The April Dead
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4.4 • 30 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE McILVANNEY PRIZE FOR SCOTTISH CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR
'One of the great Scottish crime writers' The Times
'Brilliant' Sunday Times Crime Club
NO ONE WILL FORGET
In a grimy flat in Glasgow, a homemade bomb explodes, leaving few remains to identify its maker.
Detective Harry McCoy knows in his gut that there’ll be more to follow. The hunt for a missing sailor from the local US naval base leads him to the secretive group behind the bomb, and their disturbing, dominating leader. If the city is to survive the next explosion, it’ll take everything McCoy’s got . . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1974 against the backdrop of British-IRA tensions, Edgar finalist Parks's outstanding fourth outing for Glasgow cop Harry McCoy (after 2020's Bobby March Will Live Forever) opens with McCoy and his police colleagues checking out what's left of a flat that's been destroyed by a bomb explosion—and of the bomb maker. Could it be the work of the IRA? More bombings follow. Meanwhile, a retired U.S. Navy captain wants McCoy to find his son, who has gone AWOL from a nearby U.S. naval base, and Stevie Cooper, McCoy's boyhood friend who's now an underworld boss just released from jail, involves McCoy in his attempt to beat down a gang takeover. Finally, McCoy investigates a Scottish nationalist movement, which turns out to be abetted by Britain's clandestine Special Branch for its own nefarious purposes. Tightly plotted and fast-moving, this well-wrought historical thriller also highlights Parks's keen analysis of Scotland's societal traumas, in particular the failure to cope with domestic violence and child abuse. Tartan noir fans won't want to miss this one.
Customer Reviews
The Streets are still Mean
Harry McCoy is not really comfortable when he leaves Glasgow but he and the writer safely navigate the wilds of Argyle and the wilderness that is political extremism.
The main plot is quite simple but as always McCoy’s relationship with his best, maybe his only, friend the psychopath Cooper produces tension and plot twists. If McCoy is the hero then Glasgow, not usually thought of as a feminine city, is the heroine. If you knew Glasgow in the Seventies you will wallow in this terrific book.
Gripping read
Brilliant - can’t wait for the next in the series