Some mornings, before I open my eyes, I forget how much has changed.
I expect to wake in my one wee bed with my sister Teenie across the way in hers, the way we slept all those years we were bairns. (We both thought the hymn was written for us. You ken the one: “Jesus bids us shine with a pure clear light”. And it ends up “you in your small corner, and I in mine”. Most likely, everybody in a big family that shares a bedroom thinks that wee hymn was written for them, eh no?) And then it would have been gulping down my mammy’s lumpy porridge before the school bell. Mack, my daddy, never ate a bite of it himself but he wouldn’t thole waste and woe betide us if we left so much as a scrape in our bowls, Teenie and me.
But that was years ago now. More often, when I’m coming up out of sleep but my eyes are still tight shut, I think I’ll open them on the painted wooden panels of the box bed in my mammy’s big room and the pale lining on the curtains pulled over to keep us warm and snug in the night once the fire has burned down. Not that it lasted long, when it was no more than a shovel of coals carried from the kitchen when my mammy and daddy were ready for their own box bed through the wall. Sometimes those days feel so real and so close, I listen for Sandy’s breathing and sniff for the smell of his hair oil. Time’s been I’ve even stretched a foot to feel for his warm leg, like I used to.
But eventually, even before my eyelids flutter open, I remember where I am. Of course I do. Grove Place is a dark old cavern of a street and whether it was my shared bedroom or the boxbed with Sandy, mornings were dim there. Here, where I live now, the sun pours in the back window and lights the place up right through my good curtains. I roll onto my back and stretch like a starfish, taking up every inch of the soft feather bed underneath me, still enjoying the smoothness of these big white sheets I can’t believe are really mine. When I think of the ironing those flannel sheets round at my mammy’s used to take! She had muscles like Hercules from years of lifting that iron off the range and trying to press out the wrinkles. These softy, slippery sheets of mine now? I peg them out so neat on my line they billow themselves creaseless and all I ever have to do is fold them.
It stays as grand when I put my feet to the floor too. I think back to dressing in the dark and scurrying down to the back court hoping none of the neighbours had nipped in ahead of me. Now, I pad across my carpet and up my passageway to my own gleaming white bathroom and I’m always smiling when I catch sight of myself in the wee mirror Sandy bought to shave in.
I don’t even own a porridge pot. I have a cut of yesterday’s bread, kept nice overnight in a damp muslin, for I don’t need to fear for mice in this house, and I make my own pot of tea just how I like it and no daddy to call it dishwater and keep at me to add more leaves till it could stand up on its own without a cup and would take the white off your teeth for you.
When I turn my own key in my own door and face the world, it never matters what’s waiting for me round at the surgery: the doctors can tease me; the patients can vex me; those endless blessed forms can trip me up; the carbon copies can snarl themselves into knots as soon as I touch them . . . I breeze through the lot of it. I know, come five o’clock, I’ll be back here with a bit of fish or a nice chop for my tea. I’ll make up my fire, turn my wireless to the dance music, chat to Sandy maybe, write a letter maybe, or just sit by the front window and watch God paint the sky, as happy with His day as I am with mine.
It’s dangerous, mind you, to sit and gaze. That’s when the thoughts creep in. Still, if I feel myself sink under the weight of what lies ahead – when I’m too tired to pretend I can keep on ignoring it – I tell myself He’d never give me more than I can bear, and maybe tomorrow I’ll roll my sleeves up and begin.
In Place Of Fear
Genre: Historical
Release: June 2022
Purchase Link
Helen leaned close enough to fog the mirror with her breath and whispered, ‘You, my girl, are a qualified medical almoner and at eight o’clock tomorrow morning you will be on the front line of the National Health Service of Scotland.’ Her eyes looked huge and scared. ‘So take a shake to yourself!”
Edinburgh, 1948. Helen Crowther leaves a crowded tenement home for her very own office in a doctor’s surgery. Upstart, ungrateful, out of your depth – the words of disapproval come at her from everywhere but she’s determined to take her chance and play her part.
She’s barely begun when she stumbles over a murder and learns that, in this most respectable of cities, no one will fight for justice at the risk of scandal. As Helen resolves to find a killer, she’s propelled into a darker world than she knew existed, hardscrabble as her own can be. Disapproval is the least of her worries now.
About the author
Catriona McPherson (she/her) writes preposterous 1930s detective stories about an aristocratic sleuth, darker (not difficult) contemporary psychological thrillers, and comedies set in the Last Ditch Motel in fictional (yeah, sure) California, She has just introduced a fresh character in June’s 1948-set In Place Of Fear, which finally marries her love of historicals with her own working-class roots.
Catriona is a proud lifetime member and former national president of Sisters in Crime.
GIVEAWAY: Catriona has generously offered to give away one print copy of In Place of Fear. To enter, please leave a comment below. One entry per person and the giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only. Giveaway ends July 1, 2022. Good luck everyone!
All comments are welcomed.
Wow, what a great post, I am hooked Thanks for the chance to win, but either way, just put thus on my library hold list as well–either way, a win!
Ah, thank you. I wrote this when I hadn’t been home to Edinburgh for nearly three years. Yesterday, though, I walked round the streets where this is set – Grove Place, the crescent where the surgery is, Helen’s wee house up in the light – and it was wonderful!
In Place of Fear sounds like a great read. Whether I win or not, I’d like to read this one. Thank you for the chance!
Lovely having a place of one’s own.
I’m so glad to hear that I captured her joy about it!
It sounds like Helen has a very interesting story, and I’d like to read more. Thanks Catriona and Dru Ann for the giveaway!
She does! I got so carried away with her day I only hinted at the plot. But it *is* a murder nmystery . . .
Sounds fascinating. I’d love to try this one.
Thank you. I loved writing it.
Captivating and enthralling. This story is riveting.
Thank you, Anne.
Wonderful writing and the era is my favorite. I will keep reading.
Ah, thank you, Ellie. I like it especially because I can mine people’s memories and stay off Google for a change.
Working in the medical field myself I like seeing characters with this background. It really lends something to the investigation of the mystery, I think.
I hope so, Alicia. The research was a lot of fun and fascinating.
I can’t believe it has been several years since I have read one of her books! I’ll have to remedy that. Hopefully with this, if not, look out library and bookstore! This one sounds wonderful.
You really should! Just kidding. If you’re anything like me, I look away for ten minutes and suddenly a series is eight books long.
It sounds like another great series. I’m looking forward to reading it.
Fingers crossed. I wrote it as if it was a standalone – kept nothing back – but I’d love to carry on peering into their lives now.
I am entranced. When I begin a book the introduction has me immediately and this captured my complete interest. The character, and the setting as well as the period of time gives me great enjoyment and pleasure.
Oh wow. What high praise. Thank you, Laini.
I enjoyed seeing the photos you shared on Facebook of the various locations, particularly the New Town one. It would be a delight to read the book and “visit” again with Helen.
The funny thing about those pictures? The wee cottages are just across the street from the elegant crescent. If you put “Gardener’s Crescent” into Google maps you will see both.
What a great intro. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy and look forward to immersing myself in that bygone era!
Thank you. I love that era too. Even though I’m glad I didn’t have to live through it!
I certainly had a lot of fun writing it. My favourite bit was probably when Helen and Sandy are given a load of tea chests full of household goods (from a friend’s attic) and I watched them open the lids and find out what was inside. I’d love that to happen in real life!
I’d like to be included, sounds like a good one!
Thank you, Teresa!
Lovely “voice” you’re captured in this sample.
I was surprised and pleased that I found her again so easily. (I wrote this in 2020!)
Helen sounds like she’s found her own paradise! Who is Sandy? I can’t wait to read this!
Well, I had to leave a few breadcrumbs leading into the forest . . . !
Glad to know you were able to visit home and that you are still writing.
I look forward to reading it.
Please let us know when the book launch will be.
Karen in Northern California
This the US launch, Karen. I will be away until late August!
is
I enjoy reading your books. Thanks for the giveaway.
Thank you for reading, Sherilyn!
Looking forward to reading Catriona!
Fran! Hi – and thank you.
How lovely! From the bits given, and from what I’ve read from you before, I’m going to enjoy this!
Oh, I do hope so, Anne.
**** WINNER ****
In Place of Fear is Sherilyn
Congratulations!