Taxi! - Douglas J. Findlay

Douglas Findlay takes a trip down memory lane in this hilarious memoir of his time as a cabbie in post-war Edinburgh. Never one to turn down a fare, he encountered an extraordinary range of colourful characters and ended up in the most bizarre situations. Meet Charlie the Gangster, Pedro the Pirate, Jo-Jo, Mr Goldbaum and his Housewives' Friend, the gin-slinging Lavender Ladies, as well as Dorah Noyce, Edinburgh's infamous madam, and a representative of the Scottish Republican Army who did all his reconnaissance from the back seat of a black cab. Throw in assorted quack doctors, sailors, murderers and other desperadoes and the result is a Runyonesque romp through the demi-monde that lurks beneath Edinburgh's genteel facade.