Jack Laidlaw

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. 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. Laidlaw's investigation into the murder of a young woman brings him into conflict with Glasgow's 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 woman's killer, a sense of dangerous betrayal infests the city that only Laidlaw can erase.

Jack Laidlaw returns in the groundbreaking series. In this second book in his monumental Laidlaw series, McIlvanney tells the tale of Eck Adamson, an alcoholic vagrant who summons Jack Laidlaw to his deathbed. Probably the only policeman in Glasgow who would bother to respond, Laidlaw sees in Eck's cryptic last message a clue to the murder of a gangland thug and the disappearance of a student. With stubborn integrity, Laidlaw tracks down a seam of corruption that runs through all levels of Glaswegian society.

Book Three in William McIlvanney's Laidlaw Trilogy From William McIlvanney, the father of Tartan Noir, comes the third book in the groundbreaking Laidlaw series, one that explores the ruin of the body, the corruption of the soul and the shattering of society. This third book in the series begins with Jack Laidlaws despair and anger at his brother's death in a banal road accident. But his nagging doubts about the dynamics of his brother's death lead to larger questions about the nature of pain and injustice and the greater meaning of his own life. He becomes convinced there is more to his brother's death. His investigations will lead to a confrontation with his own past and a harrowing journey into the dark Glasgow underworld. The Laidlaw books are widely considered to be among the greatest achievements of Scottish crime writing and the founding novels of what has since become known as the school of Tartan Noir, which includes authors like Val McDermid, Denise Mina, and Ian Rankin.

In this prequel to the hit series, Glasgow's gritty detective probes the murder of a gangland lawyer as tensions rise in the city's underworld. Lawyer Bobby Carter did a lot of work for the wrong kind of people. When his body is found in an alley behind a pub that is known to be under the protective wing of a local crime boss, the fragile equilibrium that has been keeping Glasgow relatively safe for months is shattered. Besides a distraught family and any number of powerful friends, Carter has left behind his fair share of enemies. So who is responsible for his death? DC Jack Laidlaw's reputation precedes him. He's not a team player, but he's got a sixth sense for what's happening on the streets. His boss chalks Carter's death up to the usual rivalries, but Laidlaw knows it can't be that simple. As two Glasgow gangs go to war, he needs to find Carter's killer before the whole city explodes . . . Award-winning author William McIlvanney's Laidlaw books changed the face of crime fiction. When he died in 2015, he left half a handwritten manuscript of Laidlaw's first case. New York Times–bestselling author Ian Rankin has finished what McIlvanney started. Here, in The Dark Remains, these two iconic authors bring to life the criminal world of 1970s Glasgow, and Laidlaw's relentless quest for truth. Praise for The Dark Remains Winner of the 2022 British Book Award for Crime & Thriller Book of the Year "Fantastic-like witnessing Scottish noir's Big Bang creation in the company of its greatest living exponent . . . Like Maradona and Messi playing in the same team." -Lee Child, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of the Jack Reacher thrillers "Jack Laidlaw is the quintessential crime fiction protagonist, and Ian Rankin delivers a wholly satisfactory homage." -Irish Times "The writing here is so sharp nearly every sentence could split open a haggis." -The Washington Post "The world McIlvanney and Rankin create-there's no indication of who wrote what, and readers will be hard-pressed to tell-is deliciously fluid in its conflicts." -Kirkus Reviews "A brilliant read: gritty, atmospheric, and menacing." -Mystery Scene Magazine

In this scorching crime prequel, New York Times best-selling author Ian Rankin and Scottish crime-writing legend William McIlvanney join, forces for the first ever case of D.I. Laidlaw, Glasgow's original gritty detective Readers will, relish the return to McIlvanney's Glasgow, with its gangs, organized crime bosses, crooked politics, corrupt police, hard men, and innocent battlers caught in the crossfire. In the midst of this melee stands D.I. Jack Laidlaw, as memorable a noir character as has ever been created.