HIS new book, Family Man, has led to him being dubbed North Edinburgh’s Tarantino and Colin Burnett is very happy with that.
He is even happier that his Aldo series has been described as the Sopranos set in Edinburgh as it is his favourite TV show.
His latest novel is the third in the Aldo series and Burnett has been overwhelmed with the positive reaction it has had so far.
The first two featuring his protagonist Adolfo Aldi (Aldo) had elements of crime in them but Burnett says the third book of Aldo is his first “proper” crime novel.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to write and the reaction the book’s received so far has been great, so I’m very pleased with it,” he told the Sunday National. “It’s very encouraging and if I’m going to be honest, this is probably the one I’m most proud of.”
Like his first books A Working Class State Of Mind and Who’s Aldo?, the latest is written in East Coast Scots.
Burnett was nominated for Scots Writer of the Year in 2021 and nominated for Media Person of the Year in 2020 as his first book’s genesis was in wee stories he started tweeting because he wanted working-class voices to be heard.
Like the book, they are written in the Scots vernacular rather than in English which he thinks is routinely associated with the middle classes.
“The Scots language is currently the biggest social class issue facing Scotland,” he said. “When the dominant group of today can turn the common breath of a nation into cultural self-hatred that is what separates the pawns from the kings.”
Burnett believes the 2014 indyref is one reason there has been a resurgence in Scots works being published as it engaged more people, especially young people, with politics and demonstrated that Scotland has its own identity.
“I think it’s important to show we have our own culture and art to counteract the idea that we’re nothing without being a part of the UK,” he said.
One reviewer of the new book said the Scots language comes so brilliantly off the page that Burnett may find he has a talent for screenwriting.
In fact, he wanted readers to feel like they were immersed in a TV show.
“That was really what I was trying to do and from the feedback I’ve had, that seems to have worked,” he said.
As a “massive” Sopranos fan, he’s always wanted to write gangland drama and like Tony Soprano, Aldo is the head of a crime family who has to deal with rival crime families. He is also devoted to his relatives and dotes on his dog Bruce, who has become a popular character in the books.
The third book is darker and more violent than the previous two and there are new characters, but while the violence has gone up a few notches the humour remains.
For Burnett, it was important to have a gangland drama set in Edinburgh as he feels that other books and TV shows of that nature which are set in Scotland, tend to be focused on the West Coast area.
“I wanted to put a stamp on it from an Edinburgh perspective and I’ve tried to create a kind of universe in a similar vein to the Sopranos,” he said.
“It’s very action-packed. I am a massive Sopranos fan so Aldo being compared to Tony Soprano is a huge compliment. I love Tarantino as well so comments like that are cool.”
Burnett said many people had misconceptions about Edinburgh based on their experience of the festivals and Princes Street.
“They don’t really pay attention to the areas outside that,” he said. “I’ve tried to give a voice to the working-class communities like Wester Hailes, Pilton, Granton and Leith, and the book also goes into Midlothian as well.
“I’ve tried to incorporate all these areas because most of them don’t get really enough exposure when it comes to culture. Hopefully I am giving them a voice.”
Even though it deals with gangs there are a lot of political elements to the book, including how badly the Labour Party has treated people on benefits.
There is also a chapter dealing with the rise of the far right in the UK. Aldo is of Scottish Indian heritage and his parents run a restaurant in Portobello which is petrol bombed.
Aldo goes to deal with it and finds his parents have been subjected to racist abuse, including offensive graffiti spread on the outside walls of the premises.
It turns out that there is a far-right group based in England behind it with an offshoot in Scotland but they were unaware of the link to Aldo and live to regret it.
Crooked landlords are also a target in the book and bring out Aldo’s moral side with him ending up on the side of the tenants.
“It was a topic I felt I needed to address because there are too many landlords getting away with poor practices,” said Burnett.
“Aldo does a lot of things that are horrible but he only really directs his anger towards the folk that he thinks deserve it.
“That is a similarity with Tony Soprano because he shows he has a decent side and he is not just ruthless.”
Family Man is published by Scottish publisher Tippermuir Books and available from major book retailers
