable child. This is the story of how the various people involved cope, or not, with the after affects, not least, in Janet’s case, the guilt, terror and confusion she feels by the way she is treated. Times have hopefully changed in the way traumatised children are dealt with by the police when they have experienced this type of incident. The story is told from both Janey’s and her Nanas point of view. It also touches on the darker side of life, crime and the people involved. I can’t say it’s a book I really enjoyed, but it sucked me in from the start, and I needed to read to the conclusion. Recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The title can refer to the unpleasant site where the dead body is found and also to the state of mind of those people exposed to unpleasant trauma in there life.
12 year old Janey and her dog find the body of a young woman terribly mutilated and the shock leaves Janey rather unsure about what she can remember seeing that day and also aware that she did something that she should not have done and feels bad about keeping this a secret. Set in the late 70’s in a decidedly poor working class area of Glasgow, the warm relationship between Janey and Maggie her grandmother is the bedrock of the novel. It was the daughter of a local gangster who was killed so Janey and her nan have a fair amount of contact with the criminal classes so it is no surprise that the novel is written in a broad Glaswegian accent. Janey becomes more and more withdrawn and afraid and Maggie fears that her granddaughter may never escape the mental demons that the death has brought to bear. It is still a who dunnit mystery however and although no great surprises at the end for me , I did like the ambiguous way the ending was handled.

I really enjoyed this crime novel set in Glasgow in 1979. As my husband is from Glasgow it was interesting seeing areas mentioned that I am familiar with. It's not often that a novel is written from the pov of the person who finds a body and its hard to imagine how traumatic that must be. I've often thought about the emergency services having to deal with these horrific events, how they cope.
A well thought out story with humour and warmth, despite the main theme of the book.

This is a story of a bad thing happening to a good person.

The pain of loss distorts people’s memories and ability to act with clarity.

It’s all a big mess that just gets messier.

Then courage rises up and the two protagonists dig deep and step past their hurt and confusion to reclaim their past in the story.

It’s a tale well told, full of grit and determination.

The language was a bit tricky to understand at times, but it was part of the character of this book and created a strong impression of the backdrop to this story of strength and humanity in the midst of tough times.

janey lives in Glasgow with her grandmother in a run down area Possilpark. At twelve years her childhood is over when she comes across the body of a young woman while out walking her dog. When the girl is identified as the daughter of a gangster and hard man Billy Watson. Forever grateful to Janey for finding his daughter it puts their lives in danger.
This was a great read, although at times hard going with reading the Glaswegian dialect. A great debut novel which was gripping from first to last page.

What a brilliant book. A real page turner!

12 year old Janey finds the body of a young woman who has been murdered. This book focuses on Janey and her grandmother and the wide reaching impacts of violent crime. I think it's a fairly unique perspective to place the book from a witnesses point of view and highlight the impact that finding a dead body can have on someone.

This is such a strong debut novel from an exciting new voice in crime fiction. Set in Glasgow in the late seventies this book explores the life of the working class, gang violence and crime all in a darkly humourous way. It's so absorbing and I couldn't read it fast enough.

There is the underlying mystery of who killed Samantha and what is Janey not remembering, but even without that I would have happily read this book just for Janey and her Grandmother Maggie's authentic voices. Them and the book all felt very real.

I can't recommend this book enough, particularly for fans of other gritty Scottish books like Shuggie Bain.