The Quaker is simply one of the best crime novels I\u2019ve read\nfor a long time. I devoured it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unusually the book begins several months after a series of murders\nhas already taken place. Glasgow of the late sixties is in a state of flux. Families\nare being moved out of the slum tenements that are being pulled down; relocated\nto the new build flats further outside the centre of the city. And amidst this,\nthree women have been murdered by a man that the press has dubbed The Quaker. There\u2019s\nno link between the three victims or commonality, beyond them having been\ndancing at the Barrowlands dance hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite feverish press coverage, and an artist\u2019s impression\nbeing on posters across the city, the investigation has dried up and the police\nhave no new leads. And so, we\u2019re introduced to DI Duncan McCormack, something of\nan outsider who comes from the Highlands, who is really there to see whether\nthe case should be shut down after months of getting nowhere. It\u2019s a no-win situation.\nThe team on the case know why he\u2019s there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere in Glasgow, a group of career criminals are planning\nthe robbery of one of the city\u2019s auction houses, where some valuable jewels\nwill be going under the hammer. All of this in a city of gangsters that run or\ntake cuts of most of the criminal activities that take place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of these stories will somehow collide in what is a\nmasterful piece of fiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sense of place in this book is fantastic: smokey pubs, phone\nboxes and lots of whisky. There\u2019s sectarianism bobbing around just below the surface,\nand a smattering of Gaelic. This is seedy Glasgow through a noir lens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unusually, we get a first-person perspective from each of\nthe murder victims. Author Liam McIlvanney (son of the famed Scottish crime\nwriter William McIvanney and nephew of the late sports writer Hugh McIlvanney) says\nthat he used this device to try to work around the problem that many crime\nnovels have, of female victims being avenged by male detectives. Of course, all\nthe detectives in Glasgow at the time would<\/em>\nhave been male, so there\u2019s no getting around that. I think this was a smart\ndecision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The novel is, of course, based on the true-life murderer\nBible John. I say \u201cof course,\u201d but in fact I didn\u2019t really know the details of\nthat case until I read about it afterwards \u2013 only vaguely recalling the name. I\ncame into the novel cold, and while those who do know the details of that case\nwill no doubt get a lot from it, it\u2019s absolutely unnecessary to be acquainted\nwith those horrible true events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The book does veer away from the true-story and reaches a\nbracing conclusion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I can\u2019t recommend this book highly enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n