Harry McCoy

A Glasgow detective goes up against a wealthy family whose corruption runs deep in this gritty noir series debut set in 1970s Scotland. Glasgow, 1973. As poverty and crime drag the city deeper into a heroin epidemic, fighting in the streets has become depressingly mundane. But when an eighteen-year-old boy shoots a young woman dead in broad daylight and then commits suicide, Det. Harry McCoy knows it can't be a simple act of random violence. With a newbie partner in tow, McCoy hunts down leads through the underworld, all of which lead to a secret society run by Glasgow's wealthiest family, the Dunlops. Among their inner circle, every nefarious predilection is catered to at the expense of society's most vulnerable-including McCoy's best friend from reformatory school, drug-tsar Stevie Cooper, and his on-off girlfriend, a prostitute named Janey. But with McCoy's boss calling off the hounds, and his boss' boss unleashing their own, the Dunlops seem to be untouchable. McCoy has other ideas.

An up-and-coming footballer has met an untimely end-and in a spectacularly gruesome fashion, topped off with the words Bye Bye carved into his chest. Harry McCoy knows this kind of violence indicates a personal, passionate motive, and since the footballer's future father-in-law is a notorious local gangster, that's where Harry starts his investigation. The case will take him into the seamy, drug-drenched underworld of 1970s Glasgow, and into his own dark childhood memories, in this intense crime thriller from Alan Parks.

July 1973. The Glasgow drug trade is booming and Bobby March, the city's own rock star hero, has just overdosed in a central hotel. But, even that tragedy competes for headlines with the story of a thirteen-year-old girl who's gone missing. As Det. Harry McCoy knows only too well, every hour that goes by makes the Alice Kelly case more of a lost cause. Meanwhile, the niece of McCoy's boss has fallen in with a bad crowd and when she goes missing, McCoy is asked-off the books, to find her. McCoy has a hunch that there's a connection between these events. But, time to prove it is running out, the papers are out for blood, and the department wants results fast. Justice must be served.

When an American sailor from the Holy Loch Base goes missing, Harry McCoy is determined to find him. But as he investigates, a wave of bombings hits Glasgow. Soon McCoy realises that the sailor may be part of a shadowy organization led by a dangerous fanatic and committed to a very different kind of Scotland. A Scotland its members are prepared to kill for. Meanwhile Cooper, McCoy's long-time criminal friend, is released from jail and is convinced he has a traitor in his midst. As allies become enemies, Cooper has to fight to maintain his position as crime kingpin. He needs something done, something illegal, and his old friend McCoy is the only one who can do it. As word begins to circulate on the streets that another, bigger explosion is being planned for Glasgow, McCoy battles corruption in his ranks in an attempt to save the city for which he is the perfect noir hero.

From an Edgar Award finalist: A cop tracks a shadowy, fanatical group in a "tightly plotted and fast-moving" noir mystery set in 1970s Glasgow (Publishers Weekly, starred review). When an American sailor from the Holy Loch Base goes missing, Harry McCoy is determined to find him. But as he investigates, a wave of bombings hits Glasgow. Soon McCoy realizes that the sailor may be part of a shadowy organization led by a dangerous fanatic, and committed to a very different kind of Scotland. A Scotland its members are prepared to kill for. Meanwhile Cooper, McCoy's longtime criminal friend, is released from jail and is convinced he has a traitor in his midst. As allies become enemies, Cooper has to fight to maintain his position as crime kingpin. He needs something done, something illegal-and his old friend McCoy is the only one who can do it. As word begins to circulate on the streets that another, bigger explosion is being planned for Glasgow, McCoy battles corruption in his ranks in an attempt to save the city . . . "Lean, muscular prose . . . A full-bodied immersion into Glasgow's gritty past." -Kirkus Reviews "A series that no crime fan should miss." -Scotsman "One of the best police thrillers of the last few years." -Morning Star