The Man in the Bottle
Thane and Moss Book 6
Bill Knox
J.D. Kirk (Forward)
ISBN 9781912767854
ASIN B0D7N1MJM1
I picked up this book and series because J.D Kirk was plugging it and the series. I became even more interested in reading the book and series after reading the forward by Kirk, that only appears in book 1, but which I think should be in each volume. I highlighted a few passages in Kirk’s introductory note from book 1, they are:
“I had been expertly drawn into the world that Bill had created, and was right there alongside detectives Thane and Moss as they carried out their investigations. I had identified with the detectives right away–the imposing Chief Inspector Colin Thane, with his no-nonsense attitude and dogged determination, and his trusty Inspector, Phil Moss, whose loyalty to his friend was second only to his worries about his grumbling ulcer. They immediately felt like real people. More than that, they felt like real Scottish men, whose evident care for one another was masked beneath gruff exchanges and barbed banter.”
“Yes, some of the terminology was different, and there was a lot less swearing in Bill’s book, but down below the surface, down where it mattered, we were both writing about good but complicated men doing their best to bring killers to justice.”
“Aside from the slight change to the title, and a few ten-thousand-word chapters being broken into shorter segments, the book you are about to read is the same one first published in 1957.”
The fact that Kirk thought these books were good enough to spend some time and effort tracking down the rights and bringing them back into print indicates the quality of the writing and the power of the stories. And after reading the first 5 I can see why this is a passion project of his. This novel was originally published in 1963 and this Zertex edition is from 2024. Back in 1963 this was published in the Us under the title The Killing Game. The description of the new edition is:
“In the heart of the rugged Scottish Highlands, danger is brewing.
When the body of a local angler is found near a NATO seismology station, Detectives Thane and Moss are drawn into a web of intrigue and mystery that stretches from Glasgow’s back alleys to beyond the Iron Curtain.
As they delve deeper, they find themselves frantically navigating a maze of political secrets, hunting for a brutal fugitive on a quest for revenge. With the threat of more violence and international tensions looming, can Thane and Moss piece together the clues in time to prevent a devastating catastrophic event?
The Man in the Bottle is a pulse-pounding 1960s crime thriller that showcases Bill Knox’s mastery of Tartan Noir, managing to weave suspense, mystery, and the stark beauty of Scotland into an unforgettable tale.”
Once again it was with great interest that I dove into this sixth story in this series after reading all of Kirk’s Scottish crime novels that were available to date; and having read Alex Smith’s DCI Kett novels and J.E. Mayhew’s DCI Will Blake Series. It was fascinating to read this story and series set nearly a hundred years earlier. It was interesting reading stories before cell phones, and technology that so many modern crime books and shows rely on, but back to the work at hand.
The prologue to this story begins with:
“It showed as a momentary upward flicker of an inked stylus line on a slow-moving band of pastel-green paper. At the same instant, the steady note fed to an electronic recording bank, through a pre-amplifier unit, changed to a mouse-like squeak, which was both warning and tape-absorbed research data.
The two-man duty crew at the central control console jerked from boredom to full alert.
The operator in the left-hand chair reached for the red telephone by his side. The forefinger of his free hand rested lightly on the red “panic” button mounted far separate from the panel’s other controls. One touch, and that button would sound an alarm in a day-and-night manned operations room in London’s Whitehall and simultaneously activate a live radio link between the listening post and similar stations in Iceland, Wyoming, and West Australia.
The right-hand operator had already checked the stylus drum and the needle gauges ranged above. Now he turned to the monitor panels showing readings from the station’s robot outposts—and just as suddenly, he relaxed.
‘Another ruddy poacher, Charlie.’
The left-hand operator let out a long, slow breath and felt the tension go with it. He released his grip on the telephone, abandoned the button, and lit a cigarette. Half turning in his swivel chair, he could gaze out of the narrow, armoured-glass window.
The blockhouse overlooked a flat, apparently empty stretch of heathered moorland and then beyond lay the whole pastel sweep of the autumn-tinted Perthshire hills.
The site had been chosen with scientific exactitude by the experts of the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, and that empty moorland hid a score of deep pits, each containing a steel-sheathed seismometer. Each seismometer was linked by buried cables to an underground amplifying vault before its readings reached the control console.”
This story has much bigger stakes than any to date. A Russian diplomat with several attempts on his life. A dead local. And a mystery that will take some help for Thane and Moss to have a chance of solving this one. It is a mystery wrapped up in political intrigue and bombs galore. I greatly enjoy the characters of Thane and Moss, through these first six Scottish crime mysteries.
Thane and Moss are reminiscent of DCI Logan and DI Ben Forde. The language is not as extreme as in Kirk’s books. We get to watch the team as they work to solve the case. The characters are fascinating. Reading it, it is like being transported back in time. The story moves at a brisk pace.
This sixth story leaves you wanting more. Kirk is releasing these stories at a good pace. And I sincerely hope he sees this series and maybe other series by Knox through to publication. I said before and I say it again reading this was in some was like watching Mike Hammer with my dad, or reading his old Ian Fleming or Robert B. Parker books. I have already recommended this series to my dad, my manager at work and a few friends. I can easily recommend this story for fans of crime fiction, historical fiction or to be honest anyone who loves a good story. However be warned it leaves you wanting more.
Books by Bill Knox:
Thane and Moss:
1 Deadline for a Dream (1957)
aka In at the Kill
2 Death Department (1959)
3 Leave It to the Hangman (1960)
4 Little Drops of Blood (1962)
5 Sanctuary Isle (1962)
aka The Gray Sentinels
6 The Man in the Bottle (1963)
7 The Taste of Proof (1965)
8 The Deep Fall (1966)
aka The Ghost Car
9 Justice On the Rocks (1967)
10 The Tallyman (1969)
11 Children of the Mist (1970)
aka Who Shot the Bull?
12 To Kill a Witch (1971)
13 Penalty Shootout (1973)
aka Draw Batons
14 Children of the Water (1974)
15 Rally to Kill (1975)
16 Pilot Error (1977)
17 Live Bait (1978)
18 A Killing in Antiques (1981)
19 The Hanging Tree (1983)
20 The Crossfire Killings (1986)
21 The Interface Man (1989)
22 The Counterfeit Killers (1996)
23 Blood Proof (1997)
24 Death Bytes (1998)
25 The Lazarus Widow (1999)
…
Webb Carrick Series:
1. The Scavengers (1964)
2. Devilweed (1966)
3. Blacklight (1967)
4. The Klondyker (1968)
aka A Figurehead
5. Blueback (1969)
6. Seafire (1970)
7. Stormtide (1972)
8. Whitewater (1974)
9. Hellspout (1976)
10. Witchrock (1977)
11. Bombship (1980)
12. Bloodtide (1982)
13. Wavecrest (1985)
14. Dead Man's Mooring (1987)
15. The Drowning Nets (1991)
…
Talos Cord Series (as by Robert MacLeod)
Cave of Bats (1964)
Lake of Fury (1966)
aka The Iron Sanctuary
Isle of Dragons (1967)
Place of Mists (1969)
Path of Ghosts (1971)
Nest of Vultures (1972)
…
Jonathan Gaunt Series: (as by Robert MacLeod)
1. A Property in Cyprus (1970)
aka A Flickering Death
2. A Killing in Malta (1972)
3. A Burial in Portugal (1973)
4. A Witchdance in Bavaria (1975)
5. A Pay-off in Switzerland (1977)
6. An Incident in Iceland (1979)
7. A Problem in Prague (1981)
8. Mayday from Malaga (1983)
9. A Legacy from Tenerife (1984)
10. The Money Mountain (1987)
aka A Flight from Paris
11. The Spanish Maze Game (1990)
…
Andrew Laird Series (as by Robert MacLeod)
All Other Perils (1974)
Dragonship (1976)
Salvage Job (1978)
Cargo Risk (1980)
Witchline (1980)
…
Novels
The Cockatoo Crime (1958)
Death calls the shots (1961)
Die for Big Betsy (1961)
Court of murder: Famous trials at Glasgow High Court (1968)
The View from Daniel Pike (1974) (with Edward Boyd)
Storyland Wall Frieze (1981)
Country Club Wives (1997)
A Cut in Diamonds (1997)
Drum of Power (1998)
…
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