My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Laidlaw was my first foray into Tartan Noir and I’m never looking back. My boyfriend is from Glasgow and has been urging me to read McIlvanney since we met and I finally got around to it last week. What was I waiting for?
Laidlaw is a detective novel. You know the drill. A girl has been murdered. The rebel detective is on the case. No one likes him because his methods are unconventional but he gets the job done, so they can’t really complain. I know, it’s not that different than a lot of noir detective stories BUT this one takes place in Scotland! Hey, that’s different! Once you get over the hurdle of understanding the Glaswegian dialect (Protip [I’m a pro because I talk to a Glaswegian every day] imagine a Scottish person talking to you OR read the dialogue out loud. I know it’s totally weird and yes, the people on the train will look at you like a crazy person, but then a mariachi band will get on at the next stop and your under the breath babbling will soon be forgotten), it really is quite a fast-paced novel.
Laidlaw, though he is your typical atypical detective, is interesting if not methodical. When he’s on a case, he needs to stay at a hotel. He needs to pack the right toothbrush and the right toothpaste and the right clothes or he’ll get off track and get a migraine. He prefers getting down and dirty with mobsters and derelicts to get his information. He is not by the book, and yet, that is not all there is to him. McIlvanney doesn’t give much away about Laidlaw in this first novel. You’ve got to keep reading the series to get to know him better. That’s what I’m going to do, at least.
Marie Hendry 