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A review by the_coycaterpillar_reads
The Dark Remains by William McIlvanney
5.0
The Dark Remains is undeniably authentic and a true testament to everything Glasgow was in the ’70s and ’80s. I haven’t had the pleasure of reading the Laidlaw series by the late and great William McIlvanney but I will be rectifying that as soon as possible. Gangland Glasgow and its brutal violence and its territorial wars, the tone was set and it was addictive as it was horrifying. Ian Rankin had massive shoes to fill but he laced them up, took pen to paper, and paid homage to Scotland’s father of Tartan Noir.
The Dark Remains is just that, dark. It doesn’t pull any punches, it doesn’t pretty anything up, it is just straight up potent. Bobby Carter, a notorious lawyer operating under Cam Colvin’s gang is found dead behind a bar on the rival gang’s turf. This discovery is going to cause an all-out war between the rivals, tearing down the streets of Glasgow and all that stand in their way. DC Laidlaw and DS Lilley have to find who the perpetrator is before everything goes to hell in a handbasket. I liked these two as an investigating duo, Laidlaw isn’t particularly likable but his sense of humour drew me to him like a moth to the flame.
The story portrayed Glasgow as a sentient being, the feeling that all is being watched, nothing goes unnoticed, nothing is left to chance. It never forgets. DC Laidlaw is a bit of a loose cannon. He doesn’t dance to the beat of anyone’s drum but his own. He has the measure of his superior officer, DI Milligan. He’s blindly ambitious but sleekit. He won’t think twice about bending the rules to serve his sense of entitlement. He can’t keep tabs on DC Laidlaw, a man that stops at nothing to get his man – even staying in a hotel for the duration of the case leaving his unhappy wife, Ena, and their three children, he’s a one-man-band.
McIllvaney’s view of Glasgow is unapologetic. The sectarianism, misogyny, and street politics are everywhere you turn. DC Laidlaw is a hindrance in DI Milligan making his name and cracking this case, and he doesn’t want him preceding him. Laidlaw is frustrated with the door-to-door house calls that Milligan would have him carry out, so decides to think outside the box. He reexamines the bystanders, who are not immediately obvious, and puts the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle that has pieces scattered throughout the dingy streets of Glasgow.
The Dark Remains is an uncompleted novel by McIlvanney handed over to the publishers and Ian Rankin being asked to complete it. It was an effortless read, you certainly couldn’t tell where one author’s writing finished and one commenced. It is an honest and sincere last hurrah to one of Scotland’s greats. Any crime fan will be in their element.
The Dark Remains is just that, dark. It doesn’t pull any punches, it doesn’t pretty anything up, it is just straight up potent. Bobby Carter, a notorious lawyer operating under Cam Colvin’s gang is found dead behind a bar on the rival gang’s turf. This discovery is going to cause an all-out war between the rivals, tearing down the streets of Glasgow and all that stand in their way. DC Laidlaw and DS Lilley have to find who the perpetrator is before everything goes to hell in a handbasket. I liked these two as an investigating duo, Laidlaw isn’t particularly likable but his sense of humour drew me to him like a moth to the flame.
The story portrayed Glasgow as a sentient being, the feeling that all is being watched, nothing goes unnoticed, nothing is left to chance. It never forgets. DC Laidlaw is a bit of a loose cannon. He doesn’t dance to the beat of anyone’s drum but his own. He has the measure of his superior officer, DI Milligan. He’s blindly ambitious but sleekit. He won’t think twice about bending the rules to serve his sense of entitlement. He can’t keep tabs on DC Laidlaw, a man that stops at nothing to get his man – even staying in a hotel for the duration of the case leaving his unhappy wife, Ena, and their three children, he’s a one-man-band.
McIllvaney’s view of Glasgow is unapologetic. The sectarianism, misogyny, and street politics are everywhere you turn. DC Laidlaw is a hindrance in DI Milligan making his name and cracking this case, and he doesn’t want him preceding him. Laidlaw is frustrated with the door-to-door house calls that Milligan would have him carry out, so decides to think outside the box. He reexamines the bystanders, who are not immediately obvious, and puts the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle that has pieces scattered throughout the dingy streets of Glasgow.
The Dark Remains is an uncompleted novel by McIlvanney handed over to the publishers and Ian Rankin being asked to complete it. It was an effortless read, you certainly couldn’t tell where one author’s writing finished and one commenced. It is an honest and sincere last hurrah to one of Scotland’s greats. Any crime fan will be in their element.