The Quaker
A Duncan McCormack Novel
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3.9 • 14 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
In the chilling new crime novel from award-winning author Liam McIlvanney, a serial killer stalks the streets of Glasgow and Detective Inspector McCormack follows a trail of devastating secrets to uncover the truth …
Glasgow, 1969. In the grip of the worst winter for years, the city is brought to its knees by a killer whose name fills the streets with fear: The Quaker. He takes his next victim — the third woman from the same nightclub — and dumps her in the street like rubbish. The police are left chasing a ghost, with no new leads and no hope of catching their prey. DI McCormack, a talented young detective from the Highlands, is ordered to join the investigation. But his arrival is met with anger from a group of officers on the brink of despair. Soon he learns just how difficult life can be for an outsider.
When another woman is found murdered in a tenement flat, it’s clear the case is by no means over. From ruined backstreets to the dark heart of Glasgow, McCormack follows a trail of secrets that will change the city — and his life — forever.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Glasgow, 1969: During a grim winter, a serial killer is luring women out of the city's nightclubs and to their doom. Despite lurid newspaper coverage, police are flummoxed until brash DI Duncan McCormack takes over the case. Author Liam McIlvanney puts us in the shoes of Scotland's saltiest detectives and most cunning gangsters, crafting an atmosphere so thick you can smell the cigarette smoke. His snapshots of a city gripped by dwindling industry, militant religion, and increasing desperation remind us of Ian Rankin's gritty Inspector Rebus series and Trainspotting’s gloriously profane depictions of the Scottish underworld.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A serial killer dubbed the Quaker stalks the dance halls of 1969 Glasgow in this engrossing crime thriller from McIlvanney (Where the Dead Men Go). With the public jeering at the police for failing to find the killer of three women in its months-long investigation, the brass brings in Det. Insp. Duncan McCormack, fresh from a successful takedown of corrupt officials, to determine where the investigation went wrong. An outsider to this most sectarian of cities, McCormack faces not only an elusive killer but investigators willing to ignore the lack of evidence and charge a suspect to close the case. Despite the open hostility, McCormack pursues his own theories. An auction house heist leads McCormack to believe that the murders may involve a man intricately tied to city power brokers with little to fear from the authorities. McIlvanney's depiction of a terror-gripped Glasgow upended by redevelopment and shattered neighborhoods is as important to the story as the arresting characters he has created. Readers will welcome a new master of tartan noir.
