An immersive book, as its written in a Glaswegian dialect can imaginee yourself there. An enjoyable easy read

Davey is a carwash employee, recently separated from his partner and daughter and struggling to find a way to win them back. A snap decision one day propels Davey into the violent Glasgow underworld and sets in motion a series of events that keep driving him further and further into trouble. Meanwhile, Detective Ally McCoist is trying to recover her career after a serious oversight has damaged her reputation with her colleagues. She has her suspicions about the number of strange cases linking back to the carwash, but will her determination to crack a major case end up with her paying with her life?

I had such a strange and immersive experience reading this book. Almost all of the dialogue was written phonetically in strong Glaswegian dialect which meant that I read it in that accent in my head the whole way through. This transported me right into the action, it was as if I was actually there in that carwash as all of the drama unfolded.

Squeaky Clean is a classic 'wrong place, wrong time' crime caper with feeling. For all of his faults you can't help rooting for Davey, desperately hoping that he could find a way out of the tricky situation he found himself in. A fantastic new voice in Tartan Noir, it was gritty, bleak and definitely violent but expertly balanced with plenty of dark humour. I was so thrilled that the story was set up perfectly for a sequel!

Aye. Ye gona want tae read this yn!

Set around the nefarious goings on in a Glasgow car wash was an absolute blast, and only strengthens the Scottish reputation for producing exceedingly good crime thrillers, tinged with laconic wit, and dark, dark, humour. There’s gangsters, a maverick female detective, the wonderfully named Alison McCoist, and a gritty, pull-no-punches storyline that had me laughing and gripped in equal measure. It reads like a brilliant mash up of Irvine Welsh and Alan Parks, and if you love your Scottish crime edgy, viciously funny and completely engaging, I can’t recommend this one highly enough.

There is lots to like about this debut thriller from Callum McSorley. Squeaky Clean’ is a fast paced, energetic, violent, rampant romp of a crime tale that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Once you deal with the language from one of main protagonists in Davey, he begins to grow on you, with his hapless life yet razor sharp wit. The other protagonist - DI Alison McCoist - yeh… we all laugh 😂.. isn’t quite so likeable but she also grows cats the story gathers pace.

Whilst it’s nothing particularly new, Scottish gangsters, drugs, and wickedly funny, it does have a nice edge to it, it feel like it’s fresh and vibrant and for me it’s a superb debut. I’m going to keep a close eye on future books! Callum McSorley in a new kid on the Scottish crime block.

A Glasgow-set crime novel focusing on drug gangs isn’t the most innovative thing in the world but Squeaky Clean remains non-traditional by spending so much time with the gang and those it pulls in as well as with a police detective. Some plot details, specifically around who exactly was double crossing who, got away from me a bit and I found some of the Scots language a bit impenetrable at times (particularly East coast Mince’s accent) but this was such a fun thriller drawing me into the underground of my hometown.

Davey's in trouble. He borrowed a car from the carwash where he worked and got caught. Bad enough but the car's owner is a top Glasgow gangster and now both Davey and his paranoid boss Shaun have to work for Paulo. Will he ever get out of this alive? He knows some police work for Paulo. DI Alison McCoist may offer him a way out but can she be trusted?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book but be warned, it's not for everyone. It is very violent in places (almost cartoonishly so at times) and I had to skim read some paragraphs. But the characterisation is excellent and I found myself really rooting for Davey. A friend of mine who was a criminal barrister said that most of the people he defended were immature and unable to think about the consequences of their actions. This describes Davey to a T. He had a good reason to borrow Paulo's car - he was desperate to get to court to try to get access to his daughter - but didn't think about what would happen if he got caught. DI McCoist is also a well developed character and I look forward to reading more about her. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a difficult one for me. I'm Scottish and found it quite difficult at times to follow the dialogue - it is very full on. You would almost need a dictionary to decipher some parts - sometimes it felt as though the language was too much, there was too much of an emphasis on the fact that it is set in Scotland. Haven't a clue how a non Scots person might read this and understand it.

As for the story/plot - it was good and kept me interested, however, the dialogue was just too much in some places and I felt a bit confused as to what the main story was.

Annoyingly, the book isn't yet on Goodreads - so haven't left my review there yet.

📖 From The Cover📖

Half the Glasgow polis think DI Alison McCoist is bent. The other half just think she's a fuck-up.

No one thinks very much at all about carwash employee Davey Burnet, until one day he takes the wrong customer's motor for a ride.

One kidnapping later, he and the carwash are officially part of Glasgow's criminal underworld, working for a psychopath who enjoys playing games like 'Keep Yer Kneecaps' with any poor bastard who crosses him.

Can Davey escape from the gang's clutches with his kneecaps and life intact? Perhaps this polis Ally McCoist who keeps nosing around the carwash could help. That's if she doesn't get herself killed first.

Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️

First a star for the name Ali McCoist imagine being a police officer in Glasgow with a name like that🫣😂

The book is told in the second POV fleeting between a rang of characters, the plot all centres around a pervious case of Ali’s and how it links with the main plot. The story is good for the first few chapters but for me it kinda loose pace and it’s way half way though, of which for me never really recovers. The ending was left open for more books starring the two main characters but it didn’t end well it actually dragged on, felt a bit pointless and was beyond far fetched which was a shame as in the beginning I saw some real signs of Chris Brookmyre work.

There are some darkly humorous parts and great one liners, but be aware some of the language used is very Glasgow. However there were some real dark moments that set among the style of the book didn’t work they felt out place and were a bit distressing. This made it a book of two mismatched parts.

It is a good debut and I will be interested to see where it goes, I would give the second in the series a read to see if the writer can develop the characters and to see if he can decide what kind of book he wants it to be.