Five years earlier Stewart Gilmour had ingloriously fled Stonemouth, only just escaping the vengeance of the town's most violent family. Now he's back - with grudged permission and a time limit - for the funeral of the same family's patriarch. Interesting scenario. There are moments of high tension; there is violence, but also lots of humour as you would expect from Iain Banks. I had doubts early on, but in the end really enjoyed this book.

The boots come off my back and I can see the person who spoke. It's Murdo Murston, on a bench seat along the side wall. He's dressed in workman's dungarees, sitting on a high-vis jacket. I look round and Norrie is sitting on the bench on the other side, just taking off a hoodie. He's wearing well-used dungarees too. Just the two Murstons in here. It's one of the bigger Transits so there's no way through to the cab, just a third wall of plywood. I'm guessing Fraser might be doing the driving. Given his reputation for unhinged violence, this may actually be a good sign.