The Weekenders (Raskine House Trilogy Book One) by David F. Ross

 

The Weekenders (Raskine House Trilogy Book One) by David F. Ross.

Published 27th February 2025 by Orenda Books.

From the cover of the book:

Glasgow, 1966: Stevie ‘Minto’ Milloy, former star footballer-turned-rookie reporter, finds himself trailing the story of a young Eastern European student whose body has been found on remote moorland outside the city. How did she get there from her hostel at the Sovereign Grace Mission, and why does Stevie find obstacles at every turn?

Italy, 1943: As the Allies fight Mussolini’s troops, a group of young soldiers are separated from their platoon, and Glaswegian Jamesie Campbell, his newfound friend Michael McTavish at his side, finds himself free to make his own rules…

Glasgow, 1969: Courtroom sketch artist Donald ‘Doodle’ Malpas is shocked to discover that his new case involves the murder of a teenage Lithuanian girl he knows from the Sovereign Grace Mission. Why hasn’t the girl’s death been reported? And why is a young police constable suddenly so keen to join the mission?

No one seems willing to join the dots between the two cases, and how they link to Raskine House, the stately home in the Scottish countryside with a dark history and even darker present – the venue for the debauched parties held there by the rich and powerful of the city who call themselves ‘The Weekenders’.

Painting a picture of a 1960s Glasgow in the throes of a permissive society, pulled apart by religion, corruption, and a murderous Bible John stalking the streets, The Weekenders is a snapshot of an era of turmoil – and a terrifying insight into the mind of a ruthless criminal…

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Glasgow, 1966: Stevie 'Minto' Malloy's life is on the slide since a shattered leg brought his career as a professional football player to an end. In the midst of navigating a broken marriage and constant reminders of the future snatched away from him, he finds himself unexpectedly being given a job as sports correspondent for the Daily Star. Taken under the wing of veteran crime reporter Jock Meickle, Minto becomes obsessed by the investigation into the murder of a young Lithuanian exchange student from the Sovereign Grace Mission. When he discovers a link to local stately home, Raskine House, and the mysterious parties of 'The Weekenders', he uncovers a web of secrets, lies and corruption that lead him into danger.

Italy, 1943: The Allies land in Italy to battle Mussolini's troops. A group of disaffected young soldiers go rogue when they are separated from the invading army. Jamesie Campbell and his new friend Michael McTavish, a fellow Glaswegian, decide to follow their own brutal path - a path that continues on their return to Scotland, when Campbell becomes entangled with the Denton-Hall family of Raskine House.

Glasgow, 1969: Deeply religious, courtroom artist Donald 'Doodle' Malpas is shocked when a Lithuanian girl he knows from the Sovereign Grace Mission is murdered. As he follows the course of the trial of the man accused of her murder, he begins to question exactly what is going on at the mission run by his mentor, Pastor McTavish - especially when young constable joins the congregation and starts asking questions about the mission's link to parties at Raskine House.

The novel unfurls through these three linked timelines, beginning and ending in the Swinging Sixties, and throwing you back into the disturbing wartime past of central characters Jamesie Campbell and Michael McTavish in-between. In typical Ross style, each part of the intricate weft and warp of the whole literary tapestry brings you to severed threads, which then connect to new ones in a most disorienting way - something I always really enjoy about his writing.

Everything revolves around the enigmatic Raskine House, through the murky saga of the Denton-Hall family. Ross litters his story with little tit-bits about eerie goings on at the house, piquing your interest with violent shenanigans and links to tragedies that make it pretty clear this is a place where blood has seeped into its very foundations and evil reigns. For this first book he mostly focuses on the 1960s with the deaths of Lithuanian girls trafficked into Scotland as prey for the celebrities and pillar-of-the-community types who party hard as 'The Weekenders' - with a disturbing glimpse into brutal coming of age activities from the 1940s onwards.

This is Ross at his darkest, revelling in acts of debauchery that liken The Weekenders to the very worst of the Hellfire Club, with a side-order of psychedelic drugs. Some of this was pretty close to the knuckle for me, but I really enjoyed how time and place absolutely zings in this book - the music, popular culture, social conditions, and references to events happening in the background are pitched to atmospheric perfection. I also loved the use of dialect, and how Ross explores the interaction between permissive attitudes of the 1960s and behaviour (particularly of damaged individuals); wide-spread institutional corruption of the past; the incestuous relationships of the powerful on both sides of the law; religious fervour masking the most heinous of acts; and exploitation of the vulnerable. 

There is no doubt that this is a challenging read that pushes the boundary between gritty crime and horror, and I am still processing many psychological aspects of the story and Ross' intentions - particularly when it comes to the connection between evil acts, their perpetrators, and the places where they take place. I am intrigued about what comes next in this trilogy... 

The Weekenders is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Orenda Books for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to join this blog tour.

About the author:

David F. Ross was born in Glasgow in 1964 and has lived in Kilmarnock for over 30 years. He is a graduate of the Mackintosh School of Architecture at Glasgow School of Art, an architect by day, and a hilarious social-media commentator, author and enabler by night. His debut novel The Last Days of Disco was shortlisted for the Authors Club Best First Novel Award, and optioned for the stage by the Scottish National Theatre. All five of his novels have achieved notable critical acclaim and There’s Only One Danny Garvey, published in 2021 by Orenda Books, was shortlisted for the prestigious Saltire Society Prize for Scottish Fiction Book of the Year. David lives in Ayrshire.