Alasdair McKillop

THE Accident on the A35 is the follow-up to Graeme Macrae Burnet’s first novel, The Disappearance of Adele Bedeau, and the second entry in a planned trilogy set in a small French town called Saint-Louis. His previous novel, His Bloody Project, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize last year but his latest is underwhelming by comparison. It struggles to rise above the level of tartan noir on tour and Burnet’s trademark encasement of literary intrigue looks more like tomb by the end.

PETER Ross can write about politics with a freshness that comes from conserving his resources, but in his best pieces he does so discreetly and indirectly, assuming he does so at all. One of the many reasons to read his stories is to leave behind the black and white world of contemporary Scottish politics and slip into a different country, full of strange variety.