To Die in June

To Die In June is the sixth book in the Harry McCoy series by British author, Alan Parks. In late May 1975, DI Harry McCoy and DS Douglas Watson are seconded to Possil station under a credible pretext, but Harry is actually there to look for evidence of corruption: too many successful Post Office robberies that CI Hector Murray suspects have Police involvement.

While he’s there, Harry’s childhood friend, local crime boss Stevie Cooper decides to expand his territory into Possil, currently Archie Andrews’s domain. Harry understands that means another gang war but, in Cooper’s debt, accepts his own role in providing information to Cooper as a fact of life.

While he waits and watches, Harry’s interest is piqued when a distraught mother claims her nine-year-old son is missing, only to have the search called off when her husband, the pastor of the Church of Christ’s Suffering, declares there is no son: his wife has mental health issues after her miscarriage. An item Harry later finds has him sceptical…

Also distracting him are the deaths of several “down-and-outs” called to his attention by young Gerry Lewis, who believes they have been poisoned. Wattie, pathologist Phyllis Gilroy and CI Murray are all unconvinced. As Wattie puts it: “People nobody cares about being murdered. All according to some guy who may or may not be touched. McCoy to the rescue”, but Harry’s father, Alec fits into the demographic, which has him concerned.

The torture and bashing murder of an old small-time crook and tout is baffling: it’s clear the perpetrator was after information, but what could this old man possibly have known? Before he and Wattie can question the man’s sister, she ends up in a coma, but some clever detective work provides a clue.

Parks easily conveys his setting, and that being mid-seventies underworld Glasgow, it necessitates graphic descriptions of violence, liberal use of expletives, and hard drinking. His plot takes plenty of twists and turns, and not a few red herrings distract the reader from the truth. He presents Harry with some curly dilemmas that take a bit of thinking to sort out, and Parks keeps his protagonist a bit stunned at his good luck to be dating beautiful actress, Margo Lindsay. As usual, Wattie is frustrated by Harry’s reticence.

Most of the story takes place over about three weeks, and before the final resolution there is arson at a chop-shop garage, the bombing of a luxury car, the smashing up of two pubs, the discovery of a puzzling birth certificate, and a not-inconsiderable body count. Harry’s uncertain future will have fans eagerly anticipating the July title in this excellent gritty Glasgow noir series.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Canongate.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Cannongate Books for an advance Copy of To Die in June, the sixth novel to feature DI Harry McCoy set in Glasgow in 1975.

A woman reports her young son, Michael, missing, but there is no record of him. They belong to an extreme religious sect and that makes McCoy suspicious, so he keeps investigating. At the same time he is looking in to the poisoning of several homeless men, no one else cares but his father is part of that community. This is all happening in Possil where McCoy and his sergeant “Wattie” have transferred to allow him to investigate potential corruption.

I thoroughly enjoyed To Die in June, which paints a realistic picture of life in Glasgow at the time and has a compulsive storyline with several strands. It is told from McCoy’s point of view, so the reader gets a close up view of events, most of which are either sad or dangerous. There wasn’t a lot of optimism at the time and the plot reflects that reality.

I found the novel intriguing. None of the crimes are blockbusters destined for the headlines, but they are all different and it was incredibly difficult to work out where they were going or how they would turn out. It rouses the reader’s curiosity and keeps the pages turning. I’m not sure if I found any of the resolutions satisfying as this novel has so much more of the moral ambiguity hinted at in the previous novels as McCoy crosses more than a few lines. I’m not saying that he has become an outright criminal, but at what point does the end justify the means? It’s very blurry.

The novel is well paced with each of the strands having a place and developing gradually. There are some twists, but the author saves the best for last with some big revelations that may be explored in future novels. All in all it is a well executed novel in pacing and plotting.

Harry McCoy is a very flawed character and his life choices are not the best, often landing him in bad situations. It is these situations and how he resolves them that take him far from the moral high ground. He’s self aware enough to realise this and this seems to contribute to his spiral. He’s very well drawn, as are the other characters. Their interactions will make weep or laugh.

To Die in June is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Alan Parks continues his strong run of crime novels with the sixth entry in the series, To Die in June. It's some gritty 1970s tartan noir with a compelling mystery and large dollops of violence and corruption. It would be very easy for Harry McCoy, the main character, to be written as a generic hard-nosed cop with little real characterisation. To the novel's credit, he is surprisingly vulnerable and complex: part saint, part sinner. If I had to question anything about the book, it would be McCoy's investigation ability, which seems to rest mostly on being at the right place at the right time, and the John Wick quality of being knocked about incessantly without ever seeming to experience lasting consequences. These are faults which can be forgiven for the fast-moving pace and intrigue of the plot

Six books in and I'm still yet to feel any danger of being let down. Roll on July!