May God Forgive

May God Forgive is the fifth book in the Harry McCoy series by British author, Alan Parks. May 1974, and DS Harry McCoy returns to work after a month is hospital that did little for his perforated ulcer but bored him intensely. He happens to be watching as a truck ploughs into the prison van carrying three teenaged boys. Their arson attack at a hair salon had mortally injured three women and two children.

The mob at the court house had been ready to string them up, but now a car swiftly takes them away, and the police assume it’s done to avoid them standing trial. McCoy’s CI, Hector Murray assigns him two tasks: he’s to help DS Doug Watson progress his cases and, on the quiet, to check with his informants what the word on the salon fire is.

When an old acquaintance, Paddy’s Market porn retailer Dirty Ally, commits suicide, a quiet chat with a roommate has McCoy wondering exactly what Ally was so afraid of that he would jump off a roof; the suicide doesn’t bear official investigation, but Harry can’t help wanting to take a look.

Wattie’s problem case, an unidentified fifteen-year-old, dressed for a night out, found strangled in a cemetery, is not yielding to his logic, and also has McCoy guessing, until they focus on a strip of booth photos in her purse.

When one of the arsonists’ bodies, clearly tortured, is deposited, with a biblical reference and a sickening cassette tape, in front of the burnt-out salon, it begins to look like a vigilante action. But then ownership of the salon points to possible aggression between rival gangs.

Parks easily conveys his setting, and that largely being mid-seventies underworld Glasgow, it necessitates quite a lot of graphic descriptions of violence, liberal use of expletives, hard drinking, and drug use, in some of which Harry indulges, despite medical advice. Both evidence uncovered in his investigations, and an encounter with his estranged father, take Harry reluctantly back to an unfortunate, neglected youth.

Most of the story takes place over ten days, with Harry doggedly pursuing every lead in an effort to prevent further vigilantism. This involves plenty of red herrings and enough twists to recommend pre-booking a chiropractic appointment. Once again, excellent gritty Glasgow noir and it will be interesting to see what Parks has in store for Harry in the “June” title.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Canongate.

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 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.

Harry McCoy #5
It’s May 1974 and Glasgow is a violent place with vicious rival gangs and tension you could cut with a knife. If it’s possible, the tension further escalates with an arson attack on a hairdressers salon in which 3 women and two children die. When the three young men charged with the despicable crime are brought to court a crowd block the entrance chanting ‘Hang them’ which soon gets out of control. Harry is newly released from hospital and “in recovery “ from a bleeding ulcer which hospitalised him for a month. He’s clearly still unwell but arrives at the scene and witnesses the prison van heading to Barlinnie Prison being rammed by a lorry, the three suspects are released and driven speedily away. Who is behind this audacious act? The hunt is well and truly on and McCoy is assigned tasks on the case. Two days later the body of the boys is dumped in the street, horribly tortured and bearing a sign “One Down, Two to go”. Twisted or what? As if that’s not enough especially given his poor health, McCoy is asked to investigate the apparent suicide of ‘Dirty Ally’ - Alistair Drummond.

This series is absolutely brilliant, it’s Tartan Noir at its best. McCoy is a fascinating character, he’s as hard as 70’s Glasgow, he shouldn’t drink but he does, he’s carrying many a demon from his past, in fact, he’s a tortured soul. He’s straight talking (ie often rude!), he’s not above using unconventional methods to get the job done but underneath that hard exterior he cares about getting things done and about the people who fall through the many cracks within the city.

Apart from the excellent portrayal of a flawed detective, 1970’s Glasgow positivity oozes atmosphere. The author paints an evocative dark picture and to me the city is a character in its own right. It’s a tough, uncompromising place, it’s deprived and poverty stricken and violence is often a means of survival. How could you not have colourful characters bestriding this environment and they all feel very authentic as does the distinctive Glaswegian dialect. Many of these characters are ruthlessly exploited in the turf war between gangland bosses Dessie Caine and Johnny Smart, both aiming to be ‘respectable ‘ but by doing so leave “reeks of misery” in their wake. As for the plot, it’s totally riveting with many a layer. The cases are tough with the impact felt far and wide. The storytelling barrels it’s way at fast pace through many twists and turn, it’s tense and suspenseful, gritty, dark, very noir, it’s an intense tale which transfixes and grips to a powerful ending with justice served one way or another.

It can easily be read as a stand-alone but the series is outstanding and one I highly recommend.

May God Forgive won the McIlvanney prize at Bloody Scotland last year and it's easy to see why. This is a realistic crime thriller set in gang ridden Glasgow in the seventies that keeps you turning the page wanting to read more. It's the fifth in the Harry McCoy series. I haven't read any of the others so I can safely say that this works as a standalone read even if it is probably better if you read them in order.

McCoy has problems. He has an ulcer, should be in hospital but has chosen to leave and go back to work. Glasgow is in turmoil. Three women and two wee girls have been killed in a fire at a hairdressers. Three young men have been arrested for the crime but on leaving court the lorry taking them to prison is rammed and they escape. Except that they don't. One of them soon turns up dead with clear evidence of having been tortured. Police have to find the others before the same happens to them.

I really enjoyed this book. It's set in 1974 and the detail about that time is superb. There are a multitude of characters all brilliantly depicted. But it is McCoy who draws you in with his difficult past. A book to savour. And for me, a new series to seek out. Thanks to Canongate and NetGalley for the ARC.

Well, thank you #NetGalley for the opportunity to review this before it’s published in paperback next month.

I started reading Alan Parks McCoy series on Pigeonhole and knew that this was going to be a great series. Now, I think it’s exceptional. This is the Glasgow I grew up in, although it wasn’t my experience. McCoy is a copper in a difficult time when business and gangsters, local politicians and of course the church rubbed along rather too closely together ( Glasgow Council was notoriously Catholic and the Catholic Church had a huge influence, but it was not alone, the Church of Scotland also went places that perhaps it should not - not least as it held most of the positions in power in the police and the justice system)

Three young lads set fire to a hairdressers and women and children die. Then the boys are rescued, or are they….when they start to turn up dead, it appears to be a vigilante crime. Of course the hairdressers is in an area run by a Glasgow gangster, who is in a turf war with another gangster and McCoy’s boyhood pal and all round gangster,, good old Stevie Cooper is waiting to see who comes out tops, a turf war does him no harm at all. But Stevie Cooper has a vested interest even he doesn’t realise, which complicates everything.

A well plotted novel, a seemingly unrelated murder of a young girl, the relationship between church and men of dubious repute with money, it all gets very murky.

Throw in delights from my teenage years growing up in this city - Galbraith, Lite Bites (from the much missed City Bakeries) Equis, the Muscular Arms, Clouds etc etc and it’s hard to resist the draw of this series, which just gets stronger with each outing. More than can be said for the ‘hero’ McCoy who I’m seriously worried won’t see out the year, as his health is shot. We also get a heart breaking insight into his childhood in this book. We knew it was difficult but I cried when he cried and I cried again towards the end.

This is a gritty setting for a book and it’s not without its moments of real empathy. This is the fastest I’ve read a book in ages, I literally couldn’t put it down. I lived every moment and my heart was in my mouth knowing that at least one baddie was masquerading as a good guy. Justice is not always served legally in Parks’ Glasgow but it’s often served. Not necessarily entirely satisfactorily but then that just makes it more realistic.

I read a lot of crime, and increasingly lots of Scottish crime which is, in my view, setting the standard. Park is, again in my view, streets ahead of most of the competition. I love these books, the fact they are set in 1970”s Glasgow makes them even more interesting and compelling.

I have June to review, need a short break to breathe again…and then I can’t wait to get into it.

I cannot recommend this series highly enough and each one just gets better. May God Forgive is a tour de force.

Superb piece of tartan noir and at the centre is unconventional policeman Harry McCoy. Harry at the edge of 32 is spent and worn out, a body abused by drugs and alcohol but still determined to see justice done. With the body counting mounting and the fallout of a burnt hairdresers to be solved, together with the kidnapping of the 3 boys suspected of the arson, Harry must use his best endeavours and possibly the law, to solve the crimes before more murders are perpetrated. Many thanks to NG and the publisher for and early copy of this brilliant novel in return for an honest review and that is what I have written. Highly recommended.

Such a beautifully written book and one that I devoured in a few sittings.

McCoy is an engaging, flawed character. Shaped by his appalling life growing up, he has created and maintained relationships with the public and criminals alike.

His dogged approach to getting result pays off as his health suffers. Glasgow's rainy weather is almost a separate character in the story - relentless and soggy, McCoy keeps going.

Definitely a character I would like to read about again

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.