It’s 1979 in Glasgow, Scotland. Twelve-year-old Janey Devine lives with her grandmother, Maggie, in Possilpark, a neighborhood that is rough around the edges but mostly full of good (albeit nosy) people. Maggie has worked hard to provide for Janey --- both a safe place to live and as much joy and support as possible --- ever since Janey’s parents and sister died in a terrible accident when she was just a baby. Maggie’s own life has been full of violence and loss, which makes things all the worse when Janey stumbles onto a horrific crime scene.

What follows, in Frances Crawford’s first novel, is both a mystery and a poignant family drama as Janey and Maggie navigate the legal system, the fallout from the crime, the social dynamics of their neighborhood, and their own fraught past and fragile present. A BAD, BAD PLACE is layered, entertaining, thoughtful, and full of interesting twists that will keep readers guessing until the very end (and beyond).

"Crawford writes with an equal balance of toughness and tenderness and never sacrifices the vocabulary and linguistic conventions of her Glaswegian characters.... A BAD, BAD PLACE is a smart and well-crafted novel that will leave readers pondering the ending."

While walking her dog, Sid Vicious, along the “Dummy Railway,” Janey finds the mutilated corpse of 22-year-old Samantha Watson. Janey doesn’t remember much after she approaches and touches the body, but she knows she cannot share with the police exactly what she remembers about those moments. The trauma is compounded by the police investigation and the advances of Samantha’s father, infamous local crime boss Billy “The Ghost” Watson. Billy wants to get to know and protect Janey, as the person who found Samantha, and bonds with Maggie over the grief of losing a child. But his friendship and attention actually bring more danger to Janey and Maggie.

As the weeks go by, and as Janey and Maggie are drawn further into the Watson orbit, Janey begins remembering moments from the day she found Samantha. And even as she tries to shield Janey from further harm, Maggie cannot help but recall the tragic loss of her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter, as well as what she suffered at the hands of her husband many years ago. All this as the police continue to investigate Samantha’s murder, and as Janey deals with preteen friendships, adult concerns about her, and the fears that plague her as the key witness in the investigation. Janey wants to preserve Samantha’s memory, find the killer, and be done with all of it.

Crawford writes with an equal balance of toughness and tenderness and never sacrifices the vocabulary and linguistic conventions of her Glaswegian characters. Set against a backdrop of political and social realities, and with the energy of the punk rock that Janey and her best friend, Martin, love, this is a terrific debut. The first few pages are a bit choppy, but then Crawford settles into a good pace and into her exciting plot. While her love of the setting is always apparent, it is the characters --- and their relationships to each other --- that make the book.

A BAD, BAD PLACE is a smart and well-crafted novel that will leave readers pondering the ending. Janey and Maggie, as well as the other characters, are finely written with unique voices and perspectives. This is a tale of growing up, growing old, memory, loss, resilience, and the bonds that make us human.