Dorothy Green
Should you read Skinner in chronological order? Many people do, but it’s not a serial. As you can imagine I’m asked this question often, and my standard suggestion is, start with the latest, to find out where Skinner is now. Then, if you want to, go back to the beginning and find out how he got there. Blood Red is the second book in what has become the Primavera series, following on from the nine Oz Blackstone adventures. Read it and it won’t affect your enjoyment of any of the stories that have gone before; indeed it might encourage you to read some of them. I visit your birthplace fairly often. I wouldn’t say that Edinburghers now regard it as a hub of sophistication rather than the other way round, but it’s evolving, no doubt about that.