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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

In this scorching crime hook-up, number one bestseller Ian Rankin and Scottish crime-writing legend William McIlvanney join forces for the first ever case of DI Laidlaw, Glasgow’s original gritty detective

‘Fantastic’ Lee Child
‘Absolutely brilliant’ Mick Herron

If the truth’s in the shadows, get out of the light . . .

Lawyer Bobby Carter did a lot of work for the wrong type of people. Now he’s dead and it was no accident. He’s left behind his share of enemies, but 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. As two Glasgow gangs go to war, Laidlaw needs to find out who got Carter before the whole city explodes.

Publisher Review

Two maestros for the price of one! All fans of quality crime fiction are in for a rare treat. McIlvanney and Rankin at the very height of their powers -- PETER JAMES Fantastic - like witnessing Scottish noir's Big Bang creation in the company of its greatest living exponent -- LEE CHILD McIlvanney and Rankin are the dream team. To have Rankin completing an unfinished McIlvanney novel is a crime fiction fan's dream come true -- MARK BILLINGHAM The journey through 1970s Glasgow, its grotty tenements and genteel suburbs, makes for a gripping and atmospheric novel * * The Times, Book of the Month * * Absolutely brilliant. I was excited by this partnership the moment I heard it was happening, and it absolutely lives up to expectation. The Dark Remains is a triumph -- MICK HERRON The personality of the tough, intelligent Laidlaw leaps off the page as readily as it did in the first novel that bore his name * * Financial Times * * Mean, moody and menacing. Perfect synchronicity from two of the best crime writers of our time -- SUE BLACK Two legends of Scottish crime fiction blended like a deluxe whisky -- CHRIS BROOKMYRE [Rankin's] dialogue has the same spiky wit [as McIlvanney's], he adjusts to gangster-ridden Glasgow with aplomb, and the deft period context - politics, pop, telly, football, booze brands, language, family and marital mores etc - is the most compelling reason to read the book besides its charismatic existentialist sleuth * * Sunday Times * * 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