Convictions

by Frederic Lindsay

Detective Inspector Jim's Meldrum's career fighting crime has taken a heavy toll.

It's cost him his marriage, alienated his daughter - and hardened him to the senseless brutality and greed of Scotland's criminals.

And yet the murder of an elderly blind man - just another statistic - continues to haunt him fifteen years after the event.

For all those years the man convicted of the crime, Hugh Keaney, has protested his innocence – and without an admission of guilt there is no parole for a man serving life for murder.

When he learns that Keaney has gone on a hunger strike, however, Meldrum finds he can no longer live with his doubts about the case.

From the genteel terraces of Edinburgh to Glasgow’s tenements, from the tormented beauty of Co. Armagh to the deceptive peace of the Loire valley, Meldrum searches for answers to why the blind man had to die.

And yet, the more he discovers, the bigger the case gets - and the more serious the consequences.

But there are some 'Convictions' a man just can't shake.

In physical danger, with his career at risk, and family and loved ones under threat, Jim Meldrum must consider just how high a price he’s prepared to pay for justice.

338 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Frederic Lindsay was a Scottish crime writer who was born in Glasgow and lived in Edinburgh. He was a full-time writer from 1979 and previously worked as a lecturer, teacher and library assistant.

Eight of Lindsay's thirteen novels are police procedurals featuring Detective Inspector Jim Meldrum, an officer with Lothian and Borders Police, as their main protagonist.

In 1987, his novel Brond was made into a three-part television series for Channel 4 directed by Michael Caton-Jones and featuring the actors Stratford Johns, John Hannah and James Cosmo.

Lindsay also wrote for radio and the stage.