We are delighted to welcome crime writer Douglas Skelton to Omnimystery News today.
Douglas's final book in his Davie McCall series is Open Wounds (Luath Press; March 2016 ebook and September 2016 trade paperback) and we recently had the opportunity to spend some time with him talking about the series.
— ♦ —
Omnimystery News: Introduce us to your series characters. And what is it about your lead character that appeals to you as a writer?
Photo provided courtesy of
Douglas Skelton
Douglas Skelton: My main character is Davie McCall, an underworld enforcer with a secret — he has a heart. He hides it well, though. He operates within a very strict moral code — you don't hurt women, children or animals. You don't use weapons. You don't involve civilians. That doesn't stop him from being a very powerful tool for top crooks, including his old pal Rab McClymont.
There are other characters who play important roles in the books — his best friend Bobby Newman, his mentor Joe "The Tailor" Klein, and cops Frank Donovan and Jimmy Knight. They all impact on his life in one way or another, as do various female characters like Audrey, his first love, Vari, the damaged young woman who helps him pick up the pieces, and Donna, a mysterious woman who moves into the flat upstairs in the final book.
What appealed to me was his solitary nature and the fact that his public image was different from the one the reader sees. He's a throwback to the old western hero — Shane with a Glasgow accent.
OMN: How did Davie McCall develop over the course of the series?
DS: The series of four books stretch from 1980 to the year 2000 and Davie ages in real time, as it were. His life changes, he suffers heartbreak and loss, he questions his life and lifestyle increasingly. Life changes for other characters, too. Some of them die.
OMN: Into which genre would you place this series?
DS: I'd describe the books as hard-boiled thrillers. They are not essentially mysteries, although often who is doing what to whom is designed as a surprise, but they can be pretty tough in both word and deed. There is no overt sadism — in Devil's Knock, book three, there is the use of a nail gun — but the body count can be high.
OMN: How much of your own personal or professional experience have you included in the books?
DS: I wish there was more of Davie in me, actually. There are times when his direct approach to problems could come in handy. I would say there are parts of me in his nature — I don't like crowds or parties, I can enjoy my own company, I love my dog. But what informs the series more is the time I spent investigating real-life crime in Scotland, both for true crime books and on behalf of local solicitors. That taught me that very little is black and white, that even the most despicable crook can have a soft side. I haven't based anyone on a real life person, although occasionally sections of an actual incident have been plundered and manipulated to suit the needs of my story.
OMN: How true are you to the settings in the books?
DS: The four books are all set in Glasgow and I do try to be true to the city. If a scene takes place in a particular street I visit it, get the feel for it. That doesn't mean I won't take a few liberties if I have to. In the final book in the series, Open Wounds, I place a telephone call box at the end a street that's never had a call box, as far as I know. But I needed it for the story.
The setting is important in order to create a believable backdrop for the stories. I could easily have created a fictional city, like Ed McBain, and some day I may well do so for another book I have in mind. But I wanted to ground these books in realism and that meant having a real city to base them.
The plotlines, though, could — with a little tweaking — be set in any city. If anyone wants to buy the film rights, I would have no objection to basing them in the USA. I can be bought.
OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?
DS: As a child I read — and watched — a vast number of westerns and that influenced the genesis of Davie McCall. Shane is one of my favorite books and I like the idea of a man with a past who wants to change but cannot shake off his particular set of skills, as Lam Neeson as Brian Mills says in Taken. Davie's taciturn nature comes from Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name.
OMN: Have any specific authors influence how and what you write today?
DS: It wasn't westerns that drew me to crime, it was the books I read subsequently, primarily the 87th Precinct novels of Ed McBain. I devoured them from the moment I picked up my first title, which I believe was Fuzz. I loved his writing, I loved his humor, I loved his descriptions of the city. He has become my touchstone whenever I feel jaded or just need a reminder as to how it's done.
OMN: How does the title of Open Wounds relate to the story?
DS: Open Wounds has a number of meanings within the story. There is the most obvious, of course, for people are wounded and killed within its pages. But Davie's life is a mass of open wounds, of loss, of mourning. It's the same for Frank Donovan, now no longer a cop. And they investigate a five year old miscarriage of justice that is an open wound for the man convicted.
OMN: You mentioned an interest in having the books adapted for television or film. Do you have any suggestions to the casting director for the lead characters?
DS: I think it would have to be an unknown for Davie McCall. If they were true to the books he'd have to age from 18 to 38, so there might have to be different actors for each period. Having said that, there's an accomplished Scottish actor named Cal Macaninch who would be great as the older version.
Given the Scottish setting, Gerard Butler would be good for the corrupt cop Jimmy Knight, even though it's a supporting role, and I could see Brian Cox or Peter Mullan as Joe Klein.
OMN: What's next for you?
DS: Later in 2016 I'll begin a new series of crime thrillers featuring an off-beat hero named Dominic Queste. The first will be called The Dead Don't Boogie. The books will be lighter than the Davie McCall series but with just as much mayhem.
— ♦ —
Douglas has been a shelf stacker, bank clerk, tax officer, factory worker, advertising salesperson, taxi driver (for two days), wine waiter (for two hours), journalist and criminal investigator. His early books were all in true crime or criminal history but now he's concentrating on fiction. Doesn't mean he won't, some day, come up with another factual piece — there are a couple of old cases he'd love to get into — but for now he's making stuff up.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at DouglasSkelton.com and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
— ♦ —
Open Wounds by Douglas Skelton
A Davie McCall Crime Novel
Publisher: Luath Press
Old friends clash and long buried secrets are unearthed as Davie McCall investigates a brutal five-year-old crime. Davie wants out, but the underbelly of Glasgow is all he has ever known.
Will what he learns about his old ally Big Rab McClymont be enough to get him out of the Life? And could the mysterious woman who just moved in upstairs be just what he needs?
— Open Wounds by Douglas Skelton. Click here to take a Look Inside the book.
