Robinson considers how Bloody January – set in the 1970s – adds to the already ‘crowded corner of Clydeside crime fiction’ and finds it a punchy exploration of the darker side of life in Scotland’s largest city. Harry McCoy, the main character, is an anti-hero who follows his own path no matter what the consequences will be.

The Seventies are here in all their seediness: old copies of Parade on the pavements, TVs on tick from DER, smokers lighting up one Kensitas after another. Gritty storyline with McCoy being up against wealth and power, Harry strays where others wouldn’t dare. They acted pursuant to a state of emergency, which continued for more than four months afterward, declared by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, signed by Chairman Mikhail Gorbachev.As I’ve said before I do like a book where I feel slightly soiled by the reading experience, in a similar vein to Benjamin Myers and Jake Arnott, and Bloody January fitted the bill perfectly. He’s an interesting lead… he certainly has his foibles – frequents a prostitute who works for a local crime boss (also Harry’s childhood friend) and happily partakes in a joint or two and drinks like a fish. Shocked by this development, the government of the USSR complained officially to the United States about Radio Liberty's coverage of the military's intervention in Azerbaijan. Drugs, sex, incest; every nefarious predilection is catered to, at the expense of the lower echelon of society, an underclass that includes McCoy’s best friend from reformatory school – drug-Tsar Stevie Cooper – and his on-off girlfriend, a prostitute, Janey.

The book is peppered with cultural and political references familiar to those of us born nearer that era- ahem- as well painting a grimly real backdrop for readers less familiar with the period. The Kremlin leadership tried hard to keep the outside world and the population inside Azerbaijan unaware of the intervention, but Mirza Khazar and his staff foiled this attempt. Drugs, sex, incest; every nefarious predilection is catered to, at the expense of the lower echelon of society, an underclass that includes McCoy's best friend from reformatory school - drug-Tsar Stevie Cooper - and his on-off girlfriend, a prostitute, Janey. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Prostitutas, yonquis, antros, pubs de mala muerte, depravados sexuales, corrupción, etc y un Glasgow decepcionante.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GRAND PRIX DE LITTÉRATURE POLICIÈRE When a teenage boy shoots a young woman dead in the middle of a busy Glasgow street and then commits suicide, Detective Harry McCoy is sure of one thing. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M. So does Nairn, the thug who gave McCoy the tip, whose body is discovered with his throat slit and his tongue cut out.