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A Bad, Bad Place

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A Bad, Bad Place

By: Frances Crawford
Narrated by: Bobby Rainsbury, Brede McDermott
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Don't miss the must-read debut of the year - a murder mystery unlike any other...

What happened to the dog walker who found the body?

Glasgow, 1979.

Twelve-year-old Janey won’t take her dog, Sid Vicious, for a walk. Not anymore. It’s Sid’s fault she found the murdered woman.

Janey claims she can’t remember what she saw at the abandoned railway, but the police think she’s hiding something. And they’re not the only ones interested.

Fear and rumour rip through the tight-knit community of Possilpark. Janey and her nana, Maggie, are dragged into the hunt for a murderer. And Maggie’s struggle to keep her beloved granddaughter safe becomes ever more desperate.

Because Janey’s memories can’t stay hidden forever.

And neither can the killer…

'Clever, honest, heart-rending.' Val McDermid

'Richly authentic, funny, moving and insightful.' Janice Hallett

© Frances Crawford 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 Crime Crime Thrillers Murder Mystery Police Procedurals Psychological Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths World Literature Funny Heartfelt

Critic reviews

A moving evocation of working class lives. It’s clever, honest, heart-rending and funny too. It doesn’t shy away from the darkness but it also reveals the love and compassion that sustain people. And it’s wonderfully twisty too, giving our assumptions a good shake-up.
Superb debut…a well-observed, well-told account of trauma, grief and concomitant magical thinking, this coming-of-age mystery has flashes of humour and pathos that provide fuel for real suspense.
The very best writing can transport you through time and place - well A Bad Bad Place took me to Glasgow, to 1979 and to a young girl who discovers a brutal murder, the repercussions of which resound across a troubled community. It’s hard to believe this richly authentic, funny, moving and insightful story, beautifully written in local dialect, is actually a debut. Bravo Frances Crawford!
‘Gripping, gruesome, and so gritty you can smell it. A visceral and exciting debut.’
A Bad, Bad Place will stay with me for a long, long time. The writing is raw and visceral, and the story richly layered. One to watch.
Impressive first novel...the story of [the characters'] relationship and of Janie’s investigation is outstanding, but the novel also offers a powerful picture of the poverty in which they live.
'A Bad, Bad Place is a great, great book -- my favorite kind, in fact: the kind that illuminates the dark of the past by laying a bonfire of a story at its heart. Frances Crawford, the preternaturally gifted author of this magical new novel, works bright magic here; very rarely have I felt so transported by a story, or so enmeshed in a community of characters, bound by love and fear and language. Part To Kill and Mockingbird, part Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, part Louise Welsh, yet altogether incomparable.'
I loved this book. Real people, their voices as true and unique as the time and place they inhabit. Twelve year old Janey Devine and her Nan are so real, the horror they find themselves in so terrifying, that it feels as though you’re there with them. I haven’t read anything quite as unique as this since Trainspotting.
A tense mystery that’s full of heart, warmth and humour, I adored this book. Janey Devine is one of my all-time favourite characters – an absolute triumph!
From the first couple of chapters, Janey and her fierce granny Maggie instantly had my heart. I loved the strong sense of time and place in Crawford's debut. The book says much about class, gender and society in 1970s Glasgow while also divining a balance between movingly poignant and blackly funny. It's a high-wire act that few seasoned writers manage to perfect. Propulsive, transportative and full of great twists, the way any brilliant crime novel should be.
All stars
Most relevant
This is great, gripping from the start. The characters are brilliant as is the narration. Keeps you guessing right til the end, really hope the author does more.

Wow! loved this

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The story is fantastic - it’s a fairly slow burner but the beautifully written characters keep the story alive and interesting. You feel like you know all of these people. The narration was absolutely perfect! I’m really hoping the author has more in the pipeline

I loved this book!

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I enjoyed the plot and the two narrators carry the story from the different perspectives of Nanna and Janey.

a real thriller with lots of plot twists. Community and love are at the heart of this book.

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A very promising first novel. Characters are well drawn but a little bit ‘off the shelf’; the granny is salt of the earth, the villain is soft hearted, the dog is a rescued rogue. I wanted to love the novel. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. I hope the next one is even better.

Excellent narration

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I often have trouble with the writing and/or performance of younger characters in adult fiction, they are too often inauthentic, sometimes even ludicrously so.

But with this the character of the 12 yo girl is written and narrated in a very natural, very realistic way, as was the old before her time grandmother.

In terms of the plot, a simple body found, who did it, dark secrets type of story entirely avoids all the formulaic elements that usually makes me stop listening one chapter in, because the story of who, what, why, etc unravels slowly, giving the characters the time and space to be the real stars of the show. We always want to know more about the crime, but what is happening to these few characters because of the crime is always more important, more gripping.

It’s emotional, it’s a little frightening, it’s dark, but always full of love and warmth, often humour, and a little hard won wisdom.

I’m sorry to have finished it, it’s one of the best I’ve read in quite some time.

Superb storytelling.

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