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Title details for Laidlaw by William McIlvanney - Wait list

Laidlaw

#1 in series

by William McIlvanney
ebook
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Wait time: About 6 weeks
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0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 6 weeks
Book One in the Laidlaw Trilogy
"Laidlaw...'is not just an inspector of crime; he's an inspector of society.'"—Allan Massie, "The Father of 'Tartan Noir'," Wall Street Journal
Introducing Jack Laidlaw, the original damaged detective.
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: "Patricia 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."
In Laidlaw, the first book of the seies, readers meet Jack Laidlaw, a hard-drinking philosopher-detective whose tough exterior cloaks a rich humanity and keen intelligence. Laidlaw's investigation into the murder of a young woman brings him into conflict with Glasgow's hard men, its gangland villians, and the moneyed thugs who control the city. As the gangsters running Glasgow race Laidlaw for the discovery of the young woman's killer, a sense of dangerous betrayal infests the city that only Laidlaw can erase.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Jack Laidlaw

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    June 3, 2014

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781609452124

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781609452124
      • File size: 1186 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 28, 2014
      First published in 1977, this reissue of the stunning first volume of McIllvaney’s Scottish crime trilogy introduces Det. Insp. Jack Laidlaw. The brooding, philosophical Laidlaw is the odd man out in his Glaswegian police cadre, always the one who’s more interested in the “why” than the “how.” His latest case involves the rape and murder of 18-year-old Jennifer Lawson, who just happens to be the daughter of a notorious gang figure, Bud Lawson. Laidlaw sifts through conflicting clues, along with his new partner, Det. Constable Brian Harkness, all the while trying to keep one step ahead of both the murderer and his more conventional superiors. Peppered with authentic Scottish slang, with much of the dialogue written in Glaswegian dialect, this is the novel that gave birth to the movement known as Tartan Noir and inspired the likes of Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, and Denise Mina. For anyone looking for a cop who’s more than a badge, Laidlaw is the perfect hero. Agent: Laura Mamelok, Susanna Lea Associates.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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