Source: Pigeonhole
Publication : Canongate Books 28 December 2017
When a teenage boy shoots a young woman dead in the middle of a busy Glasgow street and then commits suicide, Detective Harry McCoy is sure of one thing. It wasn’t a random act of violence.
With his new partner in tow, McCoy uses his underworld network to lead the investigation but soon runs up against a secret society led by Glasgow’s wealthiest family, the Dunlops.
McCoy’s boss doesn’t want him to investigate. The Dunlops seem untouchable. But McCoy has other ideas . . .
In a helter-skelter tale – winding from moneyed elite to hipster music groupies to the brutal gangs of the urban wasteland – Bloody January brings to life the dark underbelly of 1970s Glasgow and introduces a dark and electrifying new voice in Scottish noir.
I am delighted to welcome a guest post from Grace Mitchell aka @graciegirlracer today. Grace has been raving about this book ever since she read it and it is now on my TBR pile as a result. Not only is Grace an awesome sister, she is also a discerning reader and introduced me to the books of Adrian McKinty amongst others. So without more ado, here is Grace’s view of Bloody January.
I loved this book which is a debut novel but hopefully the first in a series.
Set in 1970s Glasgow, it’s gritty as you’d expect, with a fair degree of violence – but it was a violent city.
Tough cop Harry McCoy is believable and walking an increasingly fine line between being a good cop and a corrupt cop at one and the same time, but he’s by no means the only one.
Partnered with newbie Wattie, he’s initially investigating the murder of a young girl by a young man, but all is not straightforward. Parks takes us into a world of prostitution, sadism and high society. Put this together with the background of gangsters starting to learn about dealing hard drugs, and you have a great mix for an interesting and entertaining read that had me hooked from the first chapter.
I read this on Pigeonhole, which I don’t often like because the Staves are too short and I don’t like reading two books at once – but that just didn’t matter here. Definitely recommended, especially if you like your cops to have different shades to their character. A five star read – it is amazing.
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