William McIlvanney

Eck Adamson, an alcoholic vagrant, summons Jack Laidlaw to his deathbed. Probably the only policeman in Glasgow who would bother to respond, Laidlaw sees in Eck's cryptic last message a clue to the murder of a gangland thug and the disappearance of a student. With stubborn integrity, Laidlaw tracks down a seam of corruption that runs through all levels of Glaswegian society.

His face made a fist at the world. The twined remnant of umbilicus projected vulnerably. Hands, feet and prick. He had come equipped for the job. Newborn Conn Docherty, raw as a fresh wound, lies between his parents in their tenement room, with no birthright but a life's labor in the pits of his small town. But the world is changing, and, lying next to him, Conn's father Tam has decided that his son's life will be different from his own. Gritty, dark...

These are the stories of the casualties of social and emotional struggle, who defy defeat with humour, resilience and inspiring faith in their dreams. The walking wounded. These are the stories of ordinary people.

Winner of the Geoffrey Faber Memorial PrizeCharlie Grant, an intense young student at Glasgow University watches his father die. Overwhelmed by the memory of this humble yet dignified death, Charlie is left to face his own fierce resentment for his adulterous mother. With shades of Hamlet and Camus, William McIlvanney's first novel is a revelatory portrait of youth, of society and of family.

In this scorching crime prequel, New York Times best-selling author Ian Rankin and Scottish crime-writing legend William McIlvanney join, forces for the first ever case of D.I. Laidlaw, Glasgow's original gritty detective Readers will, relish the return to McIlvanney's Glasgow, with its gangs, organized crime bosses, crooked politics, corrupt police, hard men, and innocent battlers caught in the crossfire. In the midst of this melee stands D.I. Jack...

In this crime prequel, two crime writers team up for the first ever case of D.I. Laidlaw, Glasgow's original gritty detective who is standing in the midst of gangs, organized crime bosses, crooked politicians, corrupt police and innocent battlers caught in the crossfire. Lawyer Bobby Carter did a lot of work for the wrong kind of people. When his body is found behind a pub known to be under the protective wing of a local crime boss, the fragile equilibrium...