A Son of the Rock

Canongate, 2021, 284 p.

This is an originally unfinished draft left among his papers when McIlvanney died in 2015 and which was subsequently brought to completion by Ian Rankin. The cover tells us that the novel describes “Laidlaw’s First Case” but there is ample evidence in the text that he had previous investigation experience.

Protagonist DC Jack Laidlaw was McIlvanney’s gift to Scottish crime fiction as his novel Laidlaw is credited with inspiring later authors of what has come to be known as tartan noir. One of these writers is, of course, Ian Rankin. Two more Laidlaw novels, The Papers of Tony Veitch and Strange Loyalties appeared at intervals of six and eight years after Laidlaw.

The Dark Remains unfolds over six days of the investigation in October 1972 after Lawyer Bobby Carter is found dead in an alley in a surprising part of town. He was the right-hand man of gangster Cam Colvin and the circumstances and location of the body point to the involvement of Colvin’s rival gang boss John Rhodes but the supposed murder weapon is found near the home of one of Colvin’s associates. As a result an outbreak of gang warfare seems imminent.

Many of the aspects of the police novel that have become familiar over the years are present here. Laidlaw’s boss DI Milligan is convinced from the outset that he knows who the culprit is but Laidlaw considers him an idiot and makes no bones about it. Laidlaw is a bit of a lone wolf and something of a loose cannon in terms of how he operates and his home life isn’t straightforward.

Society’s attitudes and habits have changed since 1972. Laidlaw’s smoking habit is noticeable now in a way it perhaps would not have been to a reader then. The position of women as adjuncts to the men, or only as objects of desire, also stands out.

I found the earlier parts of the book to be more compelling and the ending, when it came, seemed to be a tad rushed.

Pedant’s corner:- “a note indicated that that the identikit” (omit one ‘that’,) “outside of” (just outside, no ‘of’,) Chambers’ (Chambers’s,) Menzies’ (Menzies’s.)