The Second Cut
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4.0 • 24 Ratings
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
THE TIMES CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR
SHORTLISTED FOR THE McILVANNEY PRIZE
'Superb' The Times Crime Book of the Month
'A hardboiled gem' Guardian
'I doubt I'll read a better book this year' Val McDermid
Auctioneer Rilke has been trying to stay out of trouble, keeping his life more or less respectable. Business has been slow at Bowery Auctions, so when an old friend, Jojo, gives Rilke a tip-off for a house clearance, life seems to be looking up. The next day Jojo washes up dead.
Jojo liked Grindr hook-ups and recreational drugs – is that the reason the police won’t investigate? And if Rilke doesn’t find out what happened to Jojo, who will?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This excellent sequel to 2002's The Cutting Room, which won the British Crime Writers Association award for best first novel, is set in post-Covid Glasgow after the now middle-aged Rilke has become head auctioneer at Bowery Auctions. He's grappling with the effects of getting older and changes to Glasgow's LGBTQ community when Jojo, an old acquaintance now down on his luck, offers him a potentially lucrative lead on a client with a country house full of antiques. The following day, Jojo is found dead. Rilke takes it on himself to investigate, and Welsh braids his investigation with a dizzying number of other plot threads—the gruesome death of a dog, a fatal car crash, the disappearance of an elderly pianist, a cache of drugs, an artist chronicling the dark side of Glasgow's gay scene, a ruthless gangster rising through the criminal ranks—and leaves readers to gradually draw connections between them. This offers the same nuanced characterizations and evocative, visceral prose that launched Welsh's debut to cult classic status. The result is an unputdownable mystery that will make readers feel safe in the hands of a master.
Customer Reviews
A joy from start to finish
Welsh’s clear, taut prose allows the story to tell itself, there are no distracting ‘look at me’ literary conceits or flourishes. Writing this good is a rare treat. She allows herself just one indulgence - the wonderful Rilke has aged only 4 years in the 20 that have passed since his first outing in ‘the cutting room’. The plot is really bonkers when you step back from it, but the quality of the writing such that you willingly suspend disbelief and allow it to unfold plausibly as you read . What a joy to meet Rilke, Rose, Les et al again. I miss them already. I just hope we don’t have to wait another 20 years for the next encounter.