Stuff I Love - David Peace's Red Riding Quartet

I'm guessing that some you won't remember the seventies. I must admit due to my advanced age my memories aren't exactly crystal clear. However I remember some of it as a strange and scary time. It always seemed dark and there were power cuts. Walking home from school could be an ordeal thanks to the kids from the Ossett Comp (it was opposite our junior school).

I was scared of a lot of things in those days - Gerard Byram's ghost stories; those shop room dummies on Dr Who and the graveyard that was opposite our house spring to mind. Weirdly though I was also scared by 'the Sweeney'. On a Monday night I used to stay up with my dad and watch the telly whilst my mum went to the mother's union. Eventually I graduated from 'Star Trek' and 'Alias Smith and Jones' to the more grown up 'Sweeney'. You have to remember at the time this was the very epitome of gritty British drama - or so it seemed to my young self. Full of blokes with stockings on their heads and sawn off shotguns (and that was just the goodies). It could really have done with those 'Crimewatch' - 'Don't have nightmares' warnings.

Anyway all this preamble is leading up to talking about David Peace's Red Riding Quartet. These are four interlinked crime fiction books. Each set in a particular year. The four years in question are 1974, 1977, 1980 and 1983. The most well known elements of this series is that it is based on real events and includes the Yorkshire Ripper's reign of terror and eventual arrest. In actual fact that is just one facet of the books. The central story is really about the corrupt nature of the West Yorkshire police of the time. This is what reminds me of the Sweeney. Regan and Carter were cut from the same cloth in a way. Anyone who found themselves nodding at the 'Life on Mars' subtext that everything was much better with policing in the seventies will get their tiny minds blown by these books.

The first book '1974' is a racy thriller about an ambitious local journalist who gets involved in a particularly nasty series of child murders. It is less sophisticated than the later books but captures perfectly the darkness of seventies life in West Yorkshire. An extra frisson for me is that the author chose to set it in my home town of Ossett as well as the surrounding areas of Wakefield and Leeds. In fact Peace is actually only a couple of years younger than me and was bought up in Ossett as well. In fact from comments and one of the photos I've seen I suspect he didn't live far from where I lived. As the book progresses the pace of action rises and everything spirals out of control as the young journalist gets manipulated by persons unknown to do their dirty work for them.

The next book '1977' is a strange one. The Yorkshire Ripper crimes are the focus but you also get more insight into the conspiracy going on within the police. When the quartet was adapted for television the makers chose to miss this book out altogether. That said its a gripping book but out of the four it is the one that doesn't really work as a standalone story.

By '1980' Peace's writing style was really developing. The central story is about a senior Manchester police man bought in to investigate the West Yorkshire police's handling of the Ripper enquiry. Once again fact is woven in with fiction. The story is obviously influenced by the real life 'Stalker affair'. This was when a senior Manchester police man was sent to investigate the RUC in Northern Ireland. He very quickly found himself embroiled in controversy over his alleged connections to criminals. Along the way we meet characters from the previous books and the Ripper is captured.

The final book '1983' kind of ties up the loose ends of the story. It darts back and forth between events prior to and immediately following '1974'. Anyone looking for a neat and tidy ending though will be disappointed. Ultimately some things are left to your own imagination and in some ways its all the better for that.

Its interesting seeing how Peace's writing style becomes more sophisticated as the story progresses. In '1980' particularly there are weird sections describing the various Ripper murders almost like 'radio broadcasts' from the ghosts of the victims. Its also clear to me that when he wrote '1974' he didn't have all the story clearly mapped out  in his mind. In '1983' he does an excellent job of seamlessly joining it together though.

These books are grim, disturbing and full of sex, violence and bad language. Peace obviously doesn't look upon his fellow human beings as paragons of virtue. On the other hand the story is gripping and the story telling is compelling and the characters vivid.

Just one final warning. As I mentioned previously this series was televised. Although the producers did it with the best of intentions and got a whole host of great actors and actresses in ultimately it was disjointed, rushed and disappointing. To be honest each book required a whole television series rather than a one off drama. So don't be put off by this - get straight to the books. And remember 'Don't have nightmares!'