I’ve read this as a stand alone as I haven’t read any of the other titles in the series. I’ve probably missed some character development and nuances, but it works very well and I loved it.

It’s in the tartan noir genre, with a nod to MCIlvaney in that Ali g with the police procedural and murder mystery, there’s humour. It feels very real; old style policing and approach and a genuinely gripping plot which twists and turns as the story develops. It’s very well paced, totally engaging and I have the joy of other books in the series to catch up on. Absolutely loved this.

Harry McCoy is back and this time, it’s personal. Someone is murdering the homeless down and outs of Glasgow, of whom Harry’s father is one. Reluctantly, he combines a search for his father with the broader investigation, fearing that every new victim will be his father.
This is Parks' usual excellent fare with the secondary characters of his sidekick, Wattie, and his gangster friend, Stevie Cooper. As sub plots, we see Wattie struggling with his relationship with Eddie and Stevie considering 'going legitimate' (well, sort of). As for Harry, well, he goes to some dark places and, at the end of the book, has a decision to make. Added to that, an old threat raises its ugly head, meaning there is a lot to look forward to in August.
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

To Die in June by Alan Parks is a gritty and convincing account of Glasgow in the mid-seventies, its criminal underworld and the tawdry attempts of the police force seeking to disrupt their activities.

Harry McCoy is a good policeman, temporarily moved to a new station with his partner Wattie, where they have to integrate themselves into the existing force. They are assigned a case and soon discover that their new colleagues can be as challenging as the criminals.

Parks writes good characters and realistically captures the depressed Glasgow scene of the day. To Die in June is a great read and I will be sure to look out for more in the series.

If you've read and liked Alan Parks before you'll know what you're getting and will like this one. Dark and gritty don't come much better than this. Glasgow setting is well realised. Fans of the series will devour this. Newcomers might take a bit longer to settle with it but will be rewarded for their effort.

Thanks for the ARC
Another great book in a great series. Gritty and interesting, it was hard to put down once I started. Interesting storyline - I didn't expect Harry to take the direction he did. Looking forward to seeing what his character decides to do in the next installment

ou know when you’re in love with a series and you found the last book so good that nothing could top it? Well, that was how I felt about May God Forgive last year which won the Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Novel of the Year.

So it was with some trepidation that I approached To Die In June. I should really have more faith, because this instalment of the life and times of Harry McCoy is just as dark, gritty, emotive and engaging as any of the books that have gone before. It’s also kind of weird for me, because this is the Glasgow that I knew in my 20’s and re-visiting it gives me little shivers as I read.

Detective Harry McCoy has a lot on his mind. It is 1975, McCoy and Wattie have been transferred to Possil Police Station by DCI Hector Murray but only Harry knows why. He’s been told to keep the real reason from Wattie, but Wattie isn’t stupid and he’s digging his heels in until McCoy comes clean.

McCoy is stepping out with a well-known actress, Margo Lindsay, who has links to one of McCoy’s past cases. Margo makes for an interesting change from his usual indifferent associations with women which were more convenient than committed.

Just in case he is getting ideas above his station, McCoy’ is brought down to earth by a series of horrible deaths among Glasgow’s rough sleepers, about which he is becoming increasingly concerned. It’s personal for McCoy and he’s constantly on the look for his dad as he tries to get to the bottom of who is targeting this vulnerable community.


A child is reported missing. His mother, Judith West, is tearing her hair out. Her husband is the Pastor of the Church of Christ’s Suffering, but he is adamant that there is no child and never was and that his wife is suffering from a breakdown.

McCoy can smell something is off, but the size of the problems on his plate is increasing exponentially. Small time villain Malky McCormack has been brutally murdered and the nature of his injuries suggests that he was tortured for information. What information he might have though is a complete mystery.

Then there’s McCoy’s pal and the heart of his moral ambiguity, Stevie Cooper. This pair is joined at the hip as a result of their brutal upbringing in a children’s home, but Cooper is a violent gangster with no compassion who has seen an opportunity to finally become the top gangland dog. He needs McCoy’s help to achieve his goal and he expects McCoy to do his bidding as an act of loyalty.

McCoy tries to toe the fragile line between his professional and personal loyalties, resulting in the kind of fancy footwork that Margo Lindsay would expect to see on the dance floor.

It all adds up to a nightmare for McCoy and for us dedicated fans. It’s great to see Wattie standing up to McCoy and making him realise that Wattie is the one good man who always has his back. Wattie is his moral compass and McCoy will piss him off at his peril.

There is such accuracy in Parks portrayal of Glasgow that I find incredibly evocative. This is Glasgow on the cusp of change where sophistication is struggling alongside gangland violence to turn a great, but grim city into a valued destination. I find myself incredibly glad that there’s a way to go yet before that happens – because it means there’s room for more books in this remarkably excellent series.

Verdict: I really love this series. McCoy is a complex character who tries to keep his emotions dampened but there is an emotionally turbulent volcano at his core and it’s slowly killing him. To Die in June is a strong and welcome addition to this series which just goes from strength to strength. Harry McCoy is a great character beautifully written with depth and complexity.

Another great episode in the life of 70s Glasgow detective DI Harry McCoy. Caught between his pal, Stevie Cooper, kingpin of the Glasgow underworld, and his innate fight for justice, McCoy is once again struggling. This time around, someone is poisoning the homeless - will his alcoholic father be next? Add to the mic a move to a new police station to root out bent cops and a strange religious cult and there's plenty to get your teeth into. I really can't wait for the next episode - we've left McCoy at a crossroads - which path will he take in July? #netgalley #todieinjune

A good and well written novel with a lot of twists and turns. Managed to keep my interest and had me eager to find out what else would happen!

The latest in the DI Harry McCoy gritty Glasgow crime series.
You get the 70s vibes from the very first line - “He rolled over, yawned, got his cigarettes and matches off the night table and lit up”
Set in June 1975, Harry has been transferred to a police station where he used to a beat officer, undercover to loom into police corruption.
But various other storyline threads test McCoy - someone is poisoning down and out drunks in Glasgow, a young woman reports her young son missing.
Told from DI McCoy”s point of view makes it seem more realistic and gritty.
All the crimes were different and wanted to see how he tackled them.
He’s a flawed but likeable character and doesn’t always make the right life choices.
I haven’t read any others in the series and although it can be read as standalone novel, there are backstories that if I’d read the other in the series I would have known what was going on.
A fab Scottish crime noir novel with Rebus vibes.
Thanks @alanjparks @canongatebooks & @netgalley for the eARC

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I can't believe this is the first I have read by this author. I will now have to read all the others. A great read.

I've been a fan of Alan Parks' Harry McCoy series since I read the first one, Bloody January, in 2017. I've read them all since then either via a NetGalley ARC, e-library loan or kindle purchase.

I love his writing style. It's straight to the point and yet conveys a wonderful sense of time and place. Glasgow policing in the 1970s. A time of gang warfare, violence, corruption - before mobile phones, before social media. I love that there are always several sub plots going on both in Harry's professional and personal life.

It's the end of May 1975 and McCoy and Wattie are being temporarily relocated to Possil Police Station due to restructuring/changeover from Glasgow City Police to Strathclyde Police. However McCoy is really there to secretly investigate corruption within the police station.

He is tested by having to participate in a violent assault on an old man to prove he's one of them and is then roped into getting involved in further police corruption that could be connected to a spate of post office robberies in the area.

Meanwhile there have been a spate of deaths amongst the down and out community in Glasgow. The first one could have been natural causes given the age and history of alcohol abuse but when more deaths follow it seems someone is poisoning them. These deaths affect McCoy on a personal level as his father is part of that community and he's scared the next victim will be his father.

Then a distraught woman comes into the station to report her 9 year old son is missing. McCoy immediately starts a search for the boy but when he goes to the woman's address he is told the boy doesn't exist. McCoy becomes a bit suspicious given that the family are part of a cultish church.

Stevie Cooper, the gangster 'friend' Harry grew up in care with, also has his own problems with a rival gang and he is expecting help from Harry who is kind of between a rock and a hard place.

The various plots are cleverly brought together – sometimes barely touching, sometimes very much connected. but along the way there are lies and threats and a few more murders.

Although any of the books in the series can be read as a stand alone (and I have read a couple out of order) it is much better if you can start at the beginning with Bloody January. Harry McCoy is a detective who was brought up in challenging circumstances and doesn't always follow the rules. In the earlier titles it was as if he had a self destruct button. He didn't always take care of himself – drink, drugs, prostitutes. Fights. A man with a chip on his shoulder. For all his faults, he is still a good policeman and he does get some respect, just not from all his colleagues.

Over the series he has matured somewhat or maybe just mellowed a bit. His sidekick Wattie has also matured into a good police officer rather than just the promising but slightly naïve police officer who had been transferred to Glasgow and foist upon McCoy in the first book. You also get to learn little bits of McCoy's back story and how it connects with other recurring characters in the series. Much of his police work still involves pubs and clubs and meetings with criminals but it all adds to the story.

In To Die in June, McCoy also has a love interest which, however unlikely, seems to be going well.

I'm very much looking forward to the next title to be published, not least because at the end of this one McCoy has a dilemma to address - just a tiny twist thrown in at the end.

There are a few authors for whom I will drop all current reading when their latest book drops. The latest addition to this select list is Alan Parks. His Harry McCoy series has been excellent from the start and continues to get better. The sixth in the series, TO DIE IN JUNE, is no exception. It finds McCoy and Wattie seconded to ‘the shithole of shitholes’ Possil police station, only the former knowing the real reason for their transfer, to expose the corruption centred on the station.

It is Glasgow, June 1975. At Possil Police Station, a woman reports her son missing, but there is no trace of the boy, no proof that he even exists. The woman is the wife of the firebrand pastor of The Church of Christ’s suffering, ‘a look in her eyes when she talked about her religion:shining eyes and a conviction that the Lord was on her side and no one else’s.’ Just the thing to get under the Christian brother educated McCoy’s skin.

At the same time, Glasgow’s elderly wino population seems to be decreasing at an unusually high rate, bodies turning up in parks and on the banks of the Clyde, McCoy becoming increasingly concerned with the fate of his down and out father.

Add into the mix his new colleagues extortion rackets and the high likelihood that Stevie Cooper is about to embark on another turf war against fellow gangsters. McCoy’s life, seemingly on the up, a new relationship burgeoning, is about to take a dive…

As with the previous books in the series, Glasgow is as much a character as McCoy - seedy, dirty, crime ridden - yet the novel is full of dark humour, pathos, social commentary; it is funny, moving and thrilling. Park’s writing gets better and better. It is a lazy comparison to hold the McCoy books up against McIllvanney’s LAIDLAW series but that doesn’t make it inappropriate; the books are that good and can stand alongside the master.

I loved TO DIE IN JUNE and look forward to whatever July brings. I suspect the times the are a’—changin’

I cannot praise these books enough. Old school policing in the mid-70’s in rough and poorest parts of Glasgow. DCI Harry McCoy walks a tight rope between good cop/bad cop but his heart is always in the right place. The banter between him and his partner Dc Watson is hilarious whilst his vulnerable side is always present given his chaotic upbringing due to his father’s alcoholism and neglect. The story ends on a major decision to be made by McCoy and I’m really looking forward to seeing which way he drifts.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to #netgalley and #canongate for this copy of To Die In June, the latest outing from @alanjparks

At the end of the May episode, I was worried that Harry McCoy wouldn’t last into June but here he was doing remarkably well and winching an actress, no less! Once again while having been moved out to Possil to investigate corrupt cops in that station while undercover, Harry gets sidetracked into other investigations. The past is catching up with Harry in a number of ways and when drunks start getting killed with alcohol laced in a lethal way, he worries about his dad who is living the itinerant life of a homeless alcoholic. He’s not really supposed to be investigating that though, but a missing boy who doesn’t appear to be actually missing tied up in a church that you just know is not going to be full of saints. Nonetheless there are ties amongst all these things that could just be that Glasgow is a ultimately a small city…

Meantime his faithful sidekick Watson, is becoming less of a sidekick and is becoming his own man, showing that he knows his job and he knows Harry’s warts and demons as well as his attributes. It all adds up to another kickass but rough and complex investigation in the heart of gangland Glasgow,

McCoy continues to walk a shaky line and justice once again may not be served in the typical way but you can be sure that justice will be done at some point!

I love this series, I love it being set in 70s Glasgow and as I grew up there, it’s full of delightful reminders in amongst the grim and gritty reality of the criminal underworld. I delighted particularly in the open sandwich at the Danish Food Centre a place long forgotten until now. It was quite the place at the time.

I try not to reveal much of the plot in my reviews, but you can be sure this is a roller coaster of a book, full of highs and suspense and never really being sure who is a bad guy and who is just a bad guy that’s not as bad as the others. There are few good guys and yet it’s not a downbeat book or indeed series. In their own way McCoy and certainly Wattie are on the side of the angels.

If you’ve not read this series, why not? It’s excellent, you care about the main characters, you care about the cases and you want the good guys to win.

Harry McCoy and his sidekick Wattie in another wonderful Glasgow tale of corrupt police officers and violent gangsters. Very atmospheric with down and outs discovered apparently poisoned, Harry transferred to another station to look for dodgy cops whilst investigating the down and outs deaths without permission. It all rolls along full of dark humour building to its climax and the question at the end …..will he remain a policeman? Brilliant..roll on more!

6th installment of Park's outstanding Harry McCoy series set in 1970's Scotland and I enjoyed this one very much. McCoy is central to 3 different plot lines.....a missing boy who may or may not actually exist.....a series of poisonings of homeless people.....and an undercover investigation into possible corruption as a nearby police station. Good police procedural by McCoy and sidekick Wattie and just the right amount (only a little) of McCoy's best friend, Glasgow gangster Stevie Cooper. I was a little confused with the ending as I felt there was maybe some plot threads left unanswered but perhaps that's a link to the next book. Thanks to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Simply, this author and these books are just incredible. They are so good, I look forward to each and every new book with pure glee and enthusiasm. I was very fortunate and thankful to receive an early preview copy, so thank you to the publisher. When I did receive it I literally devoured it, as this book is that good.
I love the characterisations within this book, as all the characters are so perfectly brought to life each and every time with such adroitness. The pacing and plot are just perfect also and I genuinely hope that this author gains the acclaim and the sales that he so richly deserves. These books and this author deserves it.

Full of gritty characters, from the homeless community seemingly targeted by a poisoner to the detective assigned to whistle-blow on corruption in a new station everyone is so impeccably described that they come to life from page 1 and the multiple strings of policework that McCoy must manage, all while trying to find and protect his dad, are well combined throughout to give a fast paced read.

Undoubtedly a favourite time of the year when a new addition to this assured and consistently brilliant series is released, and having previously reviewed Alan Parks’ Bloody January, February’s Son, Bobby March Will Live Forever , The April Dead and May God Forgive there is always an enjoyable tension in reading the next one. Will it be as good as the previous five? In what direction, and under what pressures will the author place his characters? Will everyone survive to the end of the book? Has the share price of Pepto Bismol been hit now McCoy’s stomach is not quite as dodgy?

It’s just glorious…

So let me just quickly assuage everyone’s fears, and say, that with no word of a lie, Parks has surpassed himself once again in this newest instalment, firmly rooting us again in the grim surrounds of 1970s Glasgow, and, as we expect, putting his main character, Detective Harry McCoy in a whole heap of trouble, with both personal and professional angst.

McCoy is put at the centre of three contrasting investigations, revolving around a suspected missing child that results in a suicide, a string of suspicious deaths in the down-and-out-community, and being tasked to uncover a web of bribery and corruption at another police station. All this is being played out against a ramping up of tensions in the gangland community, with of course, McCoy’s childhood friend Stevie Cooper weighing in, and a suspicion by McCoy that his involvement in one of these cases is taking on a sense of a particularly personal vendetta, and that old scores are looking to be settled. Quite how Parks manages to condense this all into a relatively slim page count always amazes me, as every plot strand in every book is given as much weight and presence as the others, with there never being a feeling that continuity and flow is disrupted or shortened as all of these strands work so coherently together. Indeed, you find yourself so absorbed as each one plays out, then when you are pivoted to another you have to mentally reset to take on board the darkness and emotional heft of each. Little wonder that McCoy himself always seems to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders…

McCoy is a wonderfully character, who seems to be the policing equivalent of the ‘tart with a heart’, catching us off guard with his mercurial personality, which blends hard-faced detective (albeit a bit squeamish) with a man who seems to have a natural empathy and depth of feeling for the more vulnerable victims of crime that he encounters. A few extra quid to a tout, turning a blind eye to a bent cop that was the victim of pernicious manipulation, and, on a much more personal level, throwing himself into the investigation of the suspicious vagrant deaths, where his own father is under threat. Aided and abetted by his trusty police sidekick Wattie, a character that is growing in stature from our first encounter of him as wet-behind-the-ears detective, and still at the beck and call of gangster Cooper, we see McCoy through different eyes, his sometimes selfishness, his dry wit, his unbending loyalty, and moments of self deprecation and doubt. The predictability of Harry McCoy is his unpredictability, and like an athlete (albeit with a heavier nicotine and alcohol habit) you never quite know which McCoy is going to turn up on the day. This has to be the essential joy of this series, as when you’re a reader of a longer running series, you begin to pre-empt how characters will behave, but Parks just loves to keep his readers a little more on the back foot, with both McCoy and the other regularly appearing characters. Speaking of which, I did miss Wattie’s other half in this one- you can’t beat a bit of sweary Mary too…

With its authentic setting, superb characterisation and razor sharp plotting, To Die In June, is just another sublime slice of taut Scottish noir crime that, once again, kept me gripped from start to finish. Emotional, violent, darkly humorous, and containing all the essential elements of a compelling and absorbing crime thriller it was just an undiluted pleasure, as always, to re-enter McCoy’s world.

And also, that ending?

Where will it take the series next?

I literally cannot wait to find out.

To Die In June is the sixth book in the Harry McCoy series by British author, Alan Parks. In late May 1975, DI Harry McCoy and DS Douglas Watson are seconded to Possil station under a credible pretext, but Harry is actually there to look for evidence of corruption: too many successful Post Office robberies that CI Hector Murray suspects have Police involvement.

While he’s there, Harry’s childhood friend, local crime boss Stevie Cooper decides to expand his territory into Possil, currently Archie Andrews’s domain. Harry understands that means another gang war but, in Cooper’s debt, accepts his own role in providing information to Cooper as a fact of life.

While he waits and watches, Harry’s interest is piqued when a distraught mother claims her nine-year-old son is missing, only to have the search called off when her husband, the pastor of the Church of Christ’s Suffering, declares there is no son: his wife has mental health issues after her miscarriage. An item Harry later finds has him sceptical…

Also distracting him are the deaths of several “down-and-outs” called to his attention by young Gerry Lewis, who believes they have been poisoned. Wattie, pathologist Phyllis Gilroy and CI Murray are all unconvinced. As Wattie puts it: “People nobody cares about being murdered. All according to some guy who may or may not be touched. McCoy to the rescue”, but Harry’s father, Alec fits into the demographic, which has him concerned.

The torture and bashing murder of an old small-time crook and tout is baffling: it’s clear the perpetrator was after information, but what could this old man possibly have known? Before he and Wattie can question the man’s sister, she ends up in a coma, but some clever detective work provides a clue.

Parks easily conveys his setting, and that being mid-seventies underworld Glasgow, it necessitates graphic descriptions of violence, liberal use of expletives, and hard drinking. His plot takes plenty of twists and turns, and not a few red herrings distract the reader from the truth. He presents Harry with some curly dilemmas that take a bit of thinking to sort out, and Parks keeps his protagonist a bit stunned at his good luck to be dating beautiful actress, Margo Lindsay. As usual, Wattie is frustrated by Harry’s reticence.

Most of the story takes place over about three weeks, and before the final resolution there is arson at a chop-shop garage, the bombing of a luxury car, the smashing up of two pubs, the discovery of a puzzling birth certificate, and a not-inconsiderable body count. Harry’s uncertain future will have fans eagerly anticipating the July title in this excellent gritty Glasgow noir series.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Canongate.