pbFirst in a crime trilogy so searing it will burn forever into your memory. McIlvanney is the original Scottish criminal mastermind Christopher Brookmyre, international bestselling author.b pThe Laidlaw novels, a groundbreaking trilogy that changed the face of Scottish fiction, are credited with being the founding books of the Tartan Noir movement that includes authors like Val McDermid, Denise Mina, and Ian Rankin. Says McDermid of William McIlvanney Patricia Highsmith had taken us inside the head of killers Ruth Rendell tentatively explored sexuality with iNo Mean Cityi, Alexander McArthur had exposed Glasgow to the world Raymond Chandler had dressed the darkness in clever words. But nobody had ever smashed those elements together into so accomplished a synthesis. In emLaidlawem, the first book of the series, readers meet Jack Laidlaw, a hard-drinking philosopher-detective whose tough exterior cloaks a rich humanity and keen intelligence. Laidlaw's investigation into the murder of a