Liam McIlvanney’s The Good Father has an excellent first part, followed by a slightly cliched second bit before a final excellent twist and is overall a very good and enjoyable read.

The Good Father surprised me. I thought it was going to be a missing child thriller, but it was so much more. I don't want to give too much away so I won't go into details. The characters were multifaceted, and to be honest, I'm not sure I liked any of them. They did seem real though. The story arced through many themes and I felt the ebb and flow was sometimes slow. With a great amount of detail in one area that is then discarded a few pages on, which was a little disorientating.

It was a page turner, I couldn't put it down - mainly to find out what the next turn would be.

3.5 stars. This was a hard one to rate, as I’m still trying to work out how I feel about it. It starts out as a story of a missing child, and the blurb doesn’t really hint at some of the things to come, which makes them maybe more shocking. It’s fairly dark in places (CW slight references to some animal cruelty), and I began to wonder about 40% in, where the story was going…

It is well written in language and observations, and I think it does show how people and families can be affected by abductions and the subsequent pressures on them. I think I just didn’t quite buy that Gordon and Sarah would do the first big thing (Bo spoilers - IYKYK), and then I bought even less Gordon’s second action and final action…

So it’s well described, but I found it a bit hard to fathom. With Storygraph I gave it 3.5 stars, but NetGalley forces me to round it one way or another. It’s definitely one to make you think though!

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

Thanks to Liam and Netgalley for allowing me to read The Good Father before the publication date.

Dark, gritty and sickeningly gory at times, this is a page turner.
Just as you think you know what has happened, there is another twist in the tale.

The author’s use of animation and his description of the scenery of the Ayrshire coast is effective, setting the scene for the book.

Fairlie is a quiet village on the north Ayrshire coast, definitely not where you would expect a child to disappear.

The story is narrated by Gordon Rutherford, a lecturer in crime fiction and the father of the missing boy.

Intriguingly, the author has the narrator lecture his students on writing about a murder, almost a story about the story embedded in the book.

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and so it was that I turned the last page on what was one of my favourite reads yet, of 2025!


Gordon and Sarah Rutherford and their 7 year old son Rory, live in a house right next to the beach in Ayrshire, Scotland. Bonnie the Labrador completes their little family.

The day dawns like any other, Sarah is working in the study, Rory takes Bonnie out to the beach, whilst Gordon (one eye on his book) is supposed to be keeping an eye on his son.
Shortly after, Bonnie comes back alone with Rory’s slider in her mouth. Gordon rushes out, scans the length of the beach both ways but there’s no sign of Rory.

One can only imagine the utter turmoil that follows, the desperation, the not knowing, as the days pass without any real clues as to Rory’s whereabouts.

What happens to a family when they believe they’ve lost the light of their lives? I can only say that you couldn’t possibly guess at the answer to that question and that’s all I’m going to say. I deliberately haven’t given anything away, because it would be so easy to spoil it for other readers, but be assured, this is, without question, an absolute stunner of a read. For me it was almost impossible to put down, and when I did, I was constantly thinking about it. It’s beautifully written with stunning descriptions of the Ayrshire coast.
Much like the layers of an onion, the storyline is slowly revealed, each layer removed, leading to the most gripping, page turning psychological thriller, and wow, I never saw that ending coming at all. As I said earlier, one of my favourite reads of 2025. Most highly recommended!

Having only read the Heretic and the Outlaw from McIlvanney, this very modern story about a missing child was initially a bit of a disappointment- I just wasn’t that engaged. But… after getting about a quarter of the way in I realised I was hooked - the devastating impact of child long missing, getting hooked on possibly sightings and conspiracies, and then… events spiral and this is absolutely not the book I thought I was reading.

McIlvanney brings an intense sense of place to his writing - the west coast is another character in many ways, and the small village vibe is both exposed and oppressive. Thoroughly recommended

‘The Good Father’, by Liam McIlvanney,the author of the excellent DI Duncan McCormack series,is an equally impressive thriller that is likely to linger long after in the reader’s memory.Gordon and Sarah Rutherford are an ordinary reasonably content couple going about their daily lives and enjoying every change in their seven year old son Rory’s development as he grows up with them at their home near the Ayrshire coast.Their worst nightmare comes true when Rory disappears from the beach when out playing with their Labrador Bonnie.They are left in the limbo of uncertainty, waiting and wondering, wherein they are constantly in a state of anxiety considering what could possibly have happened to him.Relationships with family,friends,locals in their community and even the police searching for Rory,become stretched to their limits as time moves on without providing answers to all their questions.Gordon is confronted with the harrowing challenge of facing how far a father would potentially go to protect his child,when things go drastically wrong with their safe normal world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK, for an Advance Readers Copy.

4.75⭐️

A very dark Psychological thriller using the missing child trope. I’ve read many books using this trope, it’s interesting to see the direction that it takes with the author coming up with a very fresh approach.

Gordon and Sarah are a couple with everything, including a Seven year old son Rory only Rory goes missing.

The impact on the couple is deftly told, you feel their pain as there is no quick resolution. The main narrator is the father, you really see how badly this all affects him.

Please be warned that there are triggers for some quite descriptive animal abuse that I found difficult. It’s also got heart breaking scenes, it really makes you care about the main characters Gordon and Rory. The reader gets the understanding as to why things happened as they did.

Definitely an early contender for my favourite book of the year.

I am a fan of the McIlvanney family novels and hailing from the same small town as Liam and his father William, I also find it even more enthralling when a book is set amongst the same place you live or know. The description of the streets you walk through each day just make it even more captivating.

In The Good Father, a 7 year old boy, Rory, goes missing from the beach. Despite a quick and in-depth search from both the Police and the small local community, no trace of Rory is found leaving his parents, Gordon and Sarah, to deal with the devastating consequences and hole left behind with Rory's disappearance.

For fear of spoilers, I can't say too much more but a lot happens in this novel and the story's twists and turns will keep you captivated. However, for me, it's not the story itself which led me to enjoy this so much. Whilst the disappearance of Rory is the pivotal story in this novel, it is both Gordon and Sarah's response to it which blew me away.

McIlvanney delivers an absolute anatomy of a relationship in turmoil here when both Gordon and Sarah attempt to deal with the consequences of Rory's disappearance both as parents and also as husband and wife.

It is something unimaginable for us parents and having it laid out on each page was simultaneously impossible to read but also unputdownable.

Loved every page and hope this goes on to be hugely successful.

Thanks to Negalley and Bonnier Books UK | Zaffre for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have read other books by the author so knew it would be good. A story about a missing child and the aftermath but with an unexpected twist …or two. Set in the West of Scotland in an area I know very well, the geography adds to the mystery. The first half of the story sets the scene and the second half ‘ resolves’ it . No spoilers ! Great atmosphere generated - sometimes frustrating but pacy. What a tangled web is woven!

Beautifully descriptive, this book draws you into its setting and keeps you there through the twisty plot. It was more gory than I expected but that just made it more impactful. A strong book that will keep you captivated until the end.

The Rutherford family lives in an idyllic part of Scotland, and are enjoying the tail end of summer at their home near the beach when their seven year old son
Rory suddenly disappears.

When Bonnie, their black Labrador, returns without seven year old Rory, panic ensues. And as the weeks unfold, Sarah and Gordon's once enviable lives descend into chaos.

This is an excellent crime novel which blends the poignancy of family life and the misery of unexplained loss to inspire a rollercoaster of emotions in the search for answers. Well worth a read, it gets 3.5 stars.

When Rory disappears his family fall apart. They have no idea where he is,, there is no body and no trace...

This is a book filled with suspense, I was eager to know what happened to Rory and what secrets the family were hiding.

It is a book well written and filled with drama,, it is one of thise reads that can easily translate to a TV drama.

Well worth the reading time

Having previously enjoyed Liam McIlvanney’s last two books, The Quaker and The Heretic, I was interested to know how this one would compare. Suffice to say it’s on a different level, an absolute roller coaster of a novel.
It starts poignantly - Gordon & Sarah Rutherford, who have an enviable life style with a house on the beach in a secure neighborhood, find their world shattered when their seven year old son Rory disappears.
As time goes on hope gives way to despair and distrust then, when the truth begins to emerge, they find their lives turned upside down for different reasons.
It’s enthralling, believable and so clever, asking the question - What lengths would a parent go to in order to protect their child?

It has to be a contender for the CWA Gold Dagger award - Outstanding

Many thanks to NetGalley & Bonnier Books UK for an ARC

It is a seemingly ordinary August day that fractures the lives of Gordon and Sarah Rutherford. Late summer on the west coast of Scotland; their seven-year-old Rory enjoying the beach outside the family home with their dog Bonnie. Then Bonnie comes home alone. Gordon and Sarah wander the beach. No sign of Rory. The police are called. Questions. More extensive searches. More questions. Hours pass. Days. Months.

Award-winning novelist Liam McIlvanney, a professor at the University of Otago, may be a self-confessed ‘slow motion crime writer’ who doesn’t produce the book-a-year of many peers, but The Good Father demonstrates once more why his tales are always well worth the wait. What could be worse than your child disappearing? A seemingly ordinary day, something Rory had often done, playing near the house with their dog. A safe community in their small town, he’d always returned home. Until he didn’t. Guilt. Fear. Whispers and gossip. How do your neighbours see you now; how do you see yourselves?

McIlvanney takes parental fears and delivers gut-punch storytelling; he is a great writer alongside being a great storyteller. The sentences sing, as Gordon and Sarah’s happy lives are eroded away day by day. It’s the hope that kills. What could be worse than your child disappearing? The Good Father is a quietly terrifying tale that upturns expectations without pyrotechnics, and from an author who’s already collected major writing awards in both hemispheres, may somehow be his best work yet.

[This review was first written for Good Reading magazine in Australia]

This feels like two books welded into one - and two damned fine books at that. It begins with every parent's worst nightmare: Gordon and Sarah Rutherford's seven year old son goes missing from the beach outside their Ayrshire house. There are no traces, no clues and time passes.

The world moves on but it's never the same for Gordon and Sarah. They find out who their true friends are, the ones who support rather than avoid. But years later they still have no idea what happened to Rory.

The twist is unexpected and stunning. This leads to the second half of the novel where Gordon faces situations and nightmares he never expected. But just how far will he go to find the truth.

The Good Father is excellently written with a great sense of place and a small but well developed cast of characters. It raises many questions and explores the grey areas of life where morality means nothing.

I loved the author’s previous novel The Quaker so was looking forward to reading The Good Father which I found to be an original and emotional read that I was completely immersed in over the course of 24 hours.
7 year old Rory goes missing from the beach opposite his home on the Ayrshire coast and as the days and months pass his parents live their lives in limbo, desperately undertaking their own investigations and waiting for news from the police. Halfway through the novel takes a dramatic and unexpected turn which takes the reader on an emotional rollercoaster.
This is a beautifully written and well paced novel, it’s thought provoking and really made me consider what I would do in Rory’s parents place. The author conveys a real sense of place with beautiful descriptions of the Ayrshire coast and the claustrophobia of living in a small community.
Recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

This is a book of the year.

Gordon, Sarah and son Rory are a happy family, living in an idyllic beachside community until one day when Rory disappears while playing out on the beach.

Gordon and Sarah’s lives are changed forever, as time passes the leads dry up and hope fades - but the story’s not over yet…

I went into this completely blind. I loved Liam McIlvanney’s previous books The Quaker and The Heretic so this was a must read ASAP for me and it exceeded my expectations.
It’s bleak, empathetic, emotionally-involving and absolutely compelling.

I love that this genre can constantly throw up surprises, the ‘every-parents’-worst-nightmare missing child’ premise has been done so many times and The Good Father brings something fresh, original and frankly amazing.

Read it as soon as you can!

Thanks to Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK / Zaffre

Well then, there were certainly a considerable number of twists and turns in this book, making it an enjoyable read. I almost decided to give up on it early on, but glad I didn’t.

this was such a good book. and heartbreaking in many ways. but it was so so good because of that. because when a book manages to make you feel such intense feelings over a plot then its got to be one heck of a book in my eyes.
this paragraph even from the blurb had me. and is a great descriptor of how the book then manages to make you feel alongside the characters going through it...

Their lives don't fall apart immediately. While there's still hope (and no body) they dig deep and try to carry on. It's a process of abrasion - a wearing away of happiness and normality; a slow degradation, a gradual breakdown - until they'll never be the people they were before. This sort of tragedy impacts a whole town. Does the community still feel the same after? What are folk saying about you? Who are your friends? Who can you trust?

...because this is exactly how you would feel. and the couple do. and you question everyone, even yourself. you question what you did or didnt do or what your partner did.
this book then teases and unravels things in such an authentic time scale way. and builds that tense feelings throughout. so it mounts as you and the characters learn more. secrets are pulled out into the open and its not always strangers keeping them. its not always thee "bad guys" doing the bad things. or who you expect to be doing them.
is there such a thing as an innocent mistake in these circumstance. or was something much darker going on,
this is my first book by this author and ive already gone and searched out his other work. i thought it was just brilliant. i really did get on board with all sort of emotions.