Edge of the Grave is the first instalment in a gritty, violent and atmospheric historical crime series, featuring vividly portrayed and memorable Detective Inspector James Dreghorn. It's 1932 in Depression-era Glasgow and the political and social climate is dire due to depleted resources courtesy of the war. The population is suffering due to an unemployment epidemic, abject poverty, growing disillusionment and corruption in the police ranks, government and businesses, too. The police force of Glasgow – a city swarming with razor gangs, and riven by religious fundamentalism and sectarian division – needs strong leadership to restore law and order. Chief Constable Percy Sillitoe, an Englishman who famously modernised the force and attacked corruption at every level, is appointed by the Glasgow Corporation to bring the crime and brutality that was rampant in the city under control. Charles Geddes, son-in-law of Sir Lockhart – one of Glasgow’s wealthiest shipbuilders – is found floating in the River Clyde with his throat cut from ear to ear. With surgical precision the tendons and windpipe have been severed almost to the spinal column, his beautiful widow Isla asks for DI James Dreghorn to lead the investigation. Bullied as a wee boy, Dreghorn was spotted by Sir Iain who ran a boxing school for ‘the Black Squad’, whom he was training and sponsoring at Kelpie House and got to know Isla very well. Now, with his hulking, pipe-playing subordinate ‘Bonnie’ Archie McDaid, a former Olympic wrestler, Dreghorn enters into an uneasy contract with Protestant gangleader and nemesis Billy Grieveson.

In exchange for vital information, and becoming an informant, Dreghorn agrees to help find his sister, Sarah Catherine Grieveson, who he hasn't seen for 18 years. Sarah had gotten pregnant while Billy was serving an 18-month prison term. The investigation takes Jimmy from ‘Trinity Village’, a purpose-built late-Victorian hamlet in the Renfrewshire countryside about thirteen miles outside of Glasgow, a charitable institution set up for orphaned and unwanted children where Sarah could've had the baby discreetly and then had it adopted, to the murkier parts of Glasgow’s underworld to find out who wanted Charles Geddes dead and why. The two cases begin to look as though they may converge and Dreghorn must ascertain what the connection is between a complex, dangerous and brutal murder and the disappearance of Sarah. More will die before he finds out. This is a scintillating and richly atmospheric murder mystery set against the dark and disturbing backdrop of Glasgow in the 1930s. Real historical characters people the plot of this richly-coloured novel – among them the ex-footballer pathologist Willie Kivlichan, and Benny Parsonage of the Glasgow Humane Society who retrieved hundreds of the living and the dead from the Clyde. Robbie Morrison also weaves in such events as the Quintinshill rail disaster, the worst ever in Britain, and paints a vivid portrait of early 20th-century Glasgow in all its raucous lawlessness. And now the populace has another issue to deal with: the prowling of a serial killer. A riveting, chilling and enthralling read, this is a beautifully written debut. Highly recommended.

I tried hard to like this book, but I'm sorry to say I didn't really enjoy it. I found it difficult to get into and couldn't connect with the main characters. It's a gritty story and depicts Glasgow's harder side well, but it isn't for me.

Murder, kidnapping, blackmail and suspense sums up this book. Such a gritty and atmospheric book, I to put my life on hold to inhale. Superb.

I like reading novels set in the first half of the twentieth century. It is a fascinating era, particularly the inter-war years with so much social and economic change, and the repercussions of the first world war and the depression. To read a murder /thriller set during this time, in Glasgow, was interesting and eye opening. The back story of sectarian gangs and violence, and the impact of poverty in the Scottish city ran through the story and was done really well.
A violent and shocking read but with appropriate light and even some humour provided by the characters of Dreghorn and McDaid. This is not for the fainthearted, but if you like atmospheric police dramas, strong charactisations, tight plotting and dialogue, this is for you. I certainly have friends I will be recommending this to.
Thank you to #NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and the author for the opportunity to read and review an early copy.


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Set in Glasgow in the 1930's (with some chapters back in time to help set the scene) this is a gritty tale of murder, kidnapping, blackmail and so much more. When the son-in-law of the ship yard owner is found in the Clyde it is up to Dreghorn and McDaid to find out who did it. They are an unlikely pair of detectives but they go together so well. Honourable men who will stop at nothing to find the truth.
Some of the subject matter is difficult to read but it is all based on fact and the sort of thing that happens in the book happens in real life and the descriptions aren't gratuitous in any way, they are just part of the story.
I loved this book and stayed up well past my bedtime to read it. Hope to read more stories about Jimmy Dreghorn and Archie McDaid.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately and despite the promising blurb Edge of the Grave did not grab my attention with its slow start that felt like a history lesson and taking too long to get going.

Absolutely loved this gangland story set in early 1930’s Glasgow. I don’t know much about the city at this time, but I felt that the violence of gang life was really well depicted. There has always been very strong and divisive religious differences and the sheer daily grind of life at a difficult time was brought very vividly to life.

The two central police officers provide some light relief with their banter and interaction. They make a great pair and it would be good to see more of them. There’s a lot of brutality, some of quite visceral, but never gratuitous. The characters really leap off the page and the brutal murder story has twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. It delivered everything I hoped for and I’d love to read more by Robbie Morrison

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

This was a very atmospheric book and I felt as if I was in the seedier places in Glasgow whilst reading it. It is violent and sometimes distrubing but a good read and one I hope will become a series. Jimmy Dreghorn and Archie make a good team. With thank to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review and e-ARC of this title.

Think Peaky Blinders set in Glasgow.
Glasgow 1932 and the son in law of a wealthy and influential ship builder is found dead, floating in the Clyde with a cut throat. Inspector Jimmy Dreghorn is leading the case, however he has shared history with the victims widow.
The case takes them through the ganglands of Glasgow but who wanted him dead and more important why?
At the same time a murderer is at work leaving dead bodies on his heels.
Dreghorn will need to solve this but will he or will he lose it and with it his life.

Religious sectarianism has been rife in Scotland for centuries, and the centre of it all was in Glasgow.
The Glasgow gangs of the 1920s and 1930s were widely viewed as fighting gangs rather than as criminal gangs in any wider sense.

Confrontations between gangs and police officers frequently followed police attempts to take gang members into custody. For example, in July 1939, a major disturbance erupted in the Gorbals as the Beehive Boys and the South Side Stickers reportedly joined forces to confront police officers who were taking two prisoners to the police station. '

This then is the backdrop, to ‘Edge of the Grave’, where the Glasgow police force (with its religious bigotry and corruption) were distrusted by the public in general, and by the gangs in particular.

Detective Inspector Jimmy Dreghorn, and his colleague Detective Sergeant Archie McDaid, of the Special Crimes unit, are investigating a vicious serial killer who’s stalking the streets of Glasgow. McDaid is a former Olympic wrestler and a giant of a man, whilst Dreghorn is less than average height and referred to by McDaid as Inspector Shortarse!

The story begins with the discovery of the body of Charles Geddes - a member of one of the richest families in Glasgow, and from there it takes the reader into some dark and seedy corners of the city, from the razor gangs, (and in particular, ‘The Billy Boys’ and their vicious leader, Billy Grievson), to the prostitution, the private clubs, and the corruption in high places.
This is a very graphic, violent, and bloody tale, with some particularly brutal scenes, but it’s brilliantly told, and the amusing banter between Greghorn and McDaid do help to lighten the mood. Definitely look forward to more from Robbie Morrison. Highly recommended.

I struggled with this book, The writing style and characters are not as relatable as other books I have read in this genre, a good read, but not a brilliant read.

This is the first in what I hope is a historical crime series set in the mean, violent, dangerous and battered Glasgow of 1932 by Robbie Morrison, featuring the unforgettable DI Jimmy Dreghorn, ably assisted by the man mountain that is DS Archie McDaid, a former Olympic wrestler. The Glasgow depicted is instantly recognisable from the likes of Craig Russell's Lennox, set in the 1950s and the more recent Alan Parks and 1970s Glasgow in his DI Harry McCoy series. Glasgow here is particularly hard hit by the Depression, with the consequent unemployment, discontent and desperate poverty, littered with government and business corruption, bent police officers, riven with sectarian gangs, a police force unable to control the brutality and killings until the appointment by the Glasgow Corporation of Percy Joseph Sillitoe as Chief Constable who comes in with every intention of hitting the gang culture hard with with specially selected police teams, which include Dreghorn and McDaid.

In a narrative that goes back and forth in time, we become acquainted with Dreghorn's childhood, the bullying that leads to him taking up boxing, and being picked by Sir Iain Lockhart, the shipbuilder, to join the sportmen he is sponsoring and training at Kelpie House, until matters came to a head over his relationship with Lockhart's daughter, Isla. He, like virtually all who served, is changed for good by his soul destroying experiences in WW1 at the Battle of the Somme, serving under Captain Rory Lockhart, Isla's brother. Dreghorn's history plays a key part of the harrowing case he comes to be charge of, the murder of the son-in-law of Iain Lockhart, Charles Geddes is discovered with his throat cut in the dirty waters of the River Clyde, putting back in the orbit of the powerful and influential Lockharts. In return for crucial information from Billy Grievson, leader of a Protestant gang, Dreghorn agrees to find his sister, Sarah, which leads him to the orphan Trinity Village, which unexpectedly begins to connect with his complicated and dangerous murder inquiry.

Morrison writes a atmospheric murder mystery in which a serial killer runs rampant in Glasgow in this blend of fact and fiction with some real life characters from the time, although he does on occasion play fast and loose with the facts. The highlight for me are his skills in characterisation, showcased with Dreghorn, McDaid, and the likes of Theodore 'Teddy' Levin, Billy, and Ellen, the WPC on the police team. This is not a read for the faint hearted, the heartbreaking tragedies, some involving children, and the brutality and violence will put off some readers. This is a dark, disturbing and intensely riveting, blood soaked historical crime read which I loved, with its rich descriptions and details of the period, portraying the social norms and attitudes of the time, and which I recommend highly. Many thanks to PanMacmillan for an ARC.

The feeling of unease runs through this book from the beginning. It is a very atmospheric novel set in Glasgow during the 1930's. There is a very oppressive feel to this story. It is told over two timelines and the characters are very interwoven throughout. You have to believe that the very dour detective will win through in the end. Many twists and turns with many surprises throughout. Not an easy read but in intriguing one.
Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan

Set in gritty Glasgow in the early 1930s, this is a bloody and exciting thriller.

Starting with the discovery of a rich man dead and floating in the river, Dreghorn and his partner McDaid have to work their way through a network of gangs, prostitution, wealth, and corruption to chip away at the truth, with an increasing amount of violence and dead bodies along the way.

Packed with interesting and vivid characters, this has a real Glaswegian feel to it - both in the scenery and the narrative accent. The start of a promised series, I'm really looking forward to another outing like this.

As a Glasgow-dweller, I found this book of particular interest. The remnants of that older time depicted in the novel can still be seen in parts of the city, though it's definitely no longer the seedy, dark, dim world the author describes. This is Glasgow without any of her saving charm, with one exception: this book really captures the dry sense of humour of the Weegies, which offers a bit of levity from the grim world depicted. This is a very atmospheric book and you really feel like you're there.

This appears to be the first book in a series, so I get the impression Dreghorn will be revealed to us over time - he's not fully fleshed-out here yet, but I think that might be purposeful so we have somewhere to go with him.

For those who liked Liam McIlvanney's novel The Quaker.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and Robbie Morrison for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for a free Advanced Review copy of this book.

Robbie Morrison is a debut author, and Edge of the Grave is tagged as historical fiction and myster&thriller. I do love a good myster/thriller read, so I looked forward to this book.

Sadly, it failed to deliver on its promise of mystery and thriller, and instead, page after page read like a history lesson.

During the parts where the author told a story, the old Glasgow of the 1930s came alive for me. The timeline switches between the First World War and the present of the early 1930s. I found all of this fascinating. The world building gets a solid four stars from me. However, because of the constant detours into the history lessons, I never did connect with any of the characters. Just when I found myself getting into the flow and ejoying myself, I hit yet another info dump, which interrupted the whole thing. Too soon, I found myself skimming through the read.

Such a shame, as this book has such great promise. Take the following line, for example, which stood out for me wonderfully ...

The squat man beside him was smiling, or, more accurately, leering, displaying smoker's teeth that weren't so much stained with nicotine as blowtorched.

All in all, not a bad first effort, but it needs some polishing. I offer 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 for rating purposes.

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NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

Well this is what I have been waiting for and without knowing it! Glasgow in the 1930s, a brilliant character inthe form of DI Dreghorn and a city full of gothic overtones, gangs, and more. Set also at the time of the Depression, a
prominent shipbuilder's son in law is pulled out of the Clyde. For DI Dreghorn, there's more than one reason to fear this crime.

There's lots of history here but it's expertly woven into the thread of a fascinating story or two. Vivid and immersive.

I learned so much from this novel without realising it which is always a good sign of a historical tale.

What a fantastic debut. Tautly plotted with an evocative sense of time and place, this deserves to be absolutely huge. DI Dreghorn is a rare creature, a Catholic policeman in Glasgow at the start of the 1930s. The depression grips the city tight, as do the warring gangs, when a prominent shipbuilder's son in law is pulled out of the Clyde, his throat slit. For Dreghorn, this murder is personal as is his connection to the not so grieving widow and his investigations take him from the highest echelons of Glasgow society to the darkest depths of the city's most feared gangs to a model orphan village where someone may be willing to kill to keep secrets hidden.

With flashbacks to pre war Glasgow slums and life in the trenches this is a tense, taughtly plotted novel with believable characters, touches of humour and beautifully written dialogue. The research is incorporated with a light touch, but clearly intensive as the tone and setting never waver, immersing the reader in the city and time. Highly, highly recomended, I hope this is the start of a long series!