Top 10s

Top 10 Scottish crime novels

Scottish novelists from William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin to Denise Mina deliver all the gut-punch thrills of crime without forgetting its human cost

Many crime novels end with a confession but I should start with one: whisper the heresy, but I’m not a big fan of tartan noir as a label for Scottish crime fiction. It works as an advertising slogan but doesn’t capture what the broad church of Scottish crime fiction is all about. There are so many fine novels within the canon that are either not tartan – with the archaic and cliched connotations that word can offer – or aren’t noir.

My new book, Watch Him Die, is half set in Glasgow and half in Los Angeles, so its shortbread credentials are hanging by a thread. It does, however, fit into a tradition of Scottish crime novels driven by issues of duality, redemption, the nature of good and evil, and a dark, dark, humour.

I’m a director of the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival, and run Bute Noir, so choosing just 10 novels to represent this tradition is likely to mean losing friends and upsetting people. Excellent. So, in no particular order, let’s go …

1. Laidlaw by William McIlvanney
No particular order but perhaps this deserves to be No 1. Forensic examination would likely reveal that all Scottish crime novels have a little Laidlaw in their DNA. Powerful, gripping and beautifully written, it uses a brutal murder to shine a light on the city’s dark injustices, both criminal and social. McIlvanney had the enviable ability to use just a handful of words to make acute observations and deliver them with the certainty of a head butt. DI Jack Laidlaw, who starred in two further novels, was funny, abrasive, compassionate, stubborn, cynical and flawed – like Glasgow on legs.

2. The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh
An astonishingly accomplished debut, this is always in my top 10 books of any genre. Debauched auctioneer Rilke is clearing out the contents of a deceased elderly man’s home when he finds a collection of violent and disturbing photographs that allude to the death of a mysterious young woman. Driven to find out more, Rilke stumbles into an underworld of crime and depravity and drags the reader along with him. Welsh brilliantly draws a gothic Glasgow of despair and decay as she lays bare the depths of human deviance.

3. The Jump by Doug Johnstone
Johnstone might be the best Scottish crime writer you’ve never read. He fearlessly tackles difficult, important subjects, eschewing twists and neat endings in favour of harsh realities. Ellie, struggling to come to terms with the suicide of her teenage son, lives in the shadow of the Forth Road Bridge. When she talks down another would-be teenage jumper, she has a shot at redemption but falls headlong into a whirlpool of dark secrets. Rich in intensity and sensitivity, this book shows just how all-round good a crime novel can be.

4. The Long Drop by Denise Mina
Mina is a once-in-a-generation writer who changes the rules and has a voice that demands to be heard. I was tempted to go for Garnethill or Gods and Beasts but settled on her McIlvanney prize-winning tale that mixes fact and fiction, telling of the missing hours when the real mass murderer Peter Manuel met the man whose family he’d slaughtered. Even writing this book was a bold and risky move, yet she pulled it off with consummate skill.

5. Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin
How to pick to one John Rebus novel from 22 is a puzzle worthy of the curmudgeonly detective himself. Perhaps Rankin’s toughest challenge and greatest feat is maintaining such an exemplary standard throughout this outstanding series. there is no weak spot, no lesser book. This is the series that sets the standard for modern detective fiction. I’ve gone for Hide and Seek because I loved that Rebus cared who killed an Edinburgh junkie when no one else did, establishing him as the seeker of justice in the face of establishment opposition.

6. Quite Ugly One Morning by Chris Brookmyre
It almost seems wrong choosing an early Brookmyre when he’s gone on to write a succession of sophisticated novels exploring the human psyche, but there remains an irresistible, rebellious energy about Quite Ugly that defies comparison. It established his singular, scabrous voice and introduced us to Jack Parlabane, his most used and abused character. Part satire, part mystery and wholly, hilariously engrossing, it is laced with razor-sharp social commentary that pulls no punches. It starts with a jobby on a dead man’s mantelpiece and goes uphill from there.

7. A Place of Execution by Val McDermid
If you think you know what crime fiction is, then read McDermid and you’ll realise you’ve underestimated it. Yes, there are thrills, twists and shocks but there is also an emotional depth and perceptiveness that raises it beyond any hackneyed notion of what a whodunnit might be. This novel is a prime example of her ability to see beyond the crime and go beyond the reveal. Here, she focuses on the often-neglected effects of a murder on the local community, putting it front and centre rather than as an afterthought.

8. Two Way Split by Allan Guthrie
If this book was a boxer it would be a classy welterweight. Lean and muscular, taut and fast-moving, and packing a big punch. What it lacks in tartan it more than makes up for in noir. It’s a hard-boiled nugget of a book with not one word wasted. Guthrie specialises in giving us antiheroes we care about, without ever draping them in false sentimentality. Here, we’re firmly on the side of a bank robber who is seeking the ultimate revenge on a fellow gang member.

9. Worst Case Scenario by Helen Fitzgerald
This might be a bit of a cheat as Fitzgerald is Australian, but she’s lived in Glasgow for 30 years, the book is set here and happens to be brilliant. She seems to be getting better with every book but has set herself a tough task in topping her latest. It’s at once gripping and scandalously funny, darkly delicious and deeply emotional, with a protagonist that you’ll either love or hate or love. (Love is the correct answer.) Fitzgerald doesn’t compromise when she writes and that’s why you should read this.

10. Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride
The main danger on the mean streets of Aberdeen used to be a howling wind off the North Sea before MacBride came along. He single-handedly transformed it into a terrifying metropolis, home to horrific crimes and a wonderful array of oddball characters. Cold Granite, the first in the series, immediately elevated DS Logan McRae to the front rank of Scottish fictional detectives. MacBride is a terrific writer and this book showcases the power of his prose – as well as his ability to make you giggle while simultaneously scaring the bejesus out of you.

• Watch Him Die by Craig Robertson is published on 11 June by Simon & Schuster (£8.99). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.