Killing Mum [Paperback]

Allan Guthrie (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Five Leaves (June 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905512694
• ISBN-13: 978-1905512690
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 4.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,612,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born on Orkney, a small island group off the north coast of Scotland. I went to school in Kirkwall, where my primary five teacher allowed me to write during art classes, given my woeful lack of talent for visual art. I was, however, not too bad a musician, playing piano and bassoon to a half-decent standard. I became a founder member of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland when I was twelve, and was whisked off to music school in Manchester as a fourteen-year-old.

After leaving school, I attended university in Aberdeen, where my plan to support my studies by playing piano in a posh restaurant took a nosedive when I was sacked on my second night because my hair was too long. After a year, I left Aberdeen, degreeless, and moved to Edinburgh.

Having lots of spare time on my hands, I taught myself how to program computers and spent the following twelve years working in IT. It was good while it lasted, but I started to feel the pinch and found a part-time job in a bookshop, where I was so happy I would have worked for free. For a while, at least!

Before long, I was employed full-time in the book trade, and over the nine years that followed I worked in various jobs, from stockroom supervisor to IT trainer, moving between exotic locales such as Brussels, Cork and Stirling, before giving up my day job in 2006 to work as a writer, editor and literary agent.

I'd married in 2000 and it was my wife, Donna, who was instrumental in encouraging me to take my writing seriously. After being short-listed for the CWA Debut Dagger for a book called Blithe Psychopaths in 2001 (renamed Two-way Split for later release), I started to think she might have a point. Three years and hundreds of rejection slips later, I wasn't so sure!

Eventually Two-way Split and Kiss Her Goodbye were picked up (within weeks of one another, oddly enough) by two independent small US presses. In 2006 Kiss Her Goodbye was nominated for an MWA Edgar Award, an Anthony Award and a Mystery Ink Gumshoe Award. Two-Way Split went on to win the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year in 2007.

Since then I've published another three novels, most recently, Slammer, which describes the descent into hell of a young prison officer. I've also published three novellas, the most recent being Bye Bye Baby, a police thriller and a Kindle top ten bestseller in the UK.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Killing Mum, August 24, 2009

By 

Kent Gowran (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killing Mum (Paperback)

A true modern master of noir and crime fiction, Allan Guthrie packs a wallop with his gut punch of a novella, a sweet little package from Crime Express called KILLING MUM. Carlos is a man who arranges killings. For a fee, of course. A letter arrives addressed 'Charlie', a name only his wife and mother use for him. The letter contains the down payment and instructions for a job. But there's a hitch... The intended target is none other than Carlos' mother.

And it all goes downhill from there. Guthrie is able to amp up the suspense right from the get go and it just never let up throughput the 96 page run, and yeah, thank the maker it isn't a novel length story because, damn, it'll nearly wear you out as it is. Any longer, you might just need an ambulance.

The plot moves swift, and we, for the most part, learn about the characters via dialogue and action. It's a tight and tense story and, without fail, one you won't soon forget.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing, but good, May 13, 2011

By 

Bun - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Killing Mum (Kindle Edition)

This book was a totally different change of pace after some of the "predictable" ones I've been reading recently. Disturbing, but a great read and will keep you thinking.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark, Warped, Funny, March 18, 2011

By 

D. Moore (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Killing Mum (Kindle Edition)

Small, but perfectly formed, that's Al Guthrie for you.This is one of the splendid series of novellas published by Five Leaves. In KILLING MUM Carlos Morales does odd jobs for people. Several of those odd jobs involve offing people. When Carlos receives a padded envelope one day it's a good news, bad news sort of affair. The good news is that a mystery client will pay him £20,000 to kill Valerie Anderson. The bad news is that Valerie Anderson is his mother. Oh, and there's more bad news. He suspects the woman he loves of being the one who wants his mother dead. Dark, warped and funny, and with a surprising number of twists and turns for such a short book. I read it in one sitting, alternately giggling and gasping. Strangely enough I had a whole train carriage to myself by the end of it. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it.