The Dark Remains
A Novel
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In this scorching crime collaboration, bestselling author Ian Rankin and Scottish crime-writing legend William McIlvanney join forces for the first ever case of DI Laidlaw, Glasgow's original gritty detective.
Lawyer Bobby Carter did a lot of work for the wrong type of people. Now he's dead and it was no accident. Besides a distraught family and a heap of powerful friends, Carter's left behind his share of enemies. So, who dealt the fatal blow?
DC Jack Laidlaw's reputation precedes him. He's not a team player, but he's got a sixth sense for what's happening on the streets. His boss chalks the violence up to the usual rivalries, but is it that simple? As two Glasgow gangs go to war, Laidlaw needs to find out who got Carter before the whole city explodes.
William McIlvanney's Laidlaw books changed the face of crime fiction. When he died in 2015, he left half a handwritten manuscript of Laidlaw's first case. Now, Ian Rankin is back to finish what McIlvanney started. In The Dark Remains, these two iconic authors bring to life the criminal world of 1970s Glasgow, and Laidlaw's relentless quest for truth.
About this Author
WILLIAM McILVANNEY is the author of the award-winning Laidlaw trilogy, featuring Glasgow's original maverick detective. Both Laidlaw and The Papers of Tony Veitch gained Silver Daggers from the Crime Writers' Association, while the third in the series, Strange Loyalties, won the Glasgow Herald's People's Prize. He died in December 2015. IAN RANKIN is the number one bestselling author of the Inspector Rebus series. The Rebus books have been translated into thirty-six languages and are bestsellers worldwide. He is the recipient of four Crime Writers' Association Dagger Awards, including the prestigious Diamond Dagger, and in 2002 he received an OBE for services to literature. He lives in Edinburgh.
Reviews
Praise for The Dark Remains:
"Fantastic - like witnessing Scottish noir's Big Bang creation in the company of its greatest living exponent ..." -Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher thrillers
"It was sheer joy to hear McIlvanney's voice once more and be transported back to 1972 and the Glasgow of Jack Laidlaw. It would be impossible to calculate just how many writers have been influenced by him." -ALEX GRAY
"Mean, moody, and menacing. Perfect synchronicity from two of the best crime writers of our time." --Sue Black, author of Written in Bone
"The world McIlvanney and Rankin create--there's no indication of who wrote what, and readers will be hard-pressed to tell--is deliciously fluid in its conflicts. . . . A precious chance to spend a few more hours with a franchise that ended much too soon." --Kirkus Reviews
"Laidlaw . . . surprises the reader at every turn, showing himself to be literate, intelligent, and thoughtful. McIlvanney's fans will relish this gritty early perspective on Laidlaw." --Publishers Weekly
"McIlvanney's gift for evoking the bruised humanity in Glasgow's underclass will remind readers not only of Rankin and his Scottish contemporaries, but also of Englishman John Harvey and, across the pond, Michael Connelly." --Booklist, starred review
"It's a brilliant read: gritty, atmospheric, and menacing. Hand-in-hand with crackling prose, readers are transported decades back to witness the earlier days of a fascinating detective." --Mystery Scene Magazine
"As in the original Laidlaw trilogy, the writing here is so sharp that nearly every sentence could split open a haggis." --Minneapolis Star Tribune
"You cannot see the join where Rankin takes over the reins. . . . The journey through 1970s Glasgow, its grotty tenements and genteel suburbs, makes for a gripping and atmospheric novel that should deservedly boost the readership of McIlvanney and Rankin." --The Times
"As in the original Laidlaw trilogy, the writing here is so sharp that nearly every sentence could split open a haggis." --Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Reading The Dark Remains yields far more than the strangely amazing and touching answer to 'What if you combined crime noir geniuses McIlvanney and Rankin?'"--New York Journal of Books
"To be relished."--The Financial Times
Praise for William McIlvanney:
"He kicked the door open so the likes of Ian Rankin, Denise Mina and me could sneak through behind him." -Val McDermid, author of The Mermaids Singing
"The finest Scottish novelist of our time." -The Telegraph
"It is great entertainment, but McIlvanney's achievement is to transcend the conventions of the crime novel even while he observes them. The trilogy is one of the finest things in modern fiction, in the Chandler and Simenon class." -Spectator
"The Laidlaw books are like fine malt whisky--the pure distilled essence of Scottish crime writing." -Peter May, author of the Lewis trilogy
"Allan Guthrie probably comes closest to McIlvanney in his mix of humor and compassion, but even that top-flight crime writer doesn't do it with the same concentration." -Peter Rozovsky, Detectives Beyond Borders
"A crime trilogy so searing it will burn forever into your memory. McIlvanney is the original Scottish criminal mastermind." -Christopher Brookmyre, author of When the Devil Drives
"The Laidlaw books are not just great crime novels, they are important ones. McIlvanney proved that crime writing could have both perfect style and huge ambition. Most of us writing crime fiction today are standing on the shoulders of giants. McIlvanney is one such giant." -Mark Billingham, author of Sleepyhead
Praise for Ian Rankin:
"Ian Rankin is a genius." -Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher thrillers
"There's no one like Ian Rankin."-Tana French, New York Times bestselling author of In the Woods
"A master storyteller." -The Guardian
"One of Britain's leading novelists in any genre." -New Statesman
"Rankin is a phenomenon." -The Spectator
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