William lifts the envelope (albeit reluctantly) and has just handed it over when Montgomery comes knocking on the office door. Bill’s partner Sam hurriedly attempts to hide the evidence by giving the envelope back to William. The conjuror decides that the safest place for the envelope is with his mother in Cumbernauld; and takes up the offer of a job in Berlin. But it seems his problems may be following him, when he hears that Bill and Sam have been found dead at the club – and receives a phone call from James Montgomery…

We then follow William’s fortunes in Berlin, as he falls in with Sylvie, the fabulous young dancer who will become his assistant, and Uncle Dix, who may or may not be Sylvie’s uncle; all leading up to… but no, that would be telling. There’s also a second strand, in which a despairing William returns from Berlin to Glasgow and spends much of his time drifting in and out of pubs, before a chain of events leads him to uncover the truth about Montgomery’s envelope.

From this synopsis, ‘The Bullet Trick’ may sound like a straightforward mystery; but actually, Louise Welsh focuses as much, if not more, on the character of William, and especially on his relationship with Sylvie. The trouble is, her treatment of the central mystery is perhaps not as satisfactory as it could be. William doesn’t really begin investigating until over halfway into the book, so it can feel that the plot of the Glasgow strand is weighted towards the end, rather than being more evenly spaced out (and one gets a similar feeling with the Berlin strand). Another problem is that William is spurred on to begin his investigation by a chance event, rather than making an independent decision to do so ((it’s not clear whether he would have bothered, had that event not taken place). There’s also a grand final confrontation, which I found rather over-the-top – but, thinking about it, stage magic deals in the highly contrived, so I guess it’s conceivable that a magician might come up with something so elaborate. Besides, it made me chuckle, so I don’t want to be too negative.

The mystery isn’t the best part of ‘The Bullet Trick’, then; but, as I said earlier, the book isn’t just about the mystery. It’s also very much about the characters – and the central cast are an enigmatic bunch. I wasn’t sure what to make of William though, even though he narrates the entire novel in the first person; at least, I found it hard to reconcile the dynamic engineer of the novel’s final showdown with the drunken bum of earlier sections (then again, it never occurred to me at the time to wonder why William returned from Berlin feeling as he did; it all makes more sense with hindsight). Sylvie comes across as a dazzling, confident young woman; but she never shows her full hand, and William doesn’t quite know where he stands with her. And, when we first meet Uncle Dix (who may or may not be Sylvie’s uncle), he appears to be nothing more than a slob – but quite the opposite later on. All this makes for some fascinating dynamics that keep the pages turning.

William opines more than once in ‘The Bullet Trick’ that the key to magic lies not in the effect, but in the performance; and it’s a comment that can be applied to the novel, too. Maybe the final revelations are not as surprising as one may hope, nor the plot as twisty; but Welsh keeps us reading, thanks to her interesting characters and atmospheric writing. ‘The Bullet Trick’ is one show it’s worth booking a ticket for.

David Hebblethwaite lives out in the wilds of Yorkshire, where he attempts to make a dent in his collection of unread books. You can read more of David's reviews at his review blog.

© 2006 Laura Hird All rights reserved.