Starred review from October 21, 2019
A serial killer dubbed the Quaker stalks the dance halls of 1969 Glasgow in this engrossing crime thriller from McIlvanney (Where the Dead Men Go). With the public jeering at the police for failing to find the killer of three women in its months-long investigation, the brass brings in Det. Insp. Duncan McCormack, fresh from a successful takedown of corrupt officials, to determine where the investigation went wrong. An outsider to this most sectarian of cities, McCormack faces not only an elusive killer but investigators willing to ignore the lack of evidence and charge a suspect to close the case. Despite the open hostility, McCormack pursues his own theories. An auction house heist leads McCormack to believe that the murders may involve a man intricately tied to city power brokers with little to fear from the authorities. McIlvanney’s depiction of a terror-gripped Glasgow upended by redevelopment and shattered neighborhoods is as important to the story as the arresting characters he has created. Readers will welcome a new master of tartan noir. Agent: Jim Gill, United Agents.