I thought I'd give this series a try since it's set in my hometown of Glasgow and seems to be constantly nominated for awards. The writing is fine, and the setting - Glasgow in the mid-1970s - is very well done and quite authentic. However I'm 40% in and the detective, McCoy, has done zero detecting - not even made any effort to. We go to a crime scene, then cut to him hanging out with his gangster pals or chatting to homeless people, whom he cares about because his own dad is on the streets. And then another crime scene, a bit of gang warfare, which he does nothing to prevent. Indeed, he seems to do more work for the gangsters than for the police. Not my kind of thing, but it's well done if it happens to be the kind of non-investigation, corrupt police, gangland book you enjoy. Abandoned.

It would seem from reading other reviews that everyone loved this and others in the Alan Parks series......me I am not so sure. I didn't get on with an earlier offering from this author and faired no better with To Die in June, sorry.

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 detective series (each book having the name of a month in its title), but is the first I have read.

This is a complex, densely plotted novel featuring not one central crime to be solved but rather, several different strands. A spate of deaths of homeless men with alcohol problems has McCoy unsettled; he appears at times to be the only person concerned with investigating these deaths, connected as he is to this vulnerable community by the fate of his own father.

A woman reports a missing child and there appears to be no evidence that the child actually exists; the woman is married to the preacher from the niche Church of Christ’s Suffering and McCoy suspects there is more going on, but again finds a lack of support in wanting to investigate.

An elderly man is found battered to death in his flat, and the motive is unclear.

McCoy and his colleague Wattie have been stationed temporarily at Possil Police Station under a pretext, while McCoy is tasked with investigating suspected police corruption at the station. McCoy is himself a complicated character, compromised by a lifelong friendship with up-and-coming gangster Stevie Cooper, who is ready to call in some favours from McCoy in his quest to take over the running of this part of the city.

The 1970s setting is given a fairly light touch in terms of descriptions of fashions, and is equally evoked through period details like the characters’ ability to smoke in every conceivable location, and the open police brutality and corruption. 1970s Glasgow has been meticulously researched and for anyone who remembers the city during this era, there are nods to the city’s history throughout the novel, including tales of drug-distributing ice cream vans and the housewives’ drug of choice, the long-gone Askit powder. I found myself on a wild goose chase at one point, trying to establish whether a certain shopping centre had ever been designed or built, following a passing reference to a local firm of architects.

The writing style sets the pace, with fragments of sentences moving the story along in a restless, unsettled way. Harry McCoy is clearly a man of genuine empathy and motivated by the greater good, but is his past going to be enough to sink him? I’m hooked, and will be following from now on.

Firstly the title for this and those previously in the series grabbed me, very clever. I will definitely be reading the series, the writing is interwoven with tangents of the story, I'll say it again its so clever, every turn makes you want to read more and find the truth. With the highest recommendation 5 stars from me.

Dark and intricately plotted - this series just gets better.

In To Die in June, McCoy is sent to another police station with a secret mission - to work out who is corrupt in a Glasgow riven by feuding criminal gangs. All while he struggles to balance his loyalties to his father-figure boss and his own gangster best friend. The crimes he is investigating resonate with his own troubled history. And he somehow finds time to have an (increasingly aspirational) private life.

There's a great twist at the end which means I can't wait to see where McCoy goes next.
*
Copy from NetGalley

Book 6 in the Harry Mc Coy series, set in 1970's Glasgow, is as fresh as book 1. The characterisation is very good and I love the dynamics between Harry and Wattie. There is grit, suspense and some beautiful descriptive, emotional passages in this well thought out plot. I was transported right back to my 20's as a young police officer in Glasgow's south side. I would really recommend reading the series in order to fully understand the events. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Another great novel from this author I always pick these books up and enjoy from beginning to end twist turns and another great read

This is the sixth in a series of books about a police detective in 1970s Glasgow. Harry McCoy has been sent to a new station to try and secretly uncover police corruption and while there, is drawn into the case of a missing boy and a secretive church. Running alongside this is the poisoning of a number of down and outs – a case which strikes fear into McCoy, whose father has sunk into alcoholism and is vulnerable to the attacks.

I really enjoyed this book, despite not having read any of the rest of the series – there was enough background given to make me understand the characters and situation but didn’t feel like it would be too much for those who have read them. Glasgow itself is very well portrayed and there’s a really atmospheric sense of how bleak and tough life is. Harry himself is a complicated character, keen to get to the bottom of cases but also close friends with a member of the underworld and drawn into their fights. He worries about his father but struggles with alcohol himself. It’s always good to see a main character who is flawed but still manages to stay interesting and sympathetic. The book is very well written and an excellent slice of tartan noir.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

Harry McCoy is a man who is keeping a lot of secrets. From the fact that his own father is part of the local down-and-out community, to his covert assignment investigate corruption at another police station, he has a fair bit on his plate.

So a missing child in a family that belongs to a cult-like Church and a series of murders among homeless men who seem to have been poisoned basically means that his cup runneth over.

A good example of tartan noir, this novel will have appeal for those who are looking for a copper who has some layers to his personality, as well as a little violence and mayhem to go with some interesting sub-plots. It gets 3.5 stars.

This is the latest addition to Alan Parks's award winning gritty Glasgow series set in the 1970s and featuring the flawed DI Harry McCoy and DS Wattie. It is 1975, McCoy and Wattie have been transferred to Possil Police Station, where he once served as a beat officer earlier in his career, headed by Long. DCI Hector Murray has sent McCoy undercover to look into corruption, he suspects there is police involvement in a string of Post Office robberies. Murray insists to an unhappy McCoy that Wattie is to be kept in the dark about the mission. There are various other threads, to test a McCoy who is seeing well known wealthy actress, Margo Lindsay, with others constantly pointing that he is punching above his weight, and has him attending awards ceremonies and eating at places he would ordinarily never go to.

A despairing mother, Judith West, reports that her 9 year old son, Michael, has gone missing. She is married to a pastor of the weird and cultish Church of Christ's Suffering, but it turns out there is no son, and it appears a traumatised Judith is experiencing severe mental health issues. McCoy is not so convinced that this is all there is to it. He finds himself in charge of a murder inquiry, the victim Malky McCormack, a small timer brutally tortured and murdered, but why would anyone want to kill him? Added stress comes his way, the homeless Govan Jamie MacLeod has been discovered dead, an upsetting event, but a common one amongst the homeless community. However, when McCoy receives information that the homeless are being deliberately poisoned with tampered hooch, he is consumed by fear, his father has been homeless for years.

To top it all, his childhood friend, the volatile, violent crime boss Stevie Cooper, is intent on beginning a gang turf war, planning to depose Archie Andrews who is getting on in years, and he expects Harry to help him. It is a joy to become reacquainted with what has now become an established set of characters, such as Phyllis Gilroy, the medical examiner and Murray's partner, the would be gardener and Cooper's bodyguard, Jumbo, and an irate Wattie who is shaping up to be a competent officer, but is far from happy that McCoy is leaving him out of the loop. This is a great addition to what is a marvellous Scottish historical crime noir series, and I look forward with much anticipation to the next in the series! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Alan Parks continues his strong run of crime novels with the sixth entry in the series, To Die in June. It's some gritty 1970s tartan noir with a compelling mystery and large dollops of violence and corruption. It would be very easy for Harry McCoy, the main character, to be written as a generic hard-nosed cop with little real characterisation. To the novel's credit, he is surprisingly vulnerable and complex: part saint, part sinner. If I had to question anything about the book, it would be McCoy's investigation ability, which seems to rest mostly on being at the right place at the right time, and the John Wick quality of being knocked about incessantly without ever seeming to experience lasting consequences. These are faults which can be forgiven for the fast-moving pace and intrigue of the plot

Six books in and I'm still yet to feel any danger of being let down. Roll on July!

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.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Cannongate Books for an advance Copy of To Die in June, the sixth novel to feature DI Harry McCoy set in Glasgow in 1975.

A woman reports her young son, Michael, missing, but there is no record of him. They belong to an extreme religious sect and that makes McCoy suspicious, so he keeps investigating. At the same time he is looking in to the poisoning of several homeless men, no one else cares but his father is part of that community. This is all happening in Possil where McCoy and his sergeant “Wattie” have transferred to allow him to investigate potential corruption.

I thoroughly enjoyed To Die in June, which paints a realistic picture of life in Glasgow at the time and has a compulsive storyline with several strands. It is told from McCoy’s point of view, so the reader gets a close up view of events, most of which are either sad or dangerous. There wasn’t a lot of optimism at the time and the plot reflects that reality.

I found the novel intriguing. None of the crimes are blockbusters destined for the headlines, but they are all different and it was incredibly difficult to work out where they were going or how they would turn out. It rouses the reader’s curiosity and keeps the pages turning. I’m not sure if I found any of the resolutions satisfying as this novel has so much more of the moral ambiguity hinted at in the previous novels as McCoy crosses more than a few lines. I’m not saying that he has become an outright criminal, but at what point does the end justify the means? It’s very blurry.

The novel is well paced with each of the strands having a place and developing gradually. There are some twists, but the author saves the best for last with some big revelations that may be explored in future novels. All in all it is a well executed novel in pacing and plotting.

Harry McCoy is a very flawed character and his life choices are not the best, often landing him in bad situations. It is these situations and how he resolves them that take him far from the moral high ground. He’s self aware enough to realise this and this seems to contribute to his spiral. He’s very well drawn, as are the other characters. Their interactions will make weep or laugh.

To Die in June is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.