How realistic is the tension between the Aberdonians and the Polish immigrants in Blind Eye?
How realistic is the tension between the Aberdonians and the Polish immigrants in Blind Eye? We’ve always had a lot of people coming to work in the oil industry or going to the universities, but this is the first time we’ve had enough of one group, the Poles, to form their own community. People whined that you couldn’t get a pint in certain pubs anymore because the Polish owners wouldn’t serve locals. When I started researching Blind Eye, I spoke to Polish shopkeepers and pub owners, and it was all a load of old bollocks. These people came all the way from Poland looking for a better life—there was no way in hell they’d turn away good money. It was just idiots stirring up trouble, playing the “us” and “them” game. I wanted to reflect that kind of half-witted bigotry in the book. The Aberdeen of your books seems like a hotbed for killers. If you count up the number of Edinburghers murdered in Ian Rankin’s books, Aberdeen still has a lot of catching up to do. But according to the Scottis
