The Papers of Tony Veitch

Jack Laidlaw is the closest thing to a friend that auld Eck Adamson has, so it's Laidlaw summoned to Eck's deathbed. Eck tells Laidlaw that someone gave him wine that wasn't wine -- he was poisoned. Trouble is, a lot of people believe Eck's been poisoning himself with drink for years, so they can't understand why Laidlaw is so persistent in investigating the matter. His investigation consists mainly in attempting to track down a student named Tony Veitch, who would probably know what's going on and why.

This book has fantastic atmosphere. Glasgow of the period is evoked brilliantly in all its grittiness and beauty. The case features the Glasgow underworld, which may be the tradition that Malcolm MacKay's series is following; the staccato show more dialogue and the dropping the reader unceremoniously into their world is something both McIllvaney and MacKay do. McIlvanney also has a way with narrative one-liners: for example, one character is described as being "so square you could lay him out and use him as a table."

In some senses this is more of a thriller than a traditional mystery, as the reader is privy to some information before Laidlaw is. But it is a recommended read if you like modern Scottish mysteries and want to check out one of their ancestors. show less

William McIlvanney's 1983 novel The Papers of Tony Veitch was his second (of three) to feature the gritty maverick, Glasgow-based detective Jack Laidlaw.
Laidlaw once again travels the mean streets of Glasgow, trying to find Tony Veitch, a young student who may have killed an alcoholic vagrant and a criminal. Down and outs, titled ladies, and middle class students mingle with the hard men of the Glasgow underworld in ever-changing alliances as Laidlaw and Harkness, his sergeant, try to get at the truth of two, then three, deaths. There are seemingly no heroes in this world, not even Laidlaw himself, who is laid even more bare to the reader by Harkness's perceptions of him. In Laidlaw's world, heroes are older working class women who have show more held home and family together through depression, war, and overwhelming change in the world.
At first, I found the fact that much of the dialogue is in broad dialect really distracting. But once I tuned in, it faded into the background.
After a time I could hear these people speak in my head - hear the humour and the bravado and the aggression. He shows beautifully the odd mix of the Glaswegian character, with its kindness that must always be kept carefully hidden for fear of seeming soft. His villains are frighteningly hard without ever tipping over into caricature, and the ever-present threat of violence is chillingly believable.
‘ "Coulda made something o' himself. But a luckless man. All his days a luckless man. The kinna man woulda got two complimentary tickets for the Titanic.” The unintentional humour of her remark was like her natural appetite for life reasserting itself. Harkness couldn't stop smiling. It was as if Glasgow couldn't shut the wryness of its mouth even at the edge of the grave.’
Laidlaw is complex and multi-faceted but always believable. show less

6 years after the first novel, McIlvanney returns to Glasgow and his DI Jack Laidlaw. Less than a year had passed in the story though - and I suspect that this was a deliberate choice.

An old wino dies but in his last moments he calls for Laidlaw - and the policeman decide to go and listen to what the old man has to say. As it turns out, the death is not natural, despite all appearance and the DI needs to get back into the underbelly of Glasgow to find the truth. Meanwhile, one of the crime families has their own investigation going on - about another death, seemingly unrelated and about a missing student.

As with the first novel, we know more than the police or anyone else involved does as we see the action from both sides. Which makes show more some of the actions of some of the characters appear almost idiotic and yet realistic. Keeping track of who knows what when is important in some parts of the novel - and sorting out some of the dialogue makes that even harder. Not because it is bad - but McIlvanney continues the usage of the local dialect for most of it and sometimes you need to sound it out to actually understand it (or at least that is what worked for me). It slows down the novel and one's reading - but it adds to the grittiness and does not sound as if it is a clutch.

Overall not as enjoyable as the first novel but a good read anyway. And I can see why the current crop of Scottish noir authors like him so much. show less

McIlvanney once again sets out on the dark side of Glasgow with Detective Jack Laidlaw. "The wine he gave me winsy wine" were the final words of Eck Adamson to Laidlaw, his only friend. Laidlaw is convinced the Eck was murdered and that an elusive young student, Tony Veitch, holds the key to the mystery.

I really wanted to like this book, Laidlaw investigates the murder of a tramp which is linked to the death of a so called hard man.

Set in the late 1970s/ Early 1980s in Glasgow.
Very interesting characters just to many of them for my liking found it confusing and painful to read.

This one didn’t feel quite as good as the first book, but it was still plenty decent, and I was entertained.

a wino's death is investigated by a persistant Scots detective in Glasgow, a rich boy toys with the underworld and loses