''Stonemouth'' is a 2012 novel by Scottish author

Iain Banks Iain Banks (16 February 1954 – 9 June 2013) was a Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies (). After the success of ''The Wasp Factor ...

. The novel was published on 5 April 2012 by

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

and follows a man returning to a small

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

town after leaving because of a sexual scandal. ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' picked the book as one of their "Books to Read in 2012".

Plot summary

Stewart Gilmour returns to Stonemouth, a fictional seaport town north of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, for a funeral. It is five years since he ran away to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

after a sexual indiscretion at a wedding. Stonemouth is controlled by two rival gangs, the Murstons and the MacAvetts, and Gilmour was engaged to a member of the former

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

before he had to leave.

Reception

Critical reception for ''Stonemouth'' was mostly positive. Some criticisms of the book included some of the references to modern technology being "unauthentic", while praise for the novel centred on the plot's mystery.

Adaptation

An adaptation for

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

was announced in 2014, starring

Christian Cooke Christian Louis Cooke (born 15 September 1987) is an English actor. He is known for playing Luke Kirkwall in '' Where the Heart Is'', Luke Rutherford in ''Demons'', Dorian Gaudain in ''Trinity'', Freddie Taylor in '' Cemetery Junction'' and Len ...

as Stewart Gilmour, with

Peter Mullan Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all thr ...

Sharon Small Sharon Small is a Scottish actress known for her work in film, radio, theatre, and television. Perhaps best known for her portrayal of Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers in the BBC television adaptation of ''The Inspector Lynley Mysteries'' by ...

and Gary Lewis. Location filming took place in

Macduff, Aberdeenshire Macduff ( gd, An Dùn) is a town in the Banff and Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is situated on Banff Bay and faces the town of Banff across the estuary of the River Deveron. Macduff is a former burgh and was the last place in the ...

in November 2014. It premiered on 8 June 2015 on BBC One Scotland, and 11 June 2015 on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

in the rest of the UK.

References

2012 British novels British mystery novels Little, Brown and Company books Novels by Iain Banks Novels set in Aberdeenshire Scottish crime novels Scottish novels {{2010s-novel-stub