The Sideman is the tenth book in Caro Ramsay’s Anderson and Costello series and the first that I have read. They were previously published by Severn House but are now available as ebooks and paperbacks through Black Thorn.

It may have helped if I had read some of her previous novels because I struggled in the first few chapters to link the characters and the action. To her credit Caro Ramsay did her best to help me by using bold print to highlight a change of location or time and by including a list of central characters at the beginning. Fortunately the easy style and lively action carried me through until I could piece together most of the different strands.

Although I have never travelled up the west coast of Scotland I enjoyed the settings which Ramsay describes well, emphasising the toughness of the terrain and the climate. Some of the characters I found believable but the two principal characters and their actions left me a bit cold. To be fair, Costello was missing for most of the book so there was little chance to warm to her. Anderson I found very dry despite the action following him for most of the book.

By the end of the book I could appreciate how cleverly the author had woven together the various storylines although I was not convinced that all my questions had been answered.

So will I read another of Caro Ramsay’s books? The answer is yes, for the scenic descriptions and to give Anderson and Costello a chance to convince me of their worth. I have awarded The Sideman a sitting-on-the-fence three and a half stars.

I was raised on the south side of Glasgow, around the Govan area. I think I am the only person I know who was drummed out of the Brownies for insubordination – badge-less! The only badge I came close to was Pet-care but my mum objected to me taking my wormery to bed.

I never considered myself good at English at school, being rather more talented at the sciences, such as maths and chemistry. I was the younger sister of a much brainier elder sister and choose my exam subjects just to avoid her. But even then, science threw up many interesting facts – methods of poisoning, electrocution, death by a blunt object by working out that F=MA versus skull. Most of these were put to use in trying to dispose of the PE department.

Having turned down places at Veterinary and Medical school, I was the youngest person ever to graduate from the British School of Osteopathy in London, where rather than being a valued member of a Primary Care Team, my job seemed to consist of translating the Taggart episode that has been on the night before.

Thus I became fluent in both English and Glaswegian. Upon graduation, I immediately returned to Glasgow to establish my own practice, which even in the early days included the treatment of animals. It’s far better than being a vet, as you don’t have to end either their life or their sex life.

It was while recovering from a very bad back injury, I decided to put pen to paper and started the scribblings that was to become Absolution.

What did you think of The Sideman? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!