The Dark Remains - (The Laidlaw Investigation) by William McIlvanney & Ian Rankin (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

WINNER of the 2022 British Book Award for Crime & Thriller Book of the Year

In this scorching prequel, New York Times best-selling author Ian Rankin and Scottish crime-writing legend William McIlvanney join forces for the first ever case of DC Jack Laidlaw, Glasgow's original gritty detective.

Lawyer Bobby Carter did a lot of work for the wrong kind of people. When his body is found in an alley behind a pub that is known to be under the protective wing of a local crime boss, the fragile equilibrium that has been keeping Glasgow relatively safe for months is shattered. Besides a distraught family and any number of powerful friends, Carter has left behind his fair share of enemies. So who is responsible for his death?

DC Jack Laidlaw's reputation precedes him. He's not a team player, but he's got a sixth sense for what's happening on the streets. His boss chalks Carter's death up to the usual rivalries, but Laidlaw knows it can't be that simple. As two Glasgow gangs go to war, he needs to find Carter's killer before the whole city explodes.

William McIlvanney's Laidlaw books changed the face of crime fiction. When he died in 2015, he left half a handwritten manuscript of Laidlaw's first case. Ian Rankin has finished what McIlvanney started. Here, in The Dark Remains, these two iconic authors bring to life the criminal world of 1970s Glasgow, and Laidlaw's relentless quest for truth.

"Fantastic--like witnessing Scottish noir's Big Bang creation in the company of its greatest living exponent... Like Maradona and Messi playing in the same team."--Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher thrillers

Review Quotes

Praise for The Dark Remains

★ "McIlvanney's gift for evoking the bruised humanity in Glasgow's underclass will remind readers not only of Rankin and his Scottish contemporaries, but also of Englishman John Harvey and, across the pond, Michael Connelly."--Booklist (Starred Review)

"It's a brilliant read: gritty, atmospheric, and menacing. Hand-in-hand with crackling prose, readers are transported decades back to witness the earlier days of a fascinating detective."--Mystery Scene Magazine

"Reading The Dark Remains yields far more than the strangely amazing and touching answer to 'What if you combined crime noir geniuses McIlvanney and Rankin?'"--New York Journal of Books

"Laidlaw... surprises the reader at every turn, showing himself to be literate, intelligent, and thoughtful. McIlvanney's fans will relish this gritty early perspective on Laidlaw."--Publishers Weekly

"The world McIlvanney and Rankin create--there's no indication of who wrote what, and readers will be hard-pressed to tell--is deliciously fluid in its conflicts... A precious chance to spend a few more hours with a franchise that ended much too soon."--Kirkus Reviews

"As in the original Laidlaw trilogy, the writing here is so sharp that nearly every sentence could split open a haggis."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Two legends of Scottish crime fiction blended like a deluxe whisky."--Chris Brookmyre, author of Places in the Darkness

"A finis to be relished."--The Financial Times

"You cannot see the join where Rankin takes over the reins... The journey through 1970s Glasgow, its grotty tenements and genteel suburbs, makes for a gripping and atmospheric novel that should deservedly boost the readership of McIlvanney and Rankin."--The Times, Book of the Week

"It was sheer joy to hear McIlvanney's voice once more and be transported back to 1972 and the Glasgow of Jack Laidlaw. Ian has done an excellent job of echoing Willie's voice and recreating his inspirational character. It would be impossible to calculate just how many writers have been influenced by him."--Alex Gray, author of Keep the Midnight Out

Praise for William McIlvanney

"He kicked the door open so the likes of Ian Rankin, Denise Mina and me could sneak through behind him."--Val McDermid, author of The Mermaids Singing

"The finest Scottish novelist of our time."--The Telegraph

"It is great entertainment, but McIlvanney's achievement is to transcend the conventions of the crime novel even while he observes them. The trilogy is one of the finest things in modern fiction, in the Chandler and Simenon class."--Spectator

"The Laidlaw books are like fine malt whisky--the pure distilled essence of Scottish crime writing."--Peter May, author of the Lewis trilogy

"Allan Guthrie probably comes closest to McIlvanney in his mix of humor and compassion, but even that top-flight crime writer doesn't do it with the same concentration."--Peter Rozovsky, Detectives Beyond Borders

"A crime trilogy so searing it will burn forever into your memory. McIlvanney is the original Scottish criminal mastermind."--Christopher Brookmyre, author of When the Devil Drive

"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, author of Sleepyhead

"McIlvanney's prose is simultaneously sparse and lyrical. Short sentences, paragraphs and, indeed, chapters give the feel of a thriller to some beautiful writing."--Killing Time Crime

Praise for Ian Rankin

"Ian Rankin is a genius."--Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher thrillers

"There's no one like Ian Rankin."―Tana French, New York Times bestselling author of In the Woods

"A master storyteller."--The Guardian

"One of Britain's leading novelists in any genre."--New Statesman

"Rankin is a phenomenon."--The Spectator