Reviews - Laidlaw | The StoryGraph

114 reviews for:

Laidlaw

William McIlvanney

3.81 AVERAGE

benjaminparris's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sonicboylee's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Clearly the origin of Rebus is evident in these pages, which Rankin himself has stated. Very evocative of a Glasgow before the gentrification of “Smiles Better” campaign etc.

jrenee's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

actino's review against another edition

5.0

Beautifully and deftly written. It happens to be a detective novel, but that’s a bit like calling The Outsider a book on gun crime.

finnickstrident's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

glorifiedloveletters's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Because my library happened to have it, the only Laidlaw book I'd read before this first one was The Dark Remains, which was finished by Ian Rankin after William McIlvanney's death. I've read a few of Rankin's Rebus books, which are generally good mysteries, but I'd be curious now to reread and see if I can spot the seams. Rankin may be a perfectly serviceable writer whose work I'll probably read more, of but McIlvanney gave me several moments of "Damn, now that's a sentence."

I felt like the ending became sort of a foregone conclusion, but otherwise, I loved this book. I can definitely see its influence in so many writers, though no one has quite risen to McIlvanney's gift of characterization and description. (Perhaps Alan Parks' series with Detective Harry McCoy comes close.) McIlvanney can give you a whole life, a whole history, in an apt sentence or two. Sure, DC Harkness's inner monologue gets a little overcooked at times, but this is a noir, and besides, Laidlaw teases him about it. We're all aware of our roles here. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the other books with these characters.

Content Warnings