Empty Nets and Promises (9 page)

A Note from the Author

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my old friend Andrew Robertson, who comes from a family of Campbeltown fishermen. He kindly helped me to understand the background and feel of fishing in the sixties, based on the experiences and stories of his late father, himself the skipper of the Campbeltown fleet. He followed in those formidable footsteps, becoming a fisherman himself. Few of us can imagine the dangers and discomforts faced by these men in the course of their daily toil. Tragically, many lost, and still lose, their lives. I dedicate this book to those fishermen.

As always, huge thanks to my family – Fiona, Rachel and Sian – and all at Polygon who work so hard to bring my work to the page.

Notes

One of my earliest memories as a small child in the late sixties was catching a glimpse of Concorde, the supersonic passenger jet then being flight-tested in the skies above Kintyre. If you missed the sight of the aircraft, you couldn't fail to hear the loud sonic boom as it broke the sound barrier. In a way, this plane heralded the dawn of a new age in the decade that defined much of the modern world in which we now live. Though Concorde itself no longer flashes through our skies, new and faster ways to travel will continue to shrink our world.

Some may quietly opine that we were better off and more content in simpler times, but as is the way of things, the march of progress, welcome or not, is inevitable. The airbase at Machrihanish, then in the hands of the RAF, was the site chosen for this testing because of the length of its runway. Indeed, it is one of the reasons that Kintyre may yet find itself the location of the UK's spaceport – another massive leap forward.

Again, back in the late sixties, you would have found a busy fishing port at Campbeltown, with small wooden boats crowded in the space between the town's twin piers. Sadly, modern fishing methods, combined with almost inexplicable political interference, have led to a catastrophic decline in the numbers of fish in our seas, and the fishing fleet in Campbeltown, as elsewhere, now numbers only a handful of boats.

Andrew Robertson, the ex-Campbeltown fisherman mentioned above, looked back on this loss with much regret. He lamented the disappearance of the fair contest between fish and man, as larger vessels worked together trawling the sea, giving their quarry no chance of escape, or time to replenish.

Fishing became a massive industry in the eighties. Many of my former classmates made my eyes water with tales of the money they were making back then. It didn't last, and the connection between the fishermen of Kintyre and the sea, which lasted for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, has almost been lost. Hopefully, as modern and better informed attitudes prevail, sustainable fishing will again become the norm.

I have tried to capture a fictional taste of a life at the fishing, which – almost as a by-product – spawned such wonderful yarns, songs and poetry. For a more factual account of these days, and long before, please seek out the works of Freddie Gillies and Angus Martin, both great chroniclers of times past in Kintyre.

Also available from Polygon by Denzil Meyrick

WHISKY FROM SMALL GLASSES

http://amzn.to/1E1cKLP

When the body of a young woman is washed up on an idyllic beach on the west coast of Scotland, D.C.I. Jim Daley is despatched from Glasgow to lead the investigation.

Far from home, and his troubled marriage, it seems that Daley's biggest obstacle will be managing the difficult local police chief; but when the prime suspect is gruesomely murdered, the inquiry begins to stall. As the body count rises, Daley uncovers a network of secrets and corruption in the close-knit community of Kinloch, thrusting him and his loved ones into the centre of a case more deadly than he had ever imagined.

The first novel in the D.C.I. Daley Thriller series, Whisky from Small Glasses is a truly compelling crime novel, shot through with dark humour and menace.

THE LAST WITNESS

http://amzn.to/1Jm4Xba

James Machie was a man with a genius for violence, his criminal empire spreading beyond Glasgow into the UK and mainland Europe. Fortunately, James Machie is dead, assassinated in the back of a prison ambulance following his trial and conviction. But now, five years later, he is apparently back from the grave, set on avenging himself on those who brought him down. Top of his list is his previous associate, Frank MacDougall, who unbeknownst to D.C.I. Jim Daley, is living under protection on his lochside patch, the small Scottish town of Kinloch. Daley knows that, having been the key to Machie's conviction, his old friend and colleague D.S. Scott is almost as big a target. And nothing, not even death, has ever stood in James Machie's way . . .

DARK SUITS AND SAD SONGS

http://amzn.to/1MLV86r

When a senior Edinburgh civil servant spectacularly takes his own life in Kinloch harbour, DCI Jim Daley comes face to face with the murky world of politics. To add to his woes, two local drug dealers lie dead, ritually assassinated. It's clear that dark forces are at work in the town. With his boss under investigation, his marriage hanging on by a thread, and his sidekick DS Scott wrestling with his own demons, Daley's world is in meltdown. When strange lights appear in the sky over Kinloch, it becomes clear that the townsfolk are not the only people at risk. The fate of nations is at stake. Jim Daley must face his worst fears as tragedy strikes. This is not just about a successful investigation, it's about survival.

THE RAT STONE SERENADE

http://amzn.to/1LUr4GN

It's December, and the Shannon family are returning home to their clifftop mansion near Kinloch for their annual AGM. Shannon International is one of the world's biggest private companies, with tendrils reaching around the globe in computing, banking and mineral resourcing, and it has brought untold wealth and privilege to the family. However, a century ago Archibald Shannon stole the land upon which he built their home and his descendants have been cursed ever since.

When heavy snow cuts off Kintyre, DCI Jim Daley and DS Brian Scott are assigned to protect their illustrious visitors. As an ancient society emerges from the blizzards, and its creation, the Rat Stone, reveals grisly secrets, ghosts of the past come to haunt the Shannons. As the curse decrees, death is coming but for whom and from what?

DALINTOBER MOON

http://amzn.to/1DsWTRy

When a body is found in a whisky barrel, buried on Dalintober beach, it appears that a notorious local crime, committed over a century ago, has finally been solved. D.C.I. Daley discovers that, despite the passage of time, the legacy of the murder still resonates within the community, and as he tries to make sense of the case, the tortured screams of a man who died long ago echo across Kinloch.

TWO ONE THREE

http://amzn.to/1LwqX9j

Glasgow, 1986. Only a few months into his new job, Constable Jim Daley is walking the beat. When he is called to investigate a break-in, he finds a young woman lying dead in her squalid flat. But how and why did she die? In a race against time, Daley is seconded to the CID to help catch a serial killer, under the guidance of his new friend DC Brian Scott. But the police are not the only ones looking for the killer . . . Jim Daley tackles his first serious crime on the mean streets of Glasgow, in an investigation that will change his life for ever. This is a stunning eBook only prequel to Denzil Meyrick's critically acclaimed, best-selling DCI Jim Daley series.