May God Forgive

This was a great return to the gritty Glaswegian crime series, this time catching up with detective McCoy after he has been discharged from hospital following a perforated ulcer and, instead of taking to bed rest as he should, returning to work at a time when community tensions are high due to an arson attack on a hairdressers which killed innocent women and children. There were several intriguing crimes for him to investigate in this as well as the arson and some grim retribution within it. It was good to see him being less jaded than he was in the previous book but still cutting a fine line with his friendship with Cooper. This was well paced, detailed and plenty going on and it’s still great to see the different approaches to policing back in the days. 9/10

Period crime fiction isn't new or original and there are plenty of gritty dramas to be explored in darker times, but what is exceptional in the 1970s' setting of Alan Parks' Harry McCoy thrillers is how he succeeds in showing how its past is relevant to today. Peeling back the layers of history each of the books reveals how the poverty, deprivation and social inequality that give rise to small-time crime, drug dealing and gang violence has developed into the kind if crime we see today on a global scale. Crime in 70s' Glasgow takes on many forms, but in May God Forgive, it's brought home to McCoy just how great the challenges are in dealing with the source of those problems through the normal channels of the criminal justice system.

It seems like business as usual then as far as crime and death is concerned in the city at the start of May God Forgive. Glasgow in 1974, as we have come to see pretty comprehensively in the four previous gritty police detective Harry McCoy novels, is a rough place filled with violent crime fuelled by alcohol, drugs and the gangs who control different districts of the city. Police detective McCoy himself has been a victim of the city's problems and it's taking its toll. Not quite fit to return to duty, it doesn't take long for events to push him back into a spiral of drinking and drug use. It might be the fact that he can personally relate to the impact of the problems in the city however that drive his determination to do what he can to put some things right when no one else seems to care.

It's hard for McCoy not to notice that the police have their hands full with the latest victims of crime in the city. Everyone has been shocked by the burning down of Dolly's hairdressing salon in Royston, a tough area of the city, that has resulted in the deaths of three innocent women and two children. People are angry and out on the streets demanding retribution against the three suspects who have been handed over to the police following an anonymous tip off. They are even more angry when the police wagon transporting them through a mob of people ready to lynch them is attacked by an unknown vehicle and the three young suspects are taken out of the hands of the police.

Elsewhere McCoy looks into another death, a suspected suicide from a homeless shelter. Such things are not uncommon in Models like the Great Northern, which house many at the end of their tether, but McCoy is surprised that he knows the victim. Dirty Ally - who I think we came across before in The April Dead - is well-known as a fixer for pornographers and pimps, running a dubious stall selling scud mags at Paddy's Market. It's unlikely that he would be living in such a place and it turns out that he had been threatened and was possibly hiding out from someone. Despite Harry's colleague Wattie's refusal to run round half of Glasgow for a couple of weeks trying to find a reason for the suspicious death of a low-life - he has the body of an unidentified young woman to investigate - we know that's exactly what McCoy will do. No one else would bother for a character like Dirty Ally.

Personal motivation is a good reason for investigating when others won't and Parks has developed in McCoy a complex character with an intriguing and sometimes horrifying personal background. That is what pushes him to delve into matters that go against every fibre of his being, offending not just his sensibility but his weak ulcer-ridden stomach. The gangland rivalry seems to be heating up in May God Forgive and it does lead to some stomach churning violence, but Parks isn't that predictable. It's all too easy to not look any further than the actions of some brutal hardmen fighting it out between each other, when in fact there are clearly other factors at play and potentially some respectable people involved.

This is fierce and fearless writing. Parks in this series is exploring the roots of crime not in those easy traditional areas of the lower classes and gangland crime, but recognising rather that those who appear most dangerous are actually in some ways the weak ones - the weakness of coming from an impoverished background - exploited by those with real power and influence hiding behind a veneer of respectability. So it's not by chance then that the gang lords are not fighting a bloody turf war for supremacy as much as seeking to attain an equal measure of respectability in the eyes of society. That however is much harder to achieve.

It doesn't take much imagination then to make a leap and see how that is still relevant to the present day, but it's all the more powerful for how Parks digs deep into the history of Glasgow and into the background of Harry McCoy, to understand how it all fits together. Whether you come to May God Forgive as the fifth Harry McCoy book or as a first-time standalone, what is clearly evident is the mechanics in place that make this an exceptional piece of crime fiction writing, drawing you in and letting you put the pieces together yourself to understand who the real victims are and how justice really operates. What is less clear is why this outstanding series has not been up for every crime fiction award going.

I've said it before and no doubt will say it again, but Alan Parks' books are a masterclass in Tartan Noir. Set in 1970's Glasgow, the Harry McCoy series is gripping, dark, full of violence and perfectly written. The biggest crime however is that the series hasn't won multiple awards by now.

The relationship between McCoy and childhood friend/gangland boss Stevie Cooper continues to plunge into murkier depths this time around with a shocking ending that left me wondering what Harrys' next move is going to be.

Well paced, perfectly written, tense, gripping and with a wide variety of wonderful characters, May God Forgive is yet another excellent addition to the Harry McCoy series.

Thanks to Canongate and NetGalley for the ARC.

Glasgow crime books have a distinct edge to them and May God Forgive certainly has, with Alan Parks adding to those gritty tales that have gone before.
Set in what now seems to be the distant past, it paints a colourful picture of a Glasgow that many knew and feared, with authentic characters and a totally believable story line, taking you back to the days when the gangs ruled considerable parts of the city.
If you like your crime fiction raw and gritty, then this book is for you.
Recommend.

Book 5 in the consistently excellent Harry McCoy series sees our protagonist racing against time to save 3 kidnapped boys but he is fighting some very powerful enemies who will stop at nothing.

May God Forgive is another brilliant thriller by Alan Parks which draws the reader in; churns them around before releasing them. The author also recreates 1970s Glasgow and uses this not just as a backdrop but as a main character. You can almost see and smell the city.

This series and this book are definitely not Cosy Crime but are superb thrillers that I would undoubtedly recommend.

I've been a big fan of Alan Parks & have thoroughly enjoyed all of his books, so I was especially pleased to be allowed to read this book early thanks to Netgalley.
This book sits right up there with the prequels, with the strength of characters, Glasgow & the time period almost seeping through the pages, held together by another incredibly strong plot.
The author is incredibly adroit with his characters & it is genuinely so pleasing to read again about McCoy, Wattie, etc., along with learning about the new characters & situations developing. The descriptions of Glasgow ring so true & the time period resonates with pubs, fags & newspapers.
Yet another fantastic instalment & I hope as many people possible delve into this magnificent world.

This is the latest in Alan Park’s gritty Glasgow thrillers featuring Detective Harry McCoy. This is book 5 and an absolute corker. Harry is investigating the mysterious murder of innocent woman and children in the local hairdressers. It appears a straightforward case by the local neds but investigation reveals a much more sinister cause. All the usual characters are in the book plus a few new ones. I would highly recommend this book and the others in the series. Alan is great describing the seedy underbelly of the Glasgow underworld.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. I really enjoyed it, set in 1974 it shows policing without all the modern technology like mobile phones and forensics it was a welcome change. This is the fifth book in the series featuring Harry McCoy and I had not read any of the previous books in the series but I intend to now as they are so good.

A Harry McCoy Thriller #5

It’s 20th of May 1974 and Harry McCoy is “in recovery“ from a bleeding ulcer which hospitalised him four weeks ago. He’s back at work though his boss Murray, “his rock“, is unconvinced he’s fit. His first day back at work is one he won’t forget as a crowd block the court entrance chanting “Hang them“, this soon gets out of control. The crowd are after three lads inside, who are charged and then placed on remand for the arson attack of a hairdressers salon that killed three women and two children. As the prison van heads for Barlinnie (prison) it is rammed by a lorry, the three lads are released and driven off. Who has taken them? The hunt is on to find them. A policeman’s lot is never done as McCoy is asked to investigate the suicide of “Dirty Ally” (Alistair Drummond) and shortly after this there are two murders. McCoy exploits his connections especially to gangland boss Stevie Cooper to try to get to the truth.

This is tartan noir at its best, here there lies plenty of noir not least in Glasgow of the 1970s. The plot is complex but absolutely riveting as McCoy begins to connect the dots in the multilayered thriller. I really like the way it’s written, style matching the gritty city to perfection. The arson case is a tough one to crack with the ripples spreading wide and made worse by the violent actions of some. The author creates the most evocative atmosphere of 70s Glasgow which is almost a character in its own right. It’s tough, uncompromising, a city of deprivation and poverty, with violence an every day occurrence. The characters match with equally hard exteriors, they’re colourful and feel authentic as the dialogue does. These people are easy pickings for gangland bosses to exploit as a turf war between Dessie Caine and Johnny Smart plays out with both trying to look “respectable” as the city “reeks of misery”.

The character of McCoy is fascinating, his past lingers and he carries much emotional baggage, in many ways he’s a tortured soul but he’s a dogged cop even if his methods aren’t conventional as he’s all about the people who fall through the cracks. There are multiple twists, turns, more grit and noir, it’s intense, violent and gripping with tension and suspense in abundance. The ending is powerful with justice served one way or another. This is an excellent thriller, I took a punt as I hadn’t read the other four. It works perfectly well as a standalone but I’m going to read the back catalogue as that’s how good this is.

With thanks to NetGalley and Canongate for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Glasgow 1974, a time of hard men, vicious gangs and large scale violence, but when five people, including two young children are killed in an arson attack on a hairdressing salon, the people of Glasgow demand justice. 5th in the successful Harry McCoy series, “May God Forgive “ makes a terrific addition.

Detective Harry McCoy has just returned to work, following a stay in hospital with a painful stomach ulcer. He discharged himself from hospital before he was anything like recovered, but he has no intention of informing his boss Chief Inspector Murray of that fact.

On his first day back at work, Harry finds himself outside the courthouse, where three youths have been charged with the murders at the hairdressing salon. The crowd outside the court are baying for their blood, chanting “Hang them”

After being remanded in custody, the prison van transporting the three youths to Barlinnie jail, is rammed by a lorry, and the three are released, but who has taken them, and why? Two days later, one of the youths is dumped in the street with a sign “One down two to go” He’s been horribly tortured, and many in the community think that’s as much as he deserved, but the race is on for McCoy to find the other two before it’s too late.

McCoy really has a nightmare of a case to contend with, and given the fact that physically he’s not up to it, well, that makes it even edgier.

I love McCoy, yes he’s a hardened detective (although the sight of blood makes him physically ill). He’s a big drinker, despite the fact that his drinking makes his stomach ulcer even more unbearable. He can be rude and outspoken, particularly when it comes to someone he believes is withholding crucial information, and he’s not above getting into a fight for the same reason. He dabbles in drugs when he feels the need, but you know something? There really is a huge old caring heart in there, although that’s not something he likes to advertise!
Tense, gritty, gripping, this series really is Tartan Noir at its best. Highly recommended!

I never repeat the blurb. Another intriguing insight into the Glasgow of the times and the main chcracters. Each book brings deeper fascination with the background of the leading characters as the story unfolds. Great read. Roll on June...

Another gritty episode in 1970s Glasgow with Detective Harry MacCoy on fine form despite suffering from a stomach ulcer. An arson attack on a hair salon has left several women and children dead and the perpetrators have been rapidly caught but after their first court appearance an escape raid is engineered. Harry’s colleague Wattie is investigating a young girl’s murder whose body was found in a cemetery but no one knows her name. The hunt for the three young escapees and the girls identity are both looked into by Harry and eventually they become linked. Full of explicit violence and characters from previous stories this superb atmospheric tale is another classic. Recommended!

Alan parks delivers again, a brilliant addition to the Harry Mc Coy series and set in Glasgow in 1974. Gangs, pubs and cigarettes all abound in this well written crime novel! I love the character of Mc Coy, he's a truly hardened detective with severe stomach issues due to an ulcer. This book is atmospheric, full of tension and interesting characters. It's definitely not for the faint hearted. but I absolutely loved it. A fantastic tale of gangland Glasgow, an easy 5* read from me and I highly recommend it. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Each new Alan Parks Harry McCoy novel is now an eagerly awaited highlight of my reading year and May God Forgive lives up to the anticipation.

McCoy has returned to work in May 1974 following his recent hospital stay to a Glasgow reeling from the deaths of women and children at a hairdressers which had been set on fire. The city wants justice for the deceased ... especially once those arrested on suspicion are broken free from their prison transport. As the arrested boys start to turn up, dead, McCoy is drawn further into the gang turf wars in the city, his own past and the brutality of those who have things to hide.

If you haven't yet met Harry McCoy get your hands on Bloody January and start the story there. The series is gritty and absorbing in a brutal portrayal of 1970s Glasgow.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an unbiased review.
I've been with with Alan Parks and his main character from the start of this series of publications.
As a native Glaswegian I'm familiar withe the areas of the city and places that are mentioned even though it is set almost fifty years ago in the early seventies.
The lead character Harry McCoy really is the most unorthodoxed police officer imaginable but at the same time he is a really likeable individual.
Although each of these publications is perfectly capable of being read as a standalone book, the reader does learn a little bit more about the main character's backgrounds with each passing instalment.
May God Forgive is possibly the most enjoyable read so far, and that is saying something as I've enjoyd them all to date.
Mr Parks is clearly on a run with these publications and I can only personally hope that he keeps them coming.
Thanks again.

Well, somehow, in spite of smoking and drinking excessively while suffering from a stomach ulcer, Harry McCoy has staggered through another brilliant Scottish noir novel. Yet more of his young years was revealed in May God Forgive, adding extra poignance to this story of the seamy side of Glasgow in the 1970s. Parks has preserved the very essence of McCoy's character – the hard drinker beset by his own demons yet able to shed tears – probably one of the most fully-fleshed characters I've ever read. McCoy contrives to pull together multiple criminal strands and see that some kind of justice is meted out. I'll say no more to avoid straying into spoiler territory – just buy this book as soon as it's published and, if you haven't read January through to April, what's stopping you? I will be recommending this book to everyone who will listen and to a few of those who don't.
Note to Parks – please have a word with Harry about his drinking, we want him to make it through to December.
I voluntarily read an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Cannongate Books for an advance copy of May God Forgive, the fifth novel to feature Glasgow detective Harry McCoy, set in 1974.

Glasgow is tense, an arson attack on a hairdresser’s shop killed two children and three women. Three young men confessed and the citizens are baying for blood, but before anything can be done, the prison van transporting them is rammed and they are spirited away. Two days later the body of one of them is found tortured and mutilated with the message “one down, two to go”. McCoy is up against the clock to save them.

Wow, just wow. This is the best book I have read in a long time. Of course, it should be noted that I was a teenager in 1970s Glasgow, so it brings back a lot of yesterdays for me. The cultural references, the locations and the mindsets all seem spot on to me and a special mention for the language where the author doesn’t shy away from slang or the vernacular but avoids trying to transcribe the accent (which, to my mind, never works for a local, never mind a stranger). To really set the scene it rains a lot.

After that everything else is a secondary consideration to me. The plot is fairly convoluted in trying to work out who did what and I’m not 100% sure I got it right, although there isn’t much doubt by the end of the why. As ever with a novel set in Glasgow at the time there’s no escaping the competing gangs and their violent approach to maintaining their power and influence. This is where the who did what gets a bit shady as everyone seems to have skin the game. I found it compulsive reading as McCoy tries to untangle the various threads. He maybe doesn’t get the result he wants, but there’s justice of a sort.

The relationship between McCoy and his junior, “Wattie”, made me laugh. They are close, but the banter is pure Glaswegian, dark and insulting most of the time.

May God Forgive is a great read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Alan Parks delivers a blistering addition to his Detective Harry McCoy series, set in 1974 in a Glasgow where tensions are running sky high after an arson attack on Dolly's Hairdressing Salon results in the death of 3 women and 2 children. Even so, the police are taken aback and caught on the hop when a riotous large crowd assembles with ugly scenes playing outside the courthouse when the 3 boys charged with the heinous crime arrive in a prison van. Harry has discharged himself from hospital early despite the fact he has clearly not recovered from his painful stomach ulcers, he is at the scene meeting Chief Inspector Murray, hoping to be allowed back to work. He witnesses the audacious grab of the boys when a lorry rams the prison van, and finds himself ordered to conduct a background investigation of the case as Murray doubts that Tobago Police are up to the task, and overseeing that Wattie is competently managing the case of a unidentified murdered young girl found at Sighthill Cemetery.

Additionally, McCoy finds himself at the scene of an apparent suicide of a man he knows, Alastair 'Dirty Ally' Drummond known to sell scud mags at his stall, finding himself inexorably drawn deeper as he discovers that Ally had been threatened and had gone into hiding. The pressure racks up when the horrifically tortured body of one of the abducted boys is found with a note saying 'one down, two to go'. There is no way Murray will countenance vigilantism and mob rule, and with the clock ticking, the hunt is on to find the remaining boys, but they have no leads. Harry calls on his network of contacts amongst Glasgow's criminal underbelly and the terrifying hard men gangsters fighting over turf, with Jimmy Smart seeking legitimacy through his businesses, and Dessie Kane through the church and photographed with the city's establishment through the charity social circuit, both men now with much further to fall should anything go wrong. Harry reconnects with Stevie Cooper, a brutal and volatile crime boss, looking for his son, Paul, as he wonders if it is possible all the cases are linked.

With his body buckling under his health issues, McCoy tests it further by doing the very things that exacerbate matters further by taking to drink and drugs as he encounters and is confronted with sights no human being should see, and the demons in his past raise their heads to haunt him when he finds himself unexpectedly encountering his homeless and alcoholic father, George, a man whose monstrous failures resulted in his traumatic and emotionally damaging childhood. This is a superb addition to Park's stellar Scottish noir series, atmospherically evoking a dark and mesmerising picture of a 1970s Glasgow with its wideranging cast of characters, with a flawed McCoy willing to do whatever it takes to get some form of justice for those who slipped through the cracks. A brilliant read, but not for the fainthearted, that I recommend highly. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.