Strange Loyalties [Hardcover]

William McIlvanney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1992

A detective story that searches for answers to deep questions about life's injustice seeks to find out why Glasgow investigator James Laidlaw's brother stepped in front of a car.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This extraordinary and beautifully written novel, the third to feature Glasgow police detective Jack Laidlaw ( Laidlaw and The Papers of Tony Veitch are the others), sets a high standard among contemporary thrillers. It begins not with a crime but with Laidlaw's despair at his brother's death in a traffic accident. He has a burning need to make some sense of that death: "Where did the accident begin? That's what I want to know. In the middle of the road? At the kerbsic ? In the pub before he went out? In the fact that he drank too much? When did the accident begin?" Jack's inquiries into how Scott Laidlaw came to his untimely end lead to much larger questions about the nature of pain and injustice and--not least of all--about the meaning of his own life and how it encompasses the impending failure of his relationship with the woman he loves. Trying to piece together the events of his brother's final days, Laidlaw embarks upon a journey into moral darkness. The investigation eventually ties in with a case being pursued by Jack's partner in his absence, but the real secret, hinted at in the paintings that Scott left behind, lies in a tragic event long past and in the sadness of Jack's youthful innocence, which he has lost but not forgotten. Strange Loyalties, like its detective hero, is captivating and unforgettable.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The third outing for Glasgow police detective Jack Laidlaw (Laidlaw, 1977; The Papers of Tony Veitch, 1983) starts off with the most understated premise imaginable: Given that the driver who ran down Jack's brother Scott wasn't looking to kill him, why should Scott have died just then? Laidlaw's hunch that Scott's death, though accidental, was more than an accident leads him to painful scenes with Scott's drop-dead wife Anna, the drinking buddies linked in one of Scott's paintings to a spectral man in a green coat--a man whose existence they vehemently deny--and a spreading circle of petty, violent criminals. It's all fleshed out, like Laidlaw's hopeless attempt to rekindle his affair with his restaurateur girlfriend Jan, with the depressive exactness of a mortician cosmetologist. Structurally a detective story with more solution than mystery, but really a grimly effective novel like Chandler's The Long Goodbye, about the detective's loyalty to the dead. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 281 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co (May 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068811413X
• ISBN-13: 978-0688114138
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,022,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most under appreciated authors of the day, November 23, 2000

By 

David (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strange Loyalties (Harvest Book) (Paperback)

If you haven't yet read McIlvanney, get on it! This man is brilliant. His detective, Jack Laidlaw, remains one of the most intriguing characters in fiction. "Strange Loyalties" charts Laidlaw's quest to discover meaning after his brother is killed. The characters that we encounter, as well as the questions that are raised, help shed light on so many aspects of our own lives. The depth present in this particular novel made me want to weep at the conclusion. The truth McIlvanney expounds in both his characters and their dealings in life, makes the beauty of this book complete. This is one of those stories that long after you've put it down, you feel its presence and its insight growing inside of you. I just hope that McIlvanney one day gets the credit he so much deserves.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars McIlvanney's Best Work!, March 31, 2010

By 

Gregory J. Obrzut "Advertising Executive" (Hastings, NE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Strange Loyalties (Hardcover)

I have read the McIlvanney trilogy (Laidlaw, Veitch, and Strange Loyalties) with great appreciation for the authors' development in writing style and narrative approach. I found his philosophical musings on the role of a detective in society to be quite refreshing from the usual formatted approach most crime novels take. The plots in each are decidedly secondary to the internal turmoil bubbling within our tormented protagonist, Laidlaw. Strange Loyalties is by far, McIlvanney's best effort to date. Reading this novel made me think that it was almost as if a Dostoyevsky had tried his hand at writing crime fiction. I was greatly moved by the ending. I have recommended this novel to several of my friends. Some have liked it almost as much as I did. But it left others cold. To that I think Laidlaw would've simply shrugged and poured another scotch.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't wait!, July 27, 2008

By 

CP "psychability" (Toronto ON) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strange Loyalties (Harvest Book) (Paperback)

If you like a multi-dimensional police-protagonist and a beautifully written layered plot, seek out McIlvanney. Hard to find but worth every second.