Description

Winner of The Bloody Scotland Crime Debut of the Year
Shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2021 and the CWA Historical Dagger 2022

Edge of the Grave by Robbie Morrison is a dark historical crime novel set in 1930s Glasgow. A city still recovering from the Great War; split by religious division and swarming with razor gangs. For fans of William McIlvanney’s Laidlaw, Denise Mina and Philip Kerr.

‘Peaky Blinders meets William McIlvanney in this rollocking riveting read’ – Adrian McKinty, author of The Chain

Glasgow, 1932. When the son-in-law of one of the city’s wealthiest shipbuilders is found floating in the River Clyde with his throat cut, it falls to Inspector Jimmy Dreghorn to lead the murder case – despite sharing a troubled history with the victim’s widow, Isla Lockhart.

From the flying fists and flashing blades of Glasgow’s gangland underworld, to the backstabbing upper echelons of government and big business, Dreghorn and his partner ‘Bonnie’ Archie McDaid will have to dig deep into Glasgow society to find out who wanted the man dead and why.

All the while, a sadistic murderer stalks the post-war city leaving a trail of dead bodies in their wake. As the case deepens, will Dreghorn find the killer – or lose his own life in the process?

‘Astounding. Tense, absorbing and dripping with gallus Glasgow humour, this book is absolutely wonderful’ – Abir Mukherjee, author of the Wyndham & Banerjee series

‘A magnificent and enthralling portrait of a dark and dangerous city . . . Chilling and brutal, but also deeply moving and, most importantly, beautifully written’ – Mark Billingham, author of the Tom Thorne series

Publisher Review

A magnificent and enthralling portrait of a dark and dangerous city and the men and women who live and die in it. I can’t wait to spend some more time with Jimmy Dreghorn and Archie McDaid. Robbie Morrison has produced an astounding debut — Mark Billingham A mesmerizing debut – raw, brutally violent but immensely human. Early gangland Glasgow with the gloss razored off — Peter James, number one bestselling author of the DS Roy Grace series Robbie Morrison serves up a delicious slice of 30s gangster noir set in the grim and greasy, sodden and savage streets of Glasgow when it was the Empire’s Second City. Peaky Blinders meets William McIlvanney in this rollocking riveting read — Adrian McKinty, bestselling author of The Chain A Glaswegian version of Peaky Blinders, with razor gangs brawling in the street and festering family secrets . . . it’s a dark and powerful story * Sunday Times * A hugely impressive debut * Evening Standard * Wonderfully gritty, violent and nasty in all the right ways — James Oswald, bestselling author of the Inspector McLean series The atmosphere Morrison conjures is so captivating it’s hard to believe this is his debut crime novel . . . You should grab Edge of the Grave at the soonest opportunity. This is without doubt the most evocative and engaging Scottish crime novel we’ve come across in a very long time — Crime Fiction Lover Brilliant * The Times * Meticulously researched and dripping with violence, written with brutal panache — Mary Paulson-Ellis, author of Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year, The Other Mrs Walker Sharp and lethal as a cut-throat razor. Deeply researched, with strong characterisation and a fluent narrative, Robbie Morrison’s first novel is a book to savour — John Harvey, bestselling author of the Charlie Resnick novels 1930s Glasgow portrayed in all its ragged glory — Alan Parks Robbie Morrison really is a breath of fresh creative air in crime fiction. Edge of the Grave is a stunning debut: razor sharp prose and a superbly crafted sense of place and time. A great Glaswegian page-turner: I could smell the smog and feel the grit throughout — Craig Russell, author of the LENNOX series The dark heart of 1930s gangland Glasgow is brought back to vivid, violent life in Robbie Morrison’s brilliant first novel. Fast moving and evocative, the prose cuts like a razor, straight through to the heart — Martyn Waites Fantastic historical crime thriller set in 1930s Glasgow with a great detective duo and loads of brilliant period detail – poverty, wealth, gangs, religion and so much more — Amer Anwar Powerful and moving . . . Morrison’s portrait of Glasgow and its denizens – both the vicious and the virtuous – is superb * Literary Review * This deftly plotted novel is a more than worthy successor to William McIlvanney’s Laidlaw novels: the title is a homage to them. I am very glad that this book is the first in a projected series * Historical Novel Society *