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mrsbookburnee's review against another edition
4.0
My first book by by both authors and I loved it, Laidlow was a fantastic character and interesting to follow, will definitely be reading more of the books featuring him.
I also plan on reading Rankin’s novel as I really enjoyed his writing style and humour!
A must for fans of either author.
I also plan on reading Rankin’s novel as I really enjoyed his writing style and humour!
A must for fans of either author.
burns_cheadle's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars: Ian Rankin masterfully completes William McIlvanney's unfinished prequel to the Laidlaw series. The blend between the two authors is so utterly seamless that Rankin has essentially performed a pitch-perfect ventriloquism trick.
iainkelly_writing's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely, and unsurprisingly, more Rankin than McIlvanney. It lacks the weight of the original Laidlaw books, and the feel and atmosphere of Glasgow that McIlvanney captured is completely missing. Still, Rankin, of course, knows how to write a crime novel, and this is perfectly serviceable, if light and completely forgettable, fair and it's nice to revisit many of the original characters.
Sidenote: the hardback sleeve bills this as 'Laidlaw's First Case', but it isn't, in any way, his first case. Odd.
Sidenote: the hardback sleeve bills this as 'Laidlaw's First Case', but it isn't, in any way, his first case. Odd.
johnday's review against another edition
5.0
Not an Rebus book, but a great Laidlaw one. Short but on point.
cloudsinthepost's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.0
toellandback's review against another edition
4.0
When lawyer Bobby Carter is found dead in an alley, DC Jack Laidlaw discovers links with rival Glasgow gangs as he tries to solve the murder and avoid gang war in the city. As this is a prequel and having never read any Laidlaw books before, I went into this blind although I am a huge fan of Ian Rankin and his books and although I'm sure he's done the memory of William McIlvanney very proud, I do prefer the Rebus books. That said, it's a very good whodunnit that's very character driven and on occasions I did get a bit lost with the high number of characters and which gang they were affiliated with but that could be down to my unfamiliarity with the series. Still really enjoyable though.
polly_chapman's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
eloweezii's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
steph1rothwell's review against another edition
4.0
I have had the Laidlaw trilogy since attending a author event a few years ago and then bought this book to read with it. But all four were still sat unread until I had the chance to participate in this blog tour.
I could have read the original novels prior to this one but because it was described as a prequel I decided to treat it as such. I have no regrets about reading them this way. I didn’t know anything about Laidlaw, apart from that he was a maverick and I have no idea whether any of the characters who feature in this novel appear in the original novels.
Laidlaw was a character I liked a lot. His approach to the gangland hierarchy, his lack of respect towards his superiors where he didn’t even try and his understanding attitude towards those who he felt needed some sympathy. I also liked his dry sense of humour, one of reasons I enjoy Scottish crime fiction so much is that the humour is nearly always there. It was more evident in this novel when Laidlaw was dealing with someone who he had no respect for so was in most scenes featuring his commanding officer.
I couldn’t tell which part of it Ian Rankin wrote, despite reading many of his books. I have heard before that there are similarities between both authors and I will have to make space for the trilogy to see if I can see a difference.
I could have read the original novels prior to this one but because it was described as a prequel I decided to treat it as such. I have no regrets about reading them this way. I didn’t know anything about Laidlaw, apart from that he was a maverick and I have no idea whether any of the characters who feature in this novel appear in the original novels.
Laidlaw was a character I liked a lot. His approach to the gangland hierarchy, his lack of respect towards his superiors where he didn’t even try and his understanding attitude towards those who he felt needed some sympathy. I also liked his dry sense of humour, one of reasons I enjoy Scottish crime fiction so much is that the humour is nearly always there. It was more evident in this novel when Laidlaw was dealing with someone who he had no respect for so was in most scenes featuring his commanding officer.
I couldn’t tell which part of it Ian Rankin wrote, despite reading many of his books. I have heard before that there are similarities between both authors and I will have to make space for the trilogy to see if I can see a difference.
lauranisbet's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0