Strange Loyalties: A Laidlaw Investigation

Book Three in William McIlvanney's Laidlaw Trilogy

From William McIlvanney, “the father of 'Tartan Noir’,” comes the third book in the groundbreaking Laidlaw series, one that explores “the ruin of the body, the corruption of the soul and the shattering of society” (Wall Street Journal).

This third book in the series begins with Jack Laidlaw’s despair and anger at his brother’s death in a banal road accident. But his nagging doubts about the dynamics of his brother’s death lead to larger questions about the nature of pain and injustice and the greater meaning of his own life. He becomes convinced there is more to his brother's death. His investigations will lead to a confrontation with his own past and a harrowing journey into the dark Glasgow underworld.

The Laidlaw books are widely considered to be among the greatest achievements of Scottish crime writing and the founding novels of what has since become known as the school of Tartan Noir, whcih includes autors like Val McDermid, Denise Mina, and Ian Rankin.