WINNER OF THE McILVANNEY PRIZE
SHORTLISTED FOR THE IAN FLEMING STEEL DAGGER 2023

Glasgow is a city in mourning. An arson attack has left five dead. Tempers are frayed and sentiments running high.

When three youths are charged the city goes wild. A crowd gathers outside the courthouse but as the police drive the young men to prison, their van is rammed by a truck, and the men are grabbed and bundled into a car. The next day, the body of one of them is dumped in the city centre. A note has been sent to the newspapers: one down, two to go.

Detective Harry McCoy has twenty-four hours to find the kidnapped boys before they all turn up dead, and it is going to mean taking down some of Glasgow's most powerful to do it . . .

"Expertly handled and morally ambiguous . . . The skillfully written and complex plot builds to a thrilling and highly unconventional denouement" - * Bloody Scotland, McIlvanney Prize Shortlist *

"Once again Alan Parks recreates a world of urban blight and spiritual decay . . . [a] grimly gripping plot . . . a remarkable series that began with Bloody January. The novels, as someone once said, can be read in any order; the important thing is to read them all" - * The Times *

"Punchy, compulsive and, at times, as downright nasty as ever" - * Herald *

"Compelling . . . Parks is a gifted storyteller" - * Scotsman *

"Riveting" - * Sunday Post *

"Praise for the Harry McCoy series: One of the great Scottish crime writers . . . Whether it be William McIlvanney, Ian Rankin, Denise Mina or Alan Parks, the way they view - and depict - the world gives great pleasure . . . Like the very best crime novels, The April Dead makes you keenly aware of all the pain out there and (almost) alleviates it" - * The Times, Book of the Month *

"Brilliant . . . The April Dead should grace the bookshelves of every crime fan" - * Sunday Times Crime Club *