Laidlaw - Softcover
Synopsis
The novel in which the unconventional detective Jack Laidlaw makes his debut. William McIlvanney is also the author of "The Papers of Tony Veitch" and "Docherty", winner of the 1975 Whitbread Award.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
"Glittering" (VAL McDERMID)
"The Laidlaw books are like fine malt whisky - the pure distilled essence of Scottish crime writing" (PETER MAY)
"Fastest, first and best, Laidlaw is the melancholy heir to Marlowe. Reads like a breathless scalpel cut through the bloody heart of a city" (DENISE MINA)
"A crime trilogy so searing it will burn forever into your memory. McIlvanney is the original Scottish criminal mastermind" (CHRISTOPHER BROOKMYRE)
"It's doubtful I would be a crime writer without the influence of McIlvanney's Laidlaw. Here was a literary novelist turning his hand to the urban, contemporary crime novel and proving that the form could tackle big moral concerns and social issues" (IAN RANKIN)
"McIlvanney is the razor king of Scottish crime writing, carving out crackling prose and pounding storylines. His Laidlaw is an enduring hero with the dry wit and insight to make other literary detectives seem two-dimensional" (GORDON FERRIS)
"The first of Laidlaw's investigations sets a stunningly high standard ... A world apart from other examples of the genre" (Guardian)
"The Laidlaw books are not just great crime novels, they are important ones. McIlvanney proved that crime writing could have both perfect style and huge ambition. Most of us writing crime fiction today are standing on the shoulders of giants. McIlvanney is one such giant" (MARK BILLINGHAM)
"William McIlvanney paints a world of harsh reality, but does so in language that is strangely beautiful and hauntingly poetic. His work defies pigeonholing in any genre: this is simply great writing from a master of his craft" (CRAIG RUSSELL)
"Laidlaw is a fascinating, infuriating and memorable character . . . McIlvanney probes the nature of society and the limitations of human guilt with razor sharpness" (Scotsman)
Book Description
The godfather of Scottish crime is back with a vengeance
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherHodder & Stoughton Ltd
- Publication date1999
- ISBN 10 0340207272
- ISBN 13 9780340207277
- BindingPaperback
- LanguageEnglish
- Number of pages150
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
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Seller Image
Laidlaw
Published by
Hodder and Stoughton Ltd, 1994
ISBN 10: 0340207272
ISBN 13: 9780340207277
Used
Softcover
Seller: BoundlessBookstore, Wallingford, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. Ex library copy, with removeable plastic cover and limited stamps etc. DJ is clean and complete, with little wear to edges. Contents are clean and bright. Slight musty smell. Seller Inventory # 9999-9995421516
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Laidlaw
Published by
Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, London, 1977
ISBN 10: 0340207272
ISBN 13: 9780340207277
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Darkwood Online T/A BooksinBulgaria, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition; First Printing. Some shelf wear to unclipped DJ protected by clear library sleeve, slight rub to base of spine, some foxing to edges of reading block. Ex Seafarers Education Service copy with paste down to inside font cover and small inkstamp to title. ; First edition, first printing with no other printings listed, 1977. Black cloth boards with gilt lettering to spine. No names inside. DJ design by Jefferson Godwin. Very heavy book and priced accordingly. ; The Laidlaw Series; Vol. 1; 224 pages; Considered by many as the first 'Tartan Noir' novel and cited as being inspiration for the Rebus novels by Ian Rankin. The discovery of the body of a teenage girl in a Glasgow park leads to Detective Inspector Laidlaw, with the assistance of newly assigned Detective Constable Harkness, being given free rein in the search for the killer. But they aren't alone in the hunt, two other groups, neither of them legal, are also after the culprit. Not to mention Ladilaw's rival Detective Inspector Milligan who believes that Laidlaw's unconventional methods have no place within the force. Seller Inventory # 36755
Quantity: 1 available
Seller Image
Laidlaw
Published by
Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, London, Sydney, Auckland and Toronto, 1977
ISBN 10: 0340207272
ISBN 13: 9780340207277
Used
Soft cover
First Edition
Seller: Book Souk, Porstoy, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. 1st Edition. 390 grams. Seller Inventory # 013277
Quantity: 1 available
Seller Image
Laidlaw
Published by
Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, 1977
ISBN 10: 0340207272
ISBN 13: 9780340207277
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: Trumpington Fine Books Limited, Gilmilnscroft, Ayrshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. 224pp. 1977. First Edition. 8vo. A flat signed presentation copy. Flat signed 'Willie McIlvanney' to the head of the front endpaper with the inscription - 'Best wishes'. A scarce flat signed copy of the seminal work to introduce the Tartan Noire - and therefore an important title. A near fine, clean, tight and bright copy of this scarce first edition in very good jacket. Original publisher's black boards - gilt embossed to the spine. A light bump to the tail of the spine and the extreme tip of one upper leaf corner has been turned. The jacket has not been price-clipped; around 4 tiny strips of archival tape have been used on some very short tears or nicks to the verso of the jacket - one which has been effectively coloured black to conceal what would have been a short open tear to the lower front panel of the jacket. There is also an expertly repaired - short - 1cm long tear to the head of the front panel and some - the usual - uniform fading to the spine of the jacket. A near fine signed copy in very good jacket of this a seminal work that ushered in 'the tartan noir'. Priced for the same amount as I sold the last signed copy I had a couple of years back - only this copy is in considerably better condition. Seller Inventory # 239434
Quantity: 1 available