This is a review I wrote for the Carnegie Medal Award site. I believe the story is inspired by real events in Ireland in the 1980's. I will revise when I get a chance:

There is a very poetic and lilting feel to the writing in this beatifully written but very sad book. The setting is a small community in Ireland where everyone knows your business, has opinions on it, and although religion plays a strong part in the life of the town, a christian approach to helping each other is not always evident.

The focus is on a young teenage girl Shell, who certainly does not have her troubles to seek. Her mother is dead leaving her to cope with her younger brother and sister as well as a father who is certainly not playing his role of parent. She finds comfort in the arms of a teenage boy but the relationship leads to her being caught up in a horrible scandal.

There is a lot that is very sad about this book, but ultimately I thought that there was hope at the end, though maybe not what you could call a very happy ending.

After reading reviews of Louise Welsh's first book The Cutting Room, I added her to my mental list of authors I needed to try out. However that list is a very long one, and the Bullet Trick only emerged as a contender when I put it in the options for the staff book group where I work. I usually put about four books on the list and normally one stands out but this time we were torn, and actually not that enthusiastic, however as I passed other members of the group in the corridors at work I kept being told "i'm really enjoying this, but I don't think I would have picked this up normally", also "she writes like a man!"

Both of these sentiments I totally agree with. Apart from McIllvaney's Laidlaw and Ian Rankin's Rebus books I don't think i've ever gone out of my way to read something classified as "crime". Although i'm a librarian i'm not that keen on genre labelling and I think The Bullet Trick could live without being stuck on a dedicated Crime shelf as it was in my local library. It is certainly a compelling book, a definite page-turner and I felt plenty of edgyness and tension, to the point that I considered putting the book down before I went to sleep as I was worried I was about to read something that was going to keep me awake a little longer than I wanted!

The story moves between Glasgow and Berlin, via London. The main character is a Glaswegian conjurer who has seen better days. A series of events, lead him from London to Berlin and then back to his home town of Glasgow, where he reaches an all time low. It is the Berlin story, that is told as we are following his downward spiral in Glasgow, that provides the real tension. The characters are particularly well written and it is the portrayal of the main protagonist that had me agreeing with the sentiment that it felt like it was written by a man. But basically that just means that Welsh is a good enough writer to create a totally believable character of the opposite sex.

I enjoyed the story, the style of writing, and I particulary liked the characterisation, but I have a small, but nagging feeling of disappointment with regards the ending. Can't put my finger on it, and it certainly wouldn't stop me recommending the book, but maybe I just expected a little bit more. However, this is an enjoyable and compelling enough read to leave me wanting to try more of Louise Welsh's work.