This book looked interesting and a great read but it was a bit too dark underbelly for me. Just because it's not for me doesn't mean it's not a great book. It is well written and very atmospheric.
If this is your thing then you will likely give it 5 stars. I think lower than 3 would be unfair of me so I am giving it 3

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins UK for the electronic copy.

Set in Glasgow in the mid-1970s, this is an atmospheric read encompassing the dark and seedy backwaters of the city, with a backdrop of misogynistic views of women being incorporated into mainstream policing units as a result of reorganisation; the perverse respect given by certain areas of the populace to gangland bosses, and Catholic vs. protestant allegiances.

DI Duncan McCormack is running a Serious Crime Squad after 6years spent in London. He'd gone there following a high-profile capture of a serial killer, although the ramifications of that meant some powerful people had been upset, including his boss Alan Haddow who found his promotion ambitions thwarted. He despises McCormack, but Duncan had been lured back by his old boss DCI Flett and now found himself in a very difficult position. His remit was to find evidence to put away gangland boss Walter Maitland, but nothing stuck. DCI Haddow insists he drop that case and take charge of the investigation into a murdered man found near tenements. He'd been tortured.
Meanwhile Duncan is convinced that the warehouse and tenement fire were gang related - 4 people had died. The warehouse belonged to Denny Quinn - a rival to Maitland. As his team think up new ways to get evidence on Maitland through workers at his brothels, the murdered man is named as Gavin Elliott - a slum landlord purporting to be a businessman, but he had powerful friends - friends which DCI Haddow didn't want to upset.
When one of the sex workers they speak to goes missing with her young son both Duncan's team and Maitland's gang need to find her - she could hold the key to getting the evidence they need. But they don't count on the intervention of Christopher Kidd who's trying to ingratiate himself into Maitland's gang in search of his sister Izzy.

There are twists and turns within this multi-layered plot It certainly keeps one's attention.

From GoodReads:
Even better than the first.

Dark, twisty, complex Scottish crime brimming with grim 1970's Glasgow atmosphere.

Really looking forward to the next one

My thanks to HarperCollins U.K. for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Heretic’ by Liam McIlvanney in exchange for an honest review.

This is Book 2 in a series of gritty police procedurals set in Glasgow, featuring DI Duncan McCormack. While I hadn’t read Book 1, ‘The Quaker’, I felt this worked fine as a standalone.

1975 and an arson attack on a Glasgow warehouse results in the death of a young mother and her child. The police suspect it’s the latest in a brutal gang war that is tearing the city apart. DI McCormack, recently returned from a stint with the London Metropolitan Police, is working with the Serious Crime Squad that is seeking to end the gang violence.

McCormack has another case to investigate in the form of a mutilated body found in a slum. It is first assumed to be a homeless person, but the case becomes more complicated when the victim is identified. So, there’s plenty going and more occurs as the novel progresses.

After returning from London, McCormack is finding that he is no longer considered a hero. He also has long been concealing aspects of his personal life. So, he comes across as quite a dour and troubled individual.

Overall, I found ‘The Heretic’ a solid retro police procedural that while set less than 50 years ago, seems so much earlier given the level of technology and the social attitudes. I felt that Liam McIlvanney captured a sense of the historic period.

Following this positive experience I plan to read ‘The Quaker’ in the near future and also keep an eye out for further books in the series.

A follow up to The Quaker, the Heretic is a gritty, atmospheric, detai!ed crime procedural set in nineteen seventies Glasgow. An enjoyable read, well written characters and great attention to the historical period raises it to the upper echelons of Scottish noir. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

DI Duncan McCormack, responsible for catching the notorious ‘Quaker’ six years previously, and uncovering corruption which led to a senior police officer going to jail, has returned to Glasgow from the Met. He and his colleagues in the Serious Crime Squad are keen to find evidence that will lead to the conviction of Walter Maitland, head of one of the two notorious crime families that control Glasgow, but are finding it very hard to come by.
The body of what appears to be a vagrant is found in a back yard among the rubbish, there is an arson attack at a warehouse that spreads to a nearby tenement resulting in the deaths of four people, and a police officer is among those killed when a car bomb explodes outside a pub. McCormack and his team have the difficult job of working out if and how these crimes are connected.
Liam McIlvanney is a gifted storyteller who has captured perfectly the sexism, sectarianism and homophobia of Glasgow in 1975 where whole areas of the city were being flattened to make way for the M8 motorway, and the black bags were piled up in the streets because the bin men were on strike. This dark and complex story features a cast of wonderfully drawn characters, realistic dialogue and the black humour often used in the face of such violence and brutality. It highlights how different a police investigation would have been back then without all the things they rely on now – mobile phones, DNA, CCTV and computers.
I read a lot of Scottish crime fiction and this is up there with the best. While The Heretic works fine as a standalone, with just enough back story to enable the reader to make sense of it, I fully intend to read The Quaker next to catch up. I understand there will also be a third book featuring DI McCormack to look forward to. Thanks to HarperCollins and NetGalley for a digital copy to review.

This is an atmospheric, disturbing crime thriller. I like the menacing ethos created by the author, where anything could happen. Vibrant characters draw the reader into their world through excellent characterisations, and it's a frightening place to be. The setting is vividly described and intrinsic to the plot. The sense of forbidding and hopelessness keeps the reader engaged throughout.

I received a copy of this book from Harper Fiction via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I can recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a detailed and gripping detective novel. The main character, Detective Inspector Duncan McCormack has a checkered past and has recently returned to Glasgow after a stint in the Met in London. He’s popular with colleagues but less so with management.

The plot involves solving a number of murders, dealing with fire setting and attempting to link these events with the ongoing problem of gangland crime. It’s gripping, fast paced and has its fair share of violence along the way. The characters are believable and interesting and there’s not too much focus on the detectives’ private lives which I like.

My thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This is a great police procedural, with particular appeal for readers with a taste for old style policing - and Glasgow in the 1970s was still fairly old school when it came to the boys in blue. Readers of a certain age will smile at the memory of a Wolseley 1100, used in this instance as a police vehicle - I presume they had other vehicles for when it rained! Back to the story - there is a successful effort to capture the atmosphere of a time that is now almost half a century behind us, and the characters are well drawn, both police and criminals. For sure, there are a few clichés (jaded, incompetent senior officer; complex back story of lead character etc), but overall the narrative is sharp and the plot moves along at a brisk pace. This is no cookie cutter whodunnit, the writing instead leads the reader through the seamier sides of life in 70s Glasgow, with a side serving of sectarian strife and spillover from the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. A good read.

This crime story is set in Glasgow in 1975. Detective Inspector Duncan McCormack was a public hero six years ago when he caught the serial killer nicknamed the Quaker. But at the same time he uncovered police corruption at a high level and some members of his own force can neither forget not forgive.
After six years in London working for the Met McCormack is back trying to find a way to put Walter Maitland behind bars. His DCI Alan Haddow has other ideas so when it looks as though the body of a vagrant has been dumped in one of Glasgow's closes he is tasked with solving the crime.
This is a well plotted story with many interesting characters, not least McCormack himself and lots of possible outcomes.
This was the time of the Troubles in Ireland and before DNA testing was even thought of to help speed up investigations.
Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended.

In Glasgow 1975, DI Duncan McCormack is tasked with investigating a fire involving a city warehouse and a block of flats with four tenants that all die. The warehouse belongs to the Quinns, one of the city’s gangs. He’s hoping there won’t be any retaliation on their part.
Then, there is a body found on some wasteland. He’s dressed like a tramp but got an expensive ring on his finger. Something just doesn’t seem right about the man although the boiler suit doesn’t fit properly. They start enquiries to try and identify him.
One evening there is an explosion at a pub that Walter Maitland owns killing DC Shand and at least five others. DI McCormack immediately pulls in Denny Quinn and starts questioning him as he is a prime suspect for this. He pleads his innocence and eventually DI McCormack starts to think the cases might be related. Especially when Walter Maitland comes in to tell him, him son has been kidnapped.
Who could be behind these cases? Who could rig a car full of explosives? Why would a tramp be wearing a masonic ring? DI McCormack and his team start looking at the clues more closely and try to find the boy.
I loved reading this book, the policing seemed really authentic for the period it was set in. There was a lot going on but it all got connected in the end, so great plot writing by the author. Great descriptive writing which made me feel like I was seeing it as well as reading it. I would like to read more of this author’s work

After nailing the killer known as 'The Quaker', Duncan McCormack should have been flying high. However one of the people connected to that case was a respected colleague and so McCormack is now thought a traitor. Returning to Glasgow in 1975 he is handed a dead-end case, the discovery of a mutilated body that purports to be a down and out. The post-mortem says otherwise and McCormack is now making links between that death, a fatal tenement fire and the bombing of pub. All of this is connected to a notorious gangster and a children's home now closed down.
McIllvanney's first book was great and this is is no exception. the setting in 1970s Glasgow allows for a lot of leeway with class and religion as well as just the general feel of the era. This is played beautifully with sectarian links used to great effect. The plot is believable, sex abuse, violence and tragedy perfectly brought together.

I truly struggled with this book but I don’t know why. The storyline was good and interesting but I just didn’t warm to any of the characters as they investigated murders in Glasgow. At times I felt it was a bit drawn-out and slow. Maybe it would have helped to read the previous book in the series before embarking on this one.
I have read so many positive reviews that I will definitely come back and read it again to see where I went wrong.

I read the Quaker (the preceding book) and would definitely recommend reading that one first or you'll read this and want to go back to that and this will kind of spoil it...

Anyway, what I wrote about the Quaker in 2019 exactly applies to this one too:
"Not quite up there with Rebus and Ian Rankin (my favourite crime series and author) but make no mistake this is a fine read.
Edinburgh and Glasgow are often used as settings for crime fiction but with good reason. The Glasgow setting of this one is used well.
With an abundance of crime fiction detective novels to choose from it's difficult to get the balance of developing characters you care enough about and selling a good story with a fast enough pace. I thought this one struck a fine balance of the two and is recommended by me."
The only extra thing to note is that this one seems slightly muddled in some ways dipping into McCormack's personal life at various points and then not mentioning it for large parts of the book, which seemed strange especially in the latter part of the book.

Overall recommended though!!
Many thanks for the ARC.

Gritty crime drama set in 1970s Glasgow....very atmospheric descriptions and thoroughly enjoyable....might have to read more...the book references a previous case which sounds interesting, so might have to search out 'The Quaker' Many thanks to Netgalley.co.uk, Publisher and author for the chance to read this ARC.

An absolutely cracking book, well deserving 5 stars….
The only negative I have is that I wish I’d read The Quaker first. Yes, The Heretic can be read as a stand-alone book, but I think I’d have enjoyed it even more by knowing the full backstory. The Quaker is now at the top of my ‘to be read’ pile!

It is a gritty, raw and authentic 1970’s crime thriller that totally captures the atmosphere of policing and the general culture of that time. The characters are all believable as is the plot, which is steady paced but keeps you engaged throughout.

Tartan-noir at its absolute best, The Heretic is, without doubt, going to take some beating for my favourite book of the year (and yes, it’s only January… THAT’S how good it is!)

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A book I didn't want to end. Loved every page of it and doubt I will read anything as good this year. Gritty with some really great characters and a super Glasgow setting , I loved the inclusion of some Scots dialect - which took me down memory lane with some words I had forgotten I once knew. Loved the Duncan and Vic scenes. The story was complete and this made me go and have a look at what else there was from the same author. I think we will see this story on the screen, it would be a fabulous drama. Highly recommended and thoroughly enjoyable.

I hadn't read the first of the series; it didn't matter, for this book easily stands alone. Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Set in 1975 Glasgow against a backdrop of corrupt cops and gangland bosses, this book stands out from the rest of the genre as it is so well written, with such close attention to plot and characters, and locations that come alive with the authentic detail.

An excellent follow up to The Quaker, Liam McIlvanney and his detective Duncan McCormack do for Glasgow what Rankin and Rebus do for Edinburgh. A great, gritty read which rings with authenticity.

The reader catches up with DI Duncan McCormack several years after his involvement in the Quaker murder case & his bringing down of corrupt cop, Paul Levein. McCormack has returned to Glasgow, but the new head of department is not a fan & can't wait to see him fail. McCormack's team wind up with the murder of what looks to be a homeless man, but when they identify him as a local ex-politician, they are plunged headlong into a dangerous feud between two rival gangs.

It's been almost 4 years since I read the first book, but it wasn't a hinderance in enjoying this one. It's a gritty crime novel with plenty of action & several plot strands which are slowly woven together. Although it was a little slow to get going, when things started to move it became really interesting. An added complication for McCormack is that, as a gay man in mid-1970s Glasgow, (sexual activity between males was not legalised in Scotland until the early 1980s), he has to be very careful in his personal life. I thought there was a good work/life balance covered in the book with a relationship on the boil for the DI. Overall it was a very good read.

TWs: scenes of violence & torture, CSA, homophobia, domestic abuse.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, HarperCollins UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC.