The Quaker
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4.2 • 26 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A Washington Post Best Book of the Year: Based on true events, “a solidly crafted and satisfying detective story” set in 1960s Glasgow (The Guardian).
It is 1969 and Glasgow is in the grip of the worst winter in decades. But it is something else that has Glaswegians on edge: a serial killer is at large. The brutality of The Quaker’s latest murder— a young woman snatched from a nightclub, her body dumped like trash in the back of a cold-water tenement—has the city trembling with fear, and the police investigation seems to be going nowhere.
Duncan McCormick, a talented young detective from the Highlands, is brought into the investigation to identify where it’s gone wrong. An outsider with troubling secrets of his own, DI McCormack has few friends in his adopted city and a lot to prove. His arrival is met with anger and distrust by cops who are desperate to nail a suspect. When they identify a petty thief as the man seen leaving the building where the Quaker’s last victim was found, they decide they’ve found their killer. But McCormack isn’t convinced . . .
From ruined backstreets to deserted public parks and down into the dark heart of Glasgow, McCormack follows a trail of secrets that will change the city—and his life—forever.
“Intricately plotted . . . gorgeously written.” —Toronto Star
“A terrific novel, dark, powerful . . . I finished it a while ago, but I’m still haunted.” —Ann Cleeves, bestselling author of Shetland
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.
