WINNER 2018 MCILVANNEY PRIZE FOR SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR

A WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF 2019

Based on true events, a "Dickensian crime novel" (Mystery Matters) set in 1960s Glasgow

It is 1969 and Glasgow is in the grip of the worst winter in decades yet it is something else that has Glaswegians on edge: a serial killer is at large. The brutality of The Quaker's latest murder-- a young woman snatched from a nightclub, her body dumped like trash in the back of a cold-water tenement--has left the city trembling with fear. The assassin leaves no clues and the police investigation seems to be going nowhere.

Duncan McCormick, a talented young detective from the Highlands, is brought into the investigation to identify where, exactly, it's gone wrong. An outsider with troubling secrets of his own, DI McCormack has few friends in his adopted city and a lot to prove. His arrival is met with anger and distrust by cops who are desperate to nail a suspect. When they identify a petty thief as the man seen leaving the building where the Quaker's last victim was found, they decide they've found their serial killer. But McCormack isn't convinced.

From ruined backstreets, to deserted public parks, and down into the dark heart of Glasgow, McCormack follows a trail of secrets that will change the city--and his life--forever.

Liam McIlvanney's first book, Burns the Radical, won the Saltire First Book Award. He is also the author of two previous novels, All the Colors of the Town and Where the Dead Men Go, which won the 2014 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. He is a regular contributor to numerous publications, including the London Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, and the Guardian. He is Stuart Professor of Scottish Studies at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He lives in Dunedin with his wife and four sons.