Brilliant. A gritty and dark story set in the early 1970s in Glasgow. Very well written with big believable characters. This is a great series. This book had me gripped from the start. It feels true to life and raw.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Bobby March Will Live Forever is the third instalment in the Detective Inspector Harry McCoy historical crime fiction series set in Glasgow and is a brilliant work of Scottish/Tartan noir of every bit the impeccable standard we've come to expect from Parks. Each instalment can be read as a standalone without an issue. It's July, 1973, and at the height of summer Glasgow ripples with violent crime, gangland killings and police corruption all taking place in the searing city heat. Many of Harry’s colleagues are investigating the disappearance of teenager Alice Kelly, however, he has been banned from joining them by bent boss DS Bernie Raeburn who despises Harry with a burning passion and is looking for a reaction that'll give him a reason to get rid of the pricipalled Harry for good. Instead, Harry is looking into a number of bank heists, probing the suspicious death of rockstar Bobby March, seemingly from an overdose in his hotel room, and quietly searching off the books for Chief Inspector Murray’s rebellious runaway niece, Laura.

It’s clear that Parks was present in 70s Glasgow as the atmosphere he masterfully crafts from the dense, smoke-filled pubs frequented by many and the barroom brawls the intricate detail he pens is second to none and could only be created so authentically by someone who witnessed the violence and brutality of the city at the time; he certainly brings 1970s Glasgow vividly to life on the page. He doesn't shy away from addressing the prejudices and old-fashioned, now drastically outdated attitudes of the era and the plentiful consumption of alcohol and drugs by many including on-duty police employees of all people. This is a cracking police procedural thriller and from the opening pages, it captures your attention and keeps you in its grasp throughout. Gritty, hard-hitting and subtly sophisticated in terms of attention having being paid to every little detail, and there is a complex, convoluted collection of different plot threads that are adeptly woven together in the explosive denouement.

The unusual and rather unorthodox partnership between gangland boss Stevie Cooper and Harry is ingenious and creates some superb humorous moments which cut through the bleakness of the often-nihilistic narrative. If you are into your crime fiction then this is an unmissable and richly-imagined series and one of my favourites of all time. It really is that riveting. Written with a devastatingly deft hand this series has no modern comparison. A real page-turner. Highly recommended. Roll on the next instalment. Many thanks to Canongate Books for an ARC.

A heat wave is rolling over Glasgow in July 1973 and just so is the drug business booming. One of the victims is Bobby March, the city’s greatest rock star, found dead in a hotel. Yet, this goes more or less unnoticed since the town is holding its breath with looking for young Alice Kelly who has disappeared into thin air. Her parents are neither rich nor famous, no ransom has been demanded, so everybody fears she might have been killed by some random perpetrator. With his boss Murray away and Raeburn in charge, life at Glasgow police becomes unbearable for Detective Harry McCoy who is ordered to the most loathing jobs. With the heat not going to cool down, the atmosphere is getting more and more tense and it is just a question of time until the necessary explosion comes.

The third instalment of Alan Parks’s series set in the 1970s Glasgow is by far the best. In the first, “Bloody January”, we get an idea of the city slowly declining, in “February’s son”, we learn about the underworld and their connection with McCoy. Now, the focus is set on the police who have the hardest job imaginable to do. Apart from the very personal aspects in this novel, again Alan Parks managed to create a brilliant atmosphere which gives you a feeling of the city and the constraints the inhabitants have to live in.

The plot combines several lines all equally thrilling and suspenseful. Apart from the kidnapping story – which will have much wider repercussions than apparent at the beginning – and McCoy’s personal war with Raeburn, there is also the ominous death of rock star Bobby March which gets unexpectedly personal for McCoy, too (and serves to continue the witty naming of the series). Added to this, Harry is asked by his boss to secretly look for his niece, 15-year-old Laura has been in trouble for quite some time, but now her disappearance seems to be more serious. All this is poured over McCoy and leads to a fast-paced story which you have to follow carefully in order not to get lost. Yet, the skilful and clever detective can connect the dots and bring all cases to an end.

The character of Harry McCoy is a fantastic protagonist. On the one hand, he is totally down to earth and knows how to talk to people no matter their background. He is an excellent policeman yet blends in easily with the underworld and its shady figures. On the other hand, he is totally loyal to his colleagues and has very high standards when it comes to police work and law and order. He knows where not to look too closely, but he is also determined when it comes to crossing a red line. Thus, his pragmatic but straightforward approach to his work makes him a sympathetic and authentic character.

A superb read which combines a great protagonist with a complex plot and lives from the stunning atmosphere the author creates.

Brilliant - and I now join all the fans who love detective McCoy - he’s cheeky, brave, smart and walks both sides of the criminal street to get ‘his’ man - in this story it’s about a kidnapped little girl, but also so much more - internal police politics involving McCoy as well - I’m going to look out his other books because Parks is very good - edgy and full novelistic values with descriptions of place and vivid characters. Wow ...

Set in a scorching hot summer, Its July 1973 and the mischievous cop Harry McCoy has all kinds on his plate.

The Body of a local hero, Bobby March - Rock Star Musician is found , overdosed in a hotel, a 13-year-old girl has gone missing, The niece of McCoys boss has also gone walkabout. Add to that drugs pouring into the city, Bank Robberies and McCoys long-term friend and gangster Stevie Cooper causing no end of problems, McCoy is a bit hot and Bothered..

McCoy finds himself faced with some near death situations, as this book races to an explosive finale. This is brilliant stuff.

You could be forgiven for thinking that could all become a bit convoluted but it doesnt. Alan Parks binds all his story strings together fantastically well. This is Crime Noir of the highest order.

Its Dark and grim, moody and dank at times, but its written with a darkly funny humour through the book.

A series and author that has quickly become one of my favorites.

I can't recommended enough

5🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

I now look forward each year to the next instalment of the Detective Harry McCoy story evolving from the pen of Alan Parks. And again, I wasn't disappointed.
Set in the summer of 1973 in gritty, grimy Glasgow a young girl goes missing. At the same time one of Glasgow's musicians turns up dead, a teenage girl (niece of another detective) is missing and there's a series of bank robberies. While most of the Glasgow force are out looking for the young girl McCoy gets tasked with picking up the pieces - seemingly kept of the key case McCoy's instinct and style of working leads him to piece the jigsaw pieces together.
The now usual characters appear and continue to develop ... some for good, others not so.
Parks has worked his magic again and is surely establishing himself as a key Scottish crime writer ..... now just to fill in the time until April appears in some shape or form.

This book had a good premise but just did not deliver for me. It was too far fetched that a policeman would get away with what was written in the storyline. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

The third in the McCoy series. Summer 1973 in Glasgow and the heat is oppressive. But even as the Glasgow Fair starts, there's no let up in crime and the polis have their work cut out. A young girl has disappeared and police fear the worst. Excluded from the investigation, McCoy still has plenty to deal with - a teenage runaway, a series of violent armed robberies, the drugs overdose of a fading rock star and one of his oldest friends with a serious drugs habit.

Parks keeps all these plates spinning very effectively and there are no lulls in the narrative. A genuine page turner with (to this Glaswegian's ears) authentic dialogue which often raises a smile.

It's hard to avoid the Rebus comparisons - McCoy is a bit of a loner often at loggerheads with the force - but these novels are excellent crime thrillers in their own right. McCoy does seem to take more than his fair share of assaults and beatings and his powers of recovery do test the limits of physical endurance. His dogged approach and unflinching search for the truth lead him into some dark places although disappointingly in this story he is twice rescued by others covertly following him.

Can't wait for April!

1973 Glasgow is the setting for Bobby March Will Live Forever which is the latest book in the Harry McCoy series by Alan Parks.

If you are looking for a nice cosy crime book then this isn’t the book for you as it is, or should be, the definition of Tartan Noir as 1970s Glasgow is brought to life by the author.

This time around McCoy is being sidelined at work but is, off the books, looking for the niece of his Boss.

A number of the regular characters return along with some new ones that are far from two dimensional.

The various storylines kept me engaged throughout and were nicely interwoven throughout the book until the great ending.

This is proving to be an excellent series and is definitely recommended

In February 1964 Bobby March was on his way to London with fellow band members Tom, Scott, Barry and Jamie. He'd had to get his father to sign the contract for The Beatkickers, as Bobby wasn't old enough. And his father had been reluctant - he'd have preferred Bobby to get an apprenticeship, for the regular money. By July 1973 Bobby is back in Glasgow. The Beatkickers didn't survive and March is on his own, but hardly thriving. There's an obvious drug habit. Meanwhile, the police are consumed by the search for a missing girl, Alice Kelly.

Well, most of the police are. The case is being led by DS Bernie Raeburn and if he has one driving ambition it's to do Harry McCoy down. Whilst most of the police force is looking for Alice Kelly, McCoy is doing menial jobs which don't need any great skill or knowledge. He's also trying to keep out of Raeburn's way, but not entirely succeeding.

I regard the discovery of a good police procedural crime book as one of life's real treats: finding that book three reads perfectly well as a standalone and there are two earlier books to acquire and new ones to look forward to is about as close to perfection as reading gets. And Bobby March Will Live Forever is very, very good. It's set in Glasgow in the seventies and it catches the location and the time perfectly, without too much reliance on an impenetrable Glaswegian accent and dialect. You could walk the streets as you read the book and some awful memories are brought back as you realise exactly how some of the police acted at that time - and not just in Glasgow. If a confession had to be beaten out of a suspect then so be it. Lack of evidence? No problem!

The characterisation is excellent. Bernie Raeburn could have been two-dimensional, but isn't. Harry McCoy's the lead character, but it's the story which takes centre stage rather than McCoy, who has a great mixture of fallibilities. He doesn't always make the right - or even the wise - decision and he often has to work through what's right in his own mind. It's far from automatic. I liked Laura Murray, the fifteen-year-old wild child who has a reason for not going home which wasn't at all what McCoy had been expecting.

The plot is great too: neatly twisty and with a few surprises which I wasn't expecting. Top class stuff. I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

Found myself reading with a Glaswegian accent (although I'm not sure what that sounds like). Loved McCoy, all polis should be the same. Flying close to the wind but fundamentally honest. Loved it.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is the third outing for Harry McCoy but it stands alone and you don’t have to have read the previous two to enjoy this one.
Park describes Glasgow perfectly and when I was reading the book, I found that it was my colleague’s Glaswegian accent that was in my head. I found myself immersed in this book and I was so glad that I started it during a week off work because I couldn’t put it down. I even made the dog wait until I’d finished it before he went out for his walk.
Loved it.

Let’s just talk about grim for a second. Grim is 1973’s Glasgow, a place of hard men, hard drinkers, gangsters carrying out unspeakable acts in order to protect their patch, extreme violence on the streets, and corruption, not only amongst its criminal fraternity, but also among some of its police officers, who were not averse to beating a confession out of a suspect whether the suspect is guilty or not! Add to that mix, a vast consumption of drugs and alcohol among police officers whilst on duty, and you have an idea of how police interviews were conducted. Does it make for a terrific read though? You bet it does!

Bobby March, Glasgow’s very own world renowned rock star, has just had his last fix, his body being found in a hotel after a massive overdose, but whether it was intentional or not, is another matter. Meanwhile in another part of town, 13 year old Alice Kelly has disappeared after setting off for the local shop, just a matter of yards away.

In addition to the above two cases, DI Harry McCoy is approached by his boss Murray, who wants him to find his 15 year old niece Laura who has got in with a bad crowd, and has now gone missing. Laura’s father John (a rising star in local politics) wants it kept out of the press. His 15 year old daughter is missing, and he wants it hushed up? McCoy isn’t happy about that, he thinks there’s something very fishy going on, and he’s determined to find out what that is!

DI Harry McCoy isn’t at the helm of the main investigations this time around, he’s been seconded to more menial tasks thanks to his nemesis Raeburn. These two go back a long way and there’s certainly no love lost between them, but having to try and solve cases that Raeburn has been unable to, doesn’t go down well with Harry, especially when he could be conducting the search for Alice Kelly, but Raeburn has banned him from the inquiry, and Harry’s just biding his time until he can exact his revenge.

This is the third in the DI Harry McCoy series (though it can be read as a stand-alone). McCoy makes for a wonderful protagonist, (though you might question that opinion, given what I’m about to to say about him) he drinks himself into oblivion, has a liking for illegal drugs, he can be obnoxious at times, mixes with one of Glasgow’s most feared gangsters Stevie Cooper, and isn’t afraid to use violence if a situation calls for it, but you know something? Under all that, there is a kind heart, one who will give his last fiver to someone less fortunate, and unlike some of his colleagues, he actually cares about the truth, cares about Glasgow’s victims.

Only the third in the series, but I’m already hooked! Grim, gritty, an extremely strong and interesting protagonist, and a very realistic portrayal of Glasgow in the early 70’s. Has to be another 5 star rating for author Alan Parks.

This has been a very good series so far and I think that Bobby March Will Live Forever is probably the best so far.

It is summer 1973 this time and a 15-year-old girl is missing. McCoy is excluded from the investigation by a rival who hates him, but the case he is working on eventually becomes tangled up with the missing girl, leading him again into the world of Glasgow’s gangs and major criminals and even to Belfast at the height of the Troubles. It’s a good, involving story in which McCoy’s ambivalent relationship with Steve Cooper plays a significant part and which is one of the very good things about the series.

The summer setting means that the book has a slightly less oppressive feel than its predecessors, although there is still a lot of gruesome violence and a menacing air is always present. As always, one really fine feature is Alan Parks’s evocation of the atmosphere of 1970s Glasgow, both the place itself and the period. Period attitudes are well portrayed, including what we would now see as gross police corruption but was just the way things were done then and his characters are extremely well drawn and believable.

I have to say that the plot relies on a couple of pretty outrageous coincidences and the climax gets a bit silly. There are some holes – such as McCoy taking a hideous beating including several powerful kicks full in the face in which his “nose bursts,” but a day later he is perfectly fit and no-one so much as comments on any damage to his face. Nonetheless, this is well enough written for these things not to matter too much and I found Bobby March Will Live Forever a thoroughly gripping, enjoyable read. Warmly recommended, and I’m looking forward to the next in the series.

(My thanks to Canongate Books for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll, this story has it all including good cop / bad cop. Based in Glasgow in the 1970’s McCoy seems to have as many lives as a cat. Disillusioned with his current life in the police force he seems to meander along in his own way with the help of his dubious contacts in the underworld is able to bring a number of his cases to a satisfactory conclusion.

Another wonderful tale of Glasgow's dark side featuring Harry McCoy and his ongoing battle between being a straight policeman and his friendship with some of the dodgier elements. Child abduction,violent murders,a brief sojourn to Belfast during the troubles all mixed with the past and present of a druggie rockstar make for a fabulous story. Hopefully these adventures will run and run!

The third novel in the Harry McCoy series set in 1970's Glasgow.

Parks has a fantastic style of writing and deserves to be mentioned amongst the top modern Scottish crime authors such as Stuart MacBride, Ian Rankin and Lin Anderson. Whilst the book is possibly the least bleak of the series so far, there is still dark, menancing undertones such as in the kidnap of Alice Kelly and the descriptions of Glasgow and the seedy characters within who are all incredibly well portrayed. However Parks perfectly balances this with well-timed doses of humour throughout.

An easy, thrilling read with a flawed yet loveable protagonist. I highly look forward to the next in the series.

Thanks to Canongate Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed February’s Son so it was great to catch up on the exploits of Harry McCoy again a few months down the line. Life has moved on both at home and in his private life which definitely added some freshness to his story, he’s less than satisfied at work but still goes through the motions despite being sidelined. I liked the more jaded side of him although he still has that rough Glasgow edge that makes him such a great character. This is an easy read but still leaves you wanting to keep on reading, it has strong characters and I do really love the representation of 1970’s Glasgow life.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC in return for a honest review.

Third in the series by Alan PArks and life isn't getting any easier for McCoy.
Rock star Bobby March has apprently overdosed in a Glasgow hotel bedroom.
The story further develops the unlikely relationship between cop (McCoy) and gangster (Cooper) and lives up to the standards set by the first two books in the series.

Here's to many more to come Mr Parks

Glasgow,a rare hot long summer in early 1970's.Harry McCoy ,a Police Officer works an apparently overdose case in which rock guitarist Bobby March ,found in a grim flat come to light.
This starts a search for the truth and background of a very nearly made it man.
Meanwhile, Harry's erstwhile colleagues are up to their neck in a missing girl, with all of Glasgow up in arms about the lack of progress.
Harry goes about his business brushing alongside the Glasgow dark,grim underworld getting into all sorts of scrapes which nearly cost him his life.

Another really good Scottish crime writer.Alan Parks is up there with the best.A wonderful read that is atmospheric giving the reader the real taste of Glasgow the grim downtrodden dark side the tourists never see or even aware of.
Wonderful ,sorry to have finished the read. More please.