October 1, 2023
In 1932, violent territorial clashes among razor-wielding gangs have spawned the Glasgow police's gang-fighting special crimes unit. Renowned for their brains and brawn, detective inspector Jimmy Dreghorn and his hulking partner, Archie McDaid, lean on gang leader Billy Hunter to reveal the whereabouts of a murderer terrorizing the city. But Billy insists on a bargain. He'll deliver their quarry if Jimmy investigates the 20-year-old disappearance of his sister. Meanwhile, while they're riding high on the prospect of nabbing their killer, Jimmy and Archie find a body floating in the River Clyde. The deceased's widow, Isla, was Jimmy's doomed first love, and the investigation draws him back into his past, when he was a young boxer training under her father. Jimmy's instincts are dangerously muddied by complicated loyalties as the investigation reveals a criminal tangle of serial murder, blackmail, and child trafficking that bridges the gap between the gangland underworld and high society. Morrison has honed his exceptional storytelling writing graphic novels (Shakara, 2014). Winner of Bloody Scotland's Scottish Crime Debut award, this is the first in a planned series, and it reads like the gritty tale of a veteran author. With Archie as well-timed comic relief, craftily layered plotting, and an evocative historical setting, this is required reading for fans of Denise Mina's The Long Drop (2017).
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