It’s well written, entertaining and absorbing if you’re familiar with any aspects of LNM lore, and in fact is probably the LNM-themed book I’ve enjoyed reading the most. The dreamlike illustrations from Nataša Ilinčić match the story perfectly, dark and fascinating against majestic landscapes. We have new biographic information on the people integral to the LNM story, and new eyewitness accounts, illustrations and photos have been unearthed or have joined the collective pool.

Legends of the Loch Ness Monster abound, but this new tale from renowned Scottish children’s author and storyteller Lari Don sidesteps the modern Nessie to create a new Loch Ness Monster myth inspired by local folklore. There’s a lot that could be said about both men (I’m avoiding that here; Dinsdale will be discussed in a future article); anyone interested in their legacy and how it fits into the LNM story must see what Binns has to say. Millions of years ago, the northern tip of Scotland was a separate island, until it crashed into the mainland. Several of the main characters in the LNM story have died since Solved was published, meaning that their role can be more fully and honestly assessed than when they were alive ( Binns 2017). The second issue is Watson’s obsession with sceptics, who he very much regards as The Bad Guys, The Enemy.Binns then retreads two classic sightings – that of Donaldina Mackay and the Spicers – albeit with new information.

I photographed this male Red deer adjacent to Loch Knockie, which is just a few hundred metres to the east of Loch Ness. E heid o Inverness Tourism Board gets a coorse surprise fan she's summoned tae a mysterious, midnicht meetin doon bi e bunks o Loch Ness. As a seasoned storyteller, Lari's writing is whimsical and has a wonderful quality to read aloud -- you feel like a true storyteller yourself when weaving her carefully spun words. Caption: it should not be assumed that people - even people who’ve lived their lives in rural places, surrounded by wildlife - can always identify such animals as deer, seals and waterbirds (like grebes and cormorants) when they see them in unusual places, poses or situations. Furthermore, Spicer wasn’t a quiet, impartial witness, reluctantly discussing his encounter when door-stepped by thirsty journalists, but extraordinarily enthusiastic, garrulous and boastful about it, his own writings making him sound wide-eyed and credulous.Natasa was brought up on the foot of the Italian Alps where she spent much of her childhood befriending ancient trees and exploring ruins. Along with atmospheric views of the deep loch's swirling waters and long, low hills beneath cloudy skies, Ilincic crafts a particularly magnificent monster, green, scaly, and dragonesque.

She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University and a PhD in Psychology from the University of Durham. He's fairly critical of Gareth Williams’s serious and well-drafted A Monstrous Commotion of 2015 (another of the books set to be reviewed here), noting that it fails to credit The Loch Ness Mystery Solved despite drawing substantially upon its contents.The Spicer account of 1933 is the great classic ‘land sighting’, recounted in every Nessie-themed book.