The Deep Dark Sleep

Lennox #3

by Craig Russell

Human remains are recovered from the bottom of the River Clyde. Tests reveal they've been there for eighteen years. Glasgow's underworld is buzzing with the news that the dredged up bones belong to Gentleman Joe Strachan, the city's most successful and ruthless armed robber. Strachan's daughters, Isa and Violet, want to hire Lennox to find out who has been sending them large sums of cash each year on the anniversary of Strachan's most successful robbery. Despite his reservations, Lennox needs the money and takes the job. But his investigations lead him back into the dark world of the Three Kings - the crime bosses who run the city. He should never have got involved ... Tough, gritty, and as noir as they come, The Deep Dark Sleep guarantees a sleepless night.

Genres: Crime, Thriller, Fiction, Scotland, Detective, Mystery, Historical Fiction

425 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Award-winning, best-selling and critically-acclaimed author. His novels have been published in twenty-five languages around the world. The movie rights to the Devil Aspect have been bought by Columbia Pictures. Biblical, his science-fiction novel, has been acquired by Imaginarium Studios/Sonar Entertainment, four Jan Fabel novels have been made into movies (in one of which Craig Russell makes a cameo appearance as a detective) for ARD, the German national broadcaster, and the Lennox series has been optioned for TV development.

Craig Russell:
• won the 2015 Crime Book of the Year (McIlvanney Prize) for 'The Ghosts of Altona', and is currently longlisted for the 2017 McIlvanney Prize for 'The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid', the latest in the Lennox series;
• was a finalist for the 2013 Ellis Peters Historical Dagger;
• was a finalist for the 2012 Crime Book of the Year (McIlvanney Prize);
• won the 2008 CWA Dagger in the Library for the Fabel series;
• was a finalist for the 2007 CWA Duncan Lawrie Golden Dagger;
• was a finalist for the 2007 SNCF Prix Polar in France;
• is the only non-German to be awarded the highly prestigious Polizeistern by the Polizei
Hamburg.

Official website: http://www.craigrussell.com
Facebook Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/craigrussell...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecraigrussell

Also writes under the pseudonym Christopher Galt

Reviews

[Andrew Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must admit that I’ve become a little obsessed with this series. Set in the tough streets of Glasgow in the 1950’s it follows a private investigator known simply as Lennox. In this book (the third in the series) the remains of a body are recovered from the River Clyde and word is going around that the bones are what is left of the legendary underworld boss Gentleman Joe Strachan, who disappeared from view some eighteen years ago following a series of robberies that netted a huge haul.

Lennox is ambivalent about the discovery, having only settled in Glasgow at the end of the war and therefore having had no prior knowledge of this renowned villain. But that changes when Strachan’s daughters offer him an ample payday if he can confirm whether the bones lifted from the river are actually those of their father. It seems that they’ve been receiving a sum of money through the post each year, on the anniversary of the final and most significant robbery attributed to Strachan.

The task turns out to be a lot trickier than expected, this being partly down to the lack of any photographs of Strachan but also because Lennox is soon accosted by a figure who uses his fists to explain that this particular quest must end before it’s properly begun. Possessing a hair trigger temper of his own, Lennox decides not only to ignore this piece of advice but to track down his attacker and mete out a little retribution for the beating he’s taken. But as he starts to dig for information it becomes clear that there is clear and present danger forever lurking in the shadows. Maybe this time he really should pay heed to the warning he received.

Readers of the first two books will be happy to know that key figures from those stories return here, namely the current triumvirate of Glasgow crime bosses and a couple of their thugs who have entertained us so well to date. This book is hauntingly compelling and is probably the best in the series so far – and that’s high praise indeed. In these Covid-19 restricted times I’m finding myself regularly listening to audiobooks as I attempt to find task I can undertake around the house and Sean Barrett is just the perfect reader for this series – his ability mimic the gravelly Glasgow accent and yet also to bring the humour alive is unparalleled. Simply brilliant. I’ve already downloaded book four. Miss this series at your peril.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great read. The wise cracking Lennox is back, where trouble seems to find him with ease. Humour throughout, with threat and violence never far from the surface. The historic content relating to life in a smog filled 1950’s Glasgow was also well delivered.

[Nick Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never read any Raymond Chandler, but this 'tartan noir' was very much as I imagine Chandler's 'LA noir' (and similar) to be like. I was immediately drawn in by the wise-cracking narration in the opening chapters, even though it was a little hard to get used to in places - I was expecting a straight crime thriller rather than one from the POV of a private detective in the 1950s.

But yes, overall it was very good - somewhat violent and gritty in places (which put me in mind of Stuart MacBride, who I like very much) and a complex and convoluted storyline built around a central character who many men would like and want to be like. I did get a little confused in all the twists and turns on occasion - but this was more to do with the fragmented way in which I read the book than the book itself - but it came together and showed all the character of a well written, very readable, and very funny Scottish crime novel with a different slant to many others of the genre. I will read others of Russell's.

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very dark story of mid-50s Glasgow, with the criminal underworld never far away from the surface - two cases for Lennox which start to have some overlap and end up in a very deep mystery. Lennox has a degree of self-loathing as he evaluates where his life is going

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

the year is 1955, the place is Glasgow and tour Hero is a Canadian who after WWII ended up in Scotland and has taken up the cloak of a private investigator. From the river Clyde are the remains of a body recovered who look to be the remains of Gentleman Joe. This particular character was a major criminal who pulled of some major heists and then disappeared from the stage and no reason was ever found for his disappearance except of course the murder of a police officer during the last heist. As police methods in these older days was somewhat more brutal than those of the current days a dead copper is good enough reason to leave Glasgow and any known place. And yet the police has no evidence at all who did the heist and if gentleman Joe was even involved. But he was strongly suspected. And now with his earthly remains recovered the questions remain.

Lennox gets hired by the daughters of this suspected gangster to investigate if Gentleman Joe is actually dead. At the same time he gets hired to solve the blackmail of a big movie star with Scottish roots and put an end to it.
Quickly Lennox finds out that both affairs carry more weight to them as he first expected. And even the kings of Glasgow want to know for sure that gentleman Joe remains dead and silent.

An excellent Scottish noir with some great observations and some brilliant dialogue, I even read some to my wife who had no context but they made her laugh as well. This is a very well written book and very entertaining, Lennox is brilliant creation. This is the third book and yet I felt that I did not need any information from the previous books, which was given without the required info-dump so many books tend to use. It is an easily stand alone to read book. Well worth my time and it surprised me how much I enjoyed.

[Melanie O'Neill · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️. The first one I’ve read by this author but will not be the last! Set in the 50’s which was new to me….Very gritty, loved the Glaswegian setting. Lots of violence, humour and twists along the way. Would recommend

[Subash Raman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just when you think it can't get any better the third book comes along ... Here CR tones down the quips on Glaswegians (they haven't disappeared but there isn't the biting sarcasm as in the last two books) and a surprisingly tender love story takes shoot in here and it's all written up achingly well. The protagonists are the best yet in the series and while the 3 kings are not so much center and off as in the last two, they have their histories dredged up and it does make for some fascinating context given what we know about them from the last two books. Lennox really moves to the top of his game here though and becomes a fully realized character that makes for the Marlowe kind of cult classic. In the last two books he made surprisingly amateurish mistakes, but in this he shows a fully developed sense of who he is and while bodies do drop left and right and more than usual, this villain is one for the ages ... anyways can't say any more without giving it away. But the best part of the book was how Lennox is slowly reverting back to his true sense of honor and it's done so authentically you barely notice it ... like i said earlier it's all in the shading, how the quips are less bitter, how he becomes more aware of the damages to his psyche, and also more in how he's beginning to put some of the self loathing behind him and come to terms with the things he's done in the past and the real shading comes in how he treats the regulars in his life. Josh, Mrs. White, Archie and the surprising lengths he goes to save the life of a gutter rat who was blackmailing his client. All adds up to one of the more intriguing characters in Noir that I've run into in a while.

Now on to book 4 (hate to think this may have been the last in this series) (less)

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Deep Dark Sleep is the third book in the Lennox series set in 1950s Glasgow. Lennox is still haunted by his time as a commando during the war and has wound up in Glasgow, working as a private investigator rather than return to his native Canada. Through guile and favours and he manages to navigate the criminal underworld of the ‘three kings’, while also maintaining friendships with policemen prepared to help him with his cases. As such, he’s the logical choice of PI for those who need difficult cases solved involving some criminal element. In this outing, he’s hired by the twin daughters of the most feared and successful criminal in the city before the war to discover whether a body dredged from the Clyde is their father, and by a solicitor acting on behalf of an American movie star who is being blackmailed over some explicit photographs. While the latter case seems relatively straightforward to resolve, the former soon turns deadly. Someone it seems is prepared to kill to keep the mystery of Gentleman Joe Strachan a mystery. Lennox is an engaging character, 1950s Glasgow is well portrayed, and Russell keeps the tale moving at pace. The twin threads, plus Lennox’s slow romantic pursuit of his landlady, is compelling and entertaining. However, while each thread is interesting, their entwining as the story unfolded felt like a somewhat clunky plot device that didn’t ring true. The result was an enjoyable tale that progressed to a seemingly inevitable and staged conclusion.

[Cliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent thriller with the requisite amount of violence but which is not overdone. I liked the chief character, Lennox, a Canadian who has washed up in Glasgow after war service about which we are told little, but hints given that it was particularly bloody. The book is set in 1955 and the ambience of Glasgow then is well caught, with thick smogs out of which trams loom endangering careless pedestrians, police who are in some ways, no better than those whom they seek to catch and the shipyards are still busy. Well written with some nice turns of humour - Gorbals tenements occupied by shipyard workers where the interior looks like the dining room of a liner and all is painted battleship grey.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good Lennox story and brilliantly read again by Sean Barrett.

[Cidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Craig Russell's books, if getting an insight into the 1950s violent underworld life is classed as enjoyable! Lennox, I don't think I've heard his first name, is a private investigator who joined the second world war fighting with Britain as a Canadian in the air force I think it was? Anyway obviously as part of his job is solving crimes and finding people, he is tasked by identical twins to find their missing father who disappeared when they were babies and whose body they believe is that day or week's one which has been dredged up from the river Clyde. Lennox sets about finding their father, the nefarious underworld boss named as Gentleman Joe Strachan, who was anything but a gentleman.

There are many twists and turns to this story and it is a bit of a bumpy ride before Lennox eventually gets to the truth, and not without much personal harm to himself. I really really enjoy the tongue in cheek dark humour in these books!! I know it's a book about violent deeds but you just can't help smiling when you read some of the thoughts and comments made by Lennox, Russell's books always make me think of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and I can hear Lennox with a Humphrey Bogart voice in a beige trench raincoat with ever present cigarette in hand and his style of humour narrating a voice over! These books would make great films, where's Kenneth Branagh when you need him!

[Falcon Blackwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadly, this is my last Lennox book. I started with "The quiet Death of Thomas Quaid" and worked through the books in the random order that I could obtain them in! I didn't miss much, or become spoilered out- Craig Russell's writing is such a treat that even the way he recaps previous events for the reader is fun to read. The style was a new one for me, I don't normally like private eye books, I don't like books in the first person and I dislike the kind of Chandleresque hard boiled writing these books adopt. And yet I loved the Lennox series, absolutely loved it! Perhaps I'm just thrawn, but I suspect my delight has to do with the fine mixture of dark humour and graphic realism backed up with research and knowledge of the city. Having lived for ten years in Glasgow, the scenes and atmospheres that Russell evokes were totally believable for me. He also manages to shoehorn in a little easter egg in every story, the one in this book was the description of the Binnie monorail, something I knew of but had never expected to read about it in a crime novel. Now my world is just that little bit gloomier because I haven't got any more of Russell's "Lennox" books to read.

[Will Quarry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third novel in this series, so far, stands out drastically. And not, I must hastily say, due to any deficit! It is another fantastic piece of literature, with a vast swathe of character. Without giving anything away, I just feel that the ending is somewhat hurried. Part of the joy for me of reading these books is being able to place the answer together yourself; I don't think that all the details were given here. My only other criticism is that of Lennox's lascivious nature. Although that is part of who he is, the narration of it could be off-putting to some readers. irrespective of that, I still think it is a fantastic piece of the puzzle that is this series.

[Gavin Meikle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent story from Craig Russell which sees the continuing evolution of enquiry agent Lennox. I love the way these books combine excellent storytelling with the historical elements to life in Britain and particularly Glasgow in the 1950s. Aso, as well as being gripped by the story, I learned more about my own country. My one criticism is that the dark descriptive humour of the previous two Lennox books, wasn't so prevalent in this one, and I missed it.

[Luz Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not know that those were also a saga... but I did not like this one as much as I liked other books from Craig Russell. Maybe it was the fact that I read I translated version of the book, but certainly the vocabulary of the characters it did not match the time of the story. In fact, it was really difficult for me to determine the correct time of the story. The best point is, no doubts, the hook on the crime! I read the whole book in two days!

[Dokusha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Die Geschichte spielt im Glasgow in der Nachkriegszeit, wodurch sich ein besonderes Flair ergibt. Eine Art historisch Patina, die dem Ganzen einen zusätzlichen Reiz verleiht.
Und auch der Schreibstil ist schön, mit einigen trockenen Kommentaren und teilweise recht flapsig geschrieben.
Ansonsten ein schön geschriebener Krimi, der sich gut liest, aber nichts wirklich außergewöhnliches.

[David Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent yarn but the author needs to do some research on the period the story is set! At one point he refers to a £20 note as a portrait of the queen. The queen did not appear on notes until 1960 and there was no £20 that was legal tender between 1945 and 1970.. Later Lennox has a wad of £50 notes, there were no notes of this denomination between 1943 and 1981...

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story from Craig Russell. Lennox is on top form with a story line which involves enough intrigue, mystery & twists and turns to keep you wondering what's going to happen next.
On to Dead men & broken hearts now!

[Tony Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second Lennox thriller that I've read. As with the first one it's a decent tale. Glasgow in the 1950's is portrayed as a very dark, sinister place, with an unlimited supply of moody and dangerous criminals. And Lennox (first name unknown) is right in the middle of them.

[Stuart Haining · Rating 4 out of 5]

9/10 19%. I really this author, a good story, fun to read, not a bad plot, good characters, and LOL moments every five pages - and that’s in a thriller (3x better humour rate than recent so-called comedy books read). Can’t wait to read 5 more in my box set.

[Dion · Rating 4 out of 5]

7*

Tough but humorous, it finds its perfect setting in the grey and grim Glasgow. The plot makes good use of the characters and makes the unravelling of the onion such fun.

Could make a great graphic novel. Apparently to be a TV series.

[Alistair Cuthbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping

Loved this from start to finish- great story, characters and lots of the cracking witticisms we've come to expect from Lennox

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book in an excellent series. Love the way the characters have developed over the series. Draws the reader in and you don't want to put it down

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number 3 in the Lennox series and it doesn’t disappoint. Just as gritty, violent and exciting as the first two. On to the fourth!

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another twisting and turning plot, bits of learning and a satisfying procedural to boot. A Joy to read.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a good read. Love the area and loved the way it was so well described.

[Jose Enrique · Rating 5 out of 5]

La mejor de las tres de esta serie, aunque al final deja cabos sueltos que me gustaria haber sabido como acaban. Recomiendo este autor en esta serie de libros.

[John M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable Glasgow-centred crime yarn that ticks all the right boxes: good plot, strong characterisation, genuine dialect and humour of the sarcastic variety. Loved it.

[Aaron Bates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love my PI novels, love them in previous (often just pre or post WWII) time periods, and tend to love European settings. This series checks all the boxes and I love Lennox as a character. He is a great hard boiled Chandler-esque type and all the dialogue is top notch.

[Raven · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third in Craig Russell's excellent `Lennox' series and I would say one of the darkest so far. Our silver-tongued, justice seeking private eye encounters more than one or two physical scrapes through business and pleasure when he takes on two cases that will test him to the hilt. Is it really criminal mastermind Gentleman Joe Strachan that languishes below the grey choppy waters of the Clyde who appears to be sending messages and issuing death warrants from beyond the grave, or are there other forces at work? And what links an American movie star with an aristocrat's son in a positively salacious incident of blackmail? And how the jiggins is Lennox going to sort it all out whilst still in pursuit of his delectable landlady Fiona, fighting off commando window cleaners and juggling the demands of the Three Kings who rule Glasgow with their iron fists? It's no walk in the park as our battered and bruised hero grapples with his toughest cases yet with a wonderfully violent denouement that sees Lennox dispensing justice in his own inimitable style but with what consequence? This series just gets better and better in my eyes- accomplished plotting, great characterisation melded with a perfect balance of grim violence and wise-cracking dialogue.