Alex Gray is a writer to watch

Feb 8 2011 by Kenneth Speirs, Paisley Daily Express

CRIME writer Alex Gray can hardly believe she is the author of seven highly successful novels.

But when she wants to remind herself that she did indeed pen them, she only has to look at the wall of her study.

She said: “I’ve got the covers of my books framed and hanging on the wall, and I can look at them and think: ‘Yes, I did write those!’”

Now, Alex, who lives in Bishopton, is about to add an eighth cover to that impressive list.

Her latest – Sleep Like The Dead – has just been published and is again a gritty but entertaining portrait of the Glasgow underworld.

And it is a book that will surely consolidate Alex’s position as the equal of world-famous crime scribblers such as Ian Rankin and Val McDermid.

“People tell me that sort of thing – they say ‘You are one of the people to watch’ – but I never sit thinking I’m a famous writer,” she said. “Although one woman I encountered recently said to me: ‘Are you THAT Alex Gray?’ – and I could tell her, yes I was!”

Sleep Like The Dead is another case for DCI Lorimer, the tough but human detective whose job it is to put the bad boys of Glasgow behind bars.

The story unfolds as a hitman decides to collect his outstanding debts. Meanwhile, on the other side of the city Marianne Brogan can’t sleep and is getting more and more worried that she can’t get hold of her brother Billy, who mixes with some of the city’s shadier characters.

Lorimer is faced with a string of apparently unconnected professional killings, and he is struggling to build a case.

Budget cuts mean criminal psychologist Solly Brightman isn’t officially working on the case either. But Solly is more closely connected to the murders than he could possibly know...

And it is Solly’s place in the novel that is crucial, thanks to Alex’s fascination with the world of dreams.

“Dreams and the effect they have on people’s waking behaviour play a big part in the book, and I did a lot of research into this,” Alex said. “I was very much engaged in it.”

But as much as she enjoys mixing the murky side of crime with a strong hint of the psychological, she still wants her books to grip the reader in a straightforward way.

“It’s not that I enjoy killing people,” she joked. “But I do want to entertain my readers.”

And that includes the type of people who might have more of an insight than others into the crime world she writes about.

“I’m giving a talk at Barlinnie Prison later this month,” she said. “It’s the latest in a series of library-visit types of talks I do regularly.

“It’s part of the prison service’s education system, and I don’t think people realise the role education plays in prison.

“There are literate prisoners who ‘buddy’ others to help their reading, and I think that is very important.”

Ever the writer, Alex is already three-quarters of the way through her next novel, and that will be published in 2012.

Meanwhile, she is slowly but surely getting used to her increasing fame.

And that includes getting free publicity from her three-year-old grand-daughter Eloise.

“My son was passing through Waterstone’s with her recently and she pointed to one of the bookshelves and called out: ‘There’s grandma’s book!’”

lSleep Like The Dead is available now in all good bookshops, priced £19.99 in hardback.