This historical thriller is set in 1970s Scotland and Liam McIlvanney transports you to that time in this deeply immersive thriller.
It’s quite simply one of the finest pieces of crime fiction I’ve read in a very long time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is set in 1970s Glasgow. A time of slums, gangs and religious strife. Into this turbulent mix we have a murder resulting from arson at a warehouse next door. Investigating is DI Duncan McCormack, back from a stint with the Met in London.
The trouble is, locally the cops don’t like McCormack as ( previous book) he caught a bad guy but also a corrupt senior officer, that is not forgiven easily. And McCormack has secrets of his own, he’s gay and in that time and environment, that’s a dangerous thing to be.
So, a gritty and complex thriller, lots of depth to take you out of your comfort zone and it captures the changing environment of 1970s Glasgow really well. Characters are well defined (if a little hard to like) and fit the time and culture rather well.
Hard to see where this was going and to guess how it will come together, which is a good sign of a thriller.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

Duncan McCormack #2

Set in the 70s. McCormack has returned to Glasgow after a stint with the Metropolitan Police in London. The reason for his return is left a lurking mystery throughout. He's investigating a series of murders that seem at first to be the result of random bouts of violence amongst Glasgow's poor and destitute. McCormack has insight into Glasgow's underground that many of his colleagues don't. He has a secret of his own that he guards carefully but that he takes him places and introduces him to people that prove essential to his investigations.

I was pulled into this story from the first page. The plotline and the characters were complex but believable. The story covers: police corruption, violent crime and gang warfare. The story lightly touches on threads from the first book, The Quaker, but it doesn't follow on from there. There's quite a bit goes on in the book but it's so well written that you don't feel bogged down by it all. Filled with twist and turns, I never knew what was going to happen next. I'm looking forward to reading the next instalment of this fantastic series.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinsUk #HarperFiction and the author #LiamMcIlvanney for my ARC of #TheHeretic in exchange for an honest review.

A gritty Scottish gangland crime thriller, although very descriptive easy to read and holds your interest. Manages to cover various different scenarios through the thread of the tale. Exceptional and would highly recommend .

The second book featuring Detective Inspector Duncan McCormack, but the first I have read. McCormack has returned to Glasgow after six years working for the Met in London. He is now working on building a case against the local gangster Walter Maitland but not getting very far, when he is suddenly required to work on the investigation into a murder. As the story evolves, the two cases become interconnected, especially when further acts of violence occur. Is it rival gangs, the IRA or Scottish Nationalists?
McIlvanney excellently portrays the attitudes and prejudices of the time, so much so that it often felt an uncomfortable read. Who would want to go back to those times?
The story is complex with plenty of twists and sudden reveals. It is well thought out and intelligently planned.
I did find the story rather slow going and I didn't really feel a connection to the characters, apart from maybe the female police officer. As much as I love police procedural novels, I didn't take to this one as much as I thought I would and I suspect the 1970s setting jinxed it for me. Nevertheless, a good book that most people will enjoy.

DI Duncan McCormack is back in the City of Glasgow Serious Crime Squad after six years working in London. His return is not welcomed because, although he brought to book the notorious killer, The Quaker and his associates, he also uncovered the crimes of a senior police officer, who later killed himself in prison. There are numerous references to the previous book, so many that at times, I was tempted to suspend reading The Heretic in order to delve more deeply into the back story. That I didn't do so is testament to the strength of McIlvanney's writing. Great characters, complete with human flaws, and an intricate plot that holds the reader riveted. I now have The Quaker on my TBR pile and will look forward to future work from this author.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Excellent sequel to the Quaker, building on the relationships and motivations of old characters, introducing new and combining with a great crime story that really plays on the sense of upheaval in mid-70s Glasgow.

Much as in the Quaker, McIlvanney gives an insight into characters who aren’t immediately accessible through alternative approaches - in this case letters. Introduction of a female detective also brings a fresh perspective- not welcome to many in the station… which is fascinating in itself.

One of the crime novels of the year.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for an advance copy of The Heretic.

Liam McIlvanney's second novel is an excellent detective thriller set in the dark underworld of Glasgow in 1975. DI Duncan McCormack is a great lead character: a tenacious investigator with a past and more than a few secrets. He returns to Glasgow and the newly formed Strathclyde Police after six years in London, an exile that followed his arrest of the corrupt former head of Glasgow CID. He is seen as a traitor by many of his former colleagues and it doesn't help that he is also a Catholic. Good job they don't know he is also gay!

McCormack and his team investigate a series of killings that he is certain are linked in some way to underworld boss Walter Maitland. Without giving too much away, the plot is complex and linked to past events at a children's home. The cast is large and the characters are superbly drawn.

The violence and brutality that runs through the novel is entirely in keeping with the setting. This definitely isn't one for the fainthearted. At over 500 pages, this is a lengthy novel but it never drags and the twists and revelations keep coming.

The setting is entirely realistic and takes the reader back in time to a very different city. Glasgow in 1975 was a very different place and the novel references slum clearances and the construction of the M8 through the city. Two small historical points though: the McLennan Arch is described as being at the western entrance to Glasgow Green but wasn't moved there until around 1990. And the statue of La Pasionaria on Clyde Street wasn't erected until 1979.

Based and paced in the underbelly of Glasgow in the mid 70’s returning DI McCormack has both his past and his future dogging him. Once feted but now slated past success counts for very little in the eyes of those on the force who are the poorer or were friends with the bent ranking copper he exposed after successfully apprehending "The Quaker". Now a investigating an “apparent” insignificant murder that soon proves otherwise and the threat of a turf war about to break out, the pressure builds. Fuelled by the loss of one of their own our man gathers the threads and the links start to appear. There’s another element in play and he finds himself “working” for the very villain he and his team have tried so often to put away. Captivating stuff and a new author for me to follow, thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins and the ARC.

"What he didn't accept was that a polis like Peter Levein - who spent five year's in a gangster's pocket, who colluded with serial murder - deserved the same protection as everyone else. Levein had put himself out in the cold when he did what he'd done but no one else saw it like that. Now McCormack was out in the cold for what he'd done to Levein. What McCormack had done was heresy."

Glasgow, 1976 and highlander, Detective Inspector Duncan McCormack has returned to Glasgow and the newly formed Strathclyde Poilce Force, after a stint working for the Metropolitan Police in London. Unpopular with many colleagues for calling out corruption in the Strathclyde force, as part of The Quaker case, six years ago, he is working with old colleague DS Derek Goldie and new colleague DS Liz Nicol. McCormack is as determined as ever to clean-up Glasgow's streets and loosen the grip of local gangsters. When an arson attack leaves a mother and child dead, a body is found dumped in a backstreet that happens to be an eminant and dodgy businessman and then a bomb goes off outside the Barracks Bar pub, things are getting out of hand. Will McCormack and his team discover who is to blame?

The second in the DI McCormack series, following on from The Quaker (which I read and reviewed in January 2019), can be read as a standalone, because the context of The Quaker is explained. Protagonist McCormack is a likeable character; flawed, but not excessively so, moral, real and with secrets of his own. The supporting characters, particularly Nicol, are involving too. The setting, historic period and Glaswegian dialect are crucial to portray the tensions in the city. Like The Quaker, this is detailed, complex and compelling crime fiction, with a well-crafted and pacy plot. Overall The Heretic is a superb police procedural in the Tarton Noir vein, would be perfect adapted as a TV series!

I enjoyed The Quaker and, if possible, The Heretic is even better. Although a sequel, it works fine as a standalone. Detective McCormack has returned to Scotland after a while with the Met. The story is set against a backdrop of organisational change in policing in Glasgow and Scotland and there’s some posturing as individuals have their eye on future roles and posts. It’s such detail, along with well developed characters and a plot that’s dark that takes this series to the top level of Scottish noir writing.

McCormack is a complex character with his own secrets. He has unique insight into the underbelly of Glasgow. It was a violent and troubled city in the 1970s, decades before City of Culture and vibrant regeneration. The Marching season adds to the tension as he investigates a number of murders.

This is life in the raw, with vernacular and violence going side by side. Gangs, arson, bomb attacks, it’s fast and furious at times with perfectly pitched pace as we reel from one event to another, it’s up to McCormack to connect the dots… It’s sharp and gripping, a series going from strength to strength and I loved it. Absolutely brilliant storytelling.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publishers for an advance copy.
This is the first book I have read by this author although I have read Laidlaw by, his father. William Mcilvanney.
Set in Glasgow in the mid-1970's it paints a picture of life in the city at that time with no holds barred. The language of the book and the actions of the characters create a setting in which violence and murder are commonplace and life is cheap. It has good plotting which covers in part the abuse of children in a care home and the long-term damage this causes.
The lead character is far from being a saint but has a strong sense of justice. He is also gay at a time when being so openly could wreck his career.
The book is a follow on from a previous novel but I found it was perfectly alright as a stand alone.
This is an excellent crime novel and at the very top of the scottish noir genre.

This is a really exciting story set in Glasgow in the 1970s about a police crime team trying to get evidence against the local gang boss. Crimes are committed and the investigation uncovers historical and current crimes, with lots of action, and twists right to the end. A great read.

Glasgow in the 1970s; Scotland at its darkest, Tartan at its most Noir. This is a tremendous novel, full of brilliant characters, a wonderful sense of place and vivid memories of a fascinating decade. Violent crime, gang warfare, police corruption and more feature in this wonderful tale, a worthy successor to The Quaker.

Glasgow 1975 - DI Duncan McCormack is investigating the death of a mother and child in an arson attack on a warehouse, which he is convinced links back to gangland figure Walter Maitland. Unfortunately no one is talking and the investigation seems to have hit a dead end.
Then the body of a man is found dumped on a pile of rubbish. Initially he is thought to be homeless but it soon becomes clear that he was far from that. His boss tells McCormack to sideline the arson inquiry and focus on the murder. When a bomb blast in a pub causes multiple deaths and injuries including one of McCormack’s officers, the general concensus of his bosses is that it was terrorist related but McCormack is convinced it is part of the gangland feud.
McCormack and his team need to solve the cases before there is any more bloodshed but to do that he needs to find a link between them but is his desire to catch Maitland colluding his judgement.
If you like a good old-fashioned murder investigation, where cops can’t rely on computers to help them, give this a go. A bit slow in parts but generally good. A story with twists, surprises and a cast of strong characters.

*4.5 stars*

Detective Inspector Duncan McCormack has recently returned to Glasgow City Police after serving six years with the Metropolitan Police in London.

It’s 1975, and McCormack is tasked with solving the murders of several people (one of whom was very high profile). They were seemingly unconnected, but there is a connection, and it’s up to McCormack and his team to discover just what that connection is, in order to find the killer. This won’t be an easy task, not least because McCormacks’s boss DCI Haddow hates the sight of him, and isn’t going to make his job any easier. The reason for his immense hatred is that previously, McCormack brought a corrupt cop down, and corrupt or not, Haddow sees that as a betrayal to Glasgow City Police.

Completely authentic, and dripping with atmosphere, the transition period in Glasgow’s history was wild and chaotic, providing lucrative opportunities for criminals, particularly the gangsters, ( the main rival gangs being the brutal Maitlands and the Quinn’s) who seize each and every one of those opportunities, bringing this grim, gritty and powerful storyline to life. Highly recommended!

Tartan noir at it’s best, with complex characters and a twisting plot. I loved The Quaker and this is just as good. The police are believable (for 1975) and the villains are even more so. 1970's Glasgow was not for the faint hearted and neither is this, but the rewards are good.

Crime has spread its tentacles, like a giant octopus, into all facets of local life, so that solving one unremarkable murder will take McCormack and his team full circle and back to their main quarry. Many seemingly unrelated threads are slowly woven together to form a cohesive, yet disturbing outcome.

McIlvanney's narrative is as gritty as the landscape itself: all the violence, social and religious prejudices and sectarianism of the time are to be found here. His characters display all the complexities and foibles of humanity: flawed, corrupt, ambitious, fragile, human..

Word of warning: read The Quaker first. For while there is plenty of background in this novel to compensate for those of us who jumped straight to book two, I felt that my reading experience would have been that little bit better for it.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Quaker but I must say this novel is even better
Although this can be a stand alone I would recommend reading the Quaker first as it gives a good insight into the excellent main character and story telling.
This novel is an excellent police crime thriller set in the 1970's and with examples of a grim city life.
The story has many twists and turns and has that can't put down feeling
Highly recommended

Another brilliantly written DI Duncan McCormack story. Set in mid-seventies Glasgow, this gritty detective is determined to bring down local gang boss, Walter Maitland. However, when the body of a scruffy man is found dumped amid the city’s uncollected rubbish, McCormack is told to focus on finding his killer and forget Maitland. A fire that kills a young mother and child pulls them in yet another direction but are there connections? A lengthy and difficult investigation begins that has many unexpected developments, deaths and deceit. Set during a time without mobile phones, computer data or CCTV, police work had a very different feel and reminds us how difficult it must have been to obtain proof of a crime. The strong, fearless characters enhance this exceptional book and I very much look forward to encountering them again.