THE HERETIC

A maverick Scottish detective returns home to nail a crime boss and shake up the police department.

Seven years after making a name for himself back in 1969 by catching the serial killer known as The Quaker, DI Duncan McCormack is back in Glasgow after his stint with the London police, much to the chagrin of his boss, DCI Alan Haddow. After a warehouse fire spreads to a nearby tenement, killing four people, including a mother and her wee daughter, the righteous McCormack decides that local crime boss Walter Maitland ordered the blaze. His initial investigation takes him to the once-posh Duke of Perth restaurant and a spa fronting for a whorehouse for white-collar gentlemen. In the absence of any concrete evidence implicating Maitland, McCormack has carte blanche to scour the colorful underworld of the notoriously gritty city. McIlvanney, who reveals the identity of the arsonist early on, is less interested in creating mystery than in exploring the pulsing, crime-ridden city through dozens of incisive character portraits and backstories. McCormack’s sidekick, DC Liz Nicol, a feminist struggling in a sexist environment, is an ideal protégée for the equally resolute McCormack. Another grisly crime lands unwelcomed in the duo’s caseload when one-time MP Gavin Elliot, director of Wyndford Property Limited, is tortured, beaten to death, and left in the city dump. As if ferreting out miscreants were not challenge enough, McCormack must also deal with Shand, an ambitious colleague anxious to bring him down.

Crackling, full-bodied Scottish noir effectively evoking a colorful era.