I really enjoyed this. I'd previously read Mick's The Norway Room which is a novel dealing with the same topics of crime, gangsters, poverty and once again all set in Birmingham, England where I live. I've known Mick a while now as I was a member of the same writers' group but this is no biased praise. Some of the stories I'd read years ago before I met Mick when I bought an anthology from Tindal Street Press called Birmingham Noir and I loved them back then. The quote on the cover for Little Moscow from John Harvey, "You want it down and dirty? Up the arse or right between the eyes? Then Scully's your man," may sound like an aggressive come on but it's very close to what you'll find within. Little Moscow is a collection of 15 stories that subtly intertwine. Many of them take place in Little Moscow a fictional bar somewhere near the canal in Tyseley, a run down and formerly industrial part of the city and it is a perfectly drawn den of criminality and all the hangers-on it attracts. The second tale, Abstract and the closing one, A Tree for Andy Warhol neatly link together cases and characters that have appeared throughout the stories.

Mick's writing is economical without being cold. The dialogue is punchy, natural and lasts just as long as is needed. The descriptions are concise and unflinching especially with some of the gorier and intimate scenes but the stories never wallow in this. There isn't a dud story in this and while the links between vary from characters reappearing like Dowd the police officer or the victim in Abstract also appearing in A Tree for Andy Warhol to a brief mention of Little Moscow or a crime boss back in Birmingham it never feels forced. Is this the city I live in? Yes and no; its something more than that. Scully holds up a dark and seductive mirror to the Birmingham I know and lets you have it right between the eyes.

I was sent a free review copy of this book by its author some years ago. I rather wished I hadn't waited that long to getting round to reading it. Crime fiction is not a genre I normally frequent but I most definitely enjoyed Scully's collection of short stories.

Even though there are many deaths and some fairly gruesome happenings in those pages, the whole thing remains somehow light-hearted and, yes, fun. There is a sense of wry detachment permeating the book. The format is in keeping with the fast pace of the narratives and most stories find a satisfying conclusion either within themselves or through echoes in other parts of the book.

There's small time criminals, transvestites, crime barons, members of the triads, dedicated followers of Andy Warhol and even an appearance by Marlene Dietrich. In all a rich tapestry of fairly well drawn out characters. A warning though: you may not see Birmingham with quite the same eyes, ever again.