Laidlaw
by William McIlvanney
2020-04-23 01:06:19
First in âa crime trilogy so searing it will burn forever into your memory. McIlvanney is the original Scottish criminal mastermindâ (Christopher Brookmyre, international bestselling author). The Laidlaw novels, a groundbreaking trilogy tha...
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First in âa crime trilogy so searing it will burn forever into your memory. McIlvanney is the original Scottish criminal mastermindâ (Christopher Brookmyre, international bestselling author). The Laidlaw novels, a groundbreaking trilogy that changed the face of Scottish fiction, are credited with being the founding books of the Tartan Noir movement that includes authors like Val McDermid, Denise Mina, and Ian Rankin. Says McDermid of William McIlvanney: âPatricia Highsmith had taken us inside the head of killers; Ruth Rendell tentatively explored sexuality; with No Mean City, Alexander McArthur had exposed Glasgow to the world; Raymond Chandler had dressed the darkness in clever words. But nobody had ever smashed those elements together into so accomplished a synthesis.â In Laidlaw, the first book of the series, readers meet Jack Laidlaw, a hard-drinking philosopher-detective whose tough exterior cloaks a rich humanity and keen intelligence. Laidlawâs investigation into the murder of a young woman brings him into conflict with Glasgowâs hard men, its gangland villains, and the moneyed thugs who control the city. As the gangsters running Glasgow race Laidlaw for the discovery of the young womanâs killer, a sense of dangerous betrayal infests the city that only Laidlaw can erase. âFrom the opening chapter of Laidlaw, I knew Iâd never read a crime novel like this.â âVal McDermid, international bestselling author âItâs doubtful I would be a crime writer without the influence of McIlvanneyâs Laidlaw.â âIan Rankin, New York Timesâbestselling author âLaidlaw is a tough novel, with an exciting ending, and it is superbly written. You should not miss this one.â âThe New York Times âA classic of the genre.â âThe Guardian
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