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A review by steph1rothwell
The Dark Remains by William McIlvanney, Ian Rankin
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.