My friend and former colleague Frederic Lindsay published 13 novels – one apiece for his wife, Shirley, his four children and his eight grandchildren, to whom, each in turn, they were dedicated. Eric, as he was commonly known, had been working on a 14th book before his death from a stroke, aged 79.
Eight of Eric's books were police procedurals, featuring the saturnine DI Jim Meldrum. They have been much praised by, among others, his fellow crime writer Ian Rankin. They sold well, though were somewhat overshadowed by the phenomenal success of Rankin's Rebus stories – it was characteristically generous of Eric to have a shop assistant in one of his own novels say, excitedly, "Ian Rankin's been in here!"
Eric was born in Maryhill, Glasgow. After North Kelvinside high school, he worked as an assistant in Glasgow's great public reference library, the Mitchell. A teacher recruitment scheme enabled him to study English literature at Glasgow University, where he excelled, winning prizes and graduating with a first. He taught for some years at Annan academy, in Dumfries and Galloway, before, in 1966, joining the staff of Hamilton college, in Lanarkshire, where I was one of his colleagues. He resigned in 1978 to become a full-time writer.
As well as the Meldrum books, he wrote for the stage and for radio, and published five non-genre novels, two of which were adapted for the screen: Brond as a three-part television drama in 1987 and Jill Rips for cinema in 1997 (though Eric hated the latter adaptation, also known as Jill the Ripper).
It was strange for those who knew this warm, kindly, funny and immensely sociable family man to encounter the often frightening, sometimes nightmarish (though always fascinating) world in which his protagonists move.
In his books, Eric confronted the human capacity for self-delusion and betrayal unflinchingly, and any kind of redemption or peace is hard-won and perhaps only partial. A recurring minor motif is the sense of futility that he saw as pervading Scottish society, where "decisions are things that happen somewhere else": he had been committed to the cause of Scottish independence long before it became a bandwagon.
Eric gave generously of his time and talents to various organisations including Pen International. Freedom of expression was a key issue for Eric – he was among the first to sign the writers' protest against the Salman Rushdie fatwa.
He is survived by Shirley, his wife for nearly 60 years; their children, Susan, Alison, Robert and Elspeth; and eight grandchildren.
