THE DEVIL LIVES IN GLASGOW

French journalist Bornais's flawed first novel, a murkily plotted thriller, begins with some promise. In 1887, young Joe Hackney, a newly appointed Scotland Yard detective, travels to Glasgow to assist in investigating two brutal murders that apparently stemmed from an interrupted burglary. The unusual nature of the wounds, which have traces of rust in them, seem to link the crimes to another unsolved double murder from two years earlier. Hackney's pursuit of the truth is hampered by subpar police work by the local, possibly corrupt, members of the force, but his efforts lead to his uncovering even more crimes that fit the pattern. Many of the victims apparently knew a laborer named Hogg who conveniently disappeared after the killings, but the descriptions of the man vary widely, especially in terms of his age. Hackney is more determined bulldog than inspired sleuth, and he catches his quarry only when he himself is targeted for attack. The greater defect is the ending; the reader hoping for a clever and logical resolution of the paradoxes Bornais has set up will be disappointed. (Sept. 14)

FYI: This novel won France's Black Claw prize as the best crime novel of 2001.