Résumé: The story of Inspector Laidlaw and the complex murder investigation into a seemingly innocent young adults slaying, is one of many enthralling twists and turns which grasp and keep the readers attention until the very end. As an aspiring detective, I was interested in the strong morality of Laidlaw, and the compassion he felt for the "innocent until proven guilty".
The over twenty characters carefully articulated throughout Laidlaw prove most useful in representing the cheerless heart of urban Glasgow and its shady “underground” inhabitants. Most notably the depiction of women is not for the faint of heart. While McIlvanney displays women as adherent to their husband’s abuses and neglect, one cannot forget that without the strong negative depiction of women (such as Bud Lawson and Inspector Laidlaw’s wives) the reader would lack a sense of severity and compassion for characters such as Bud Lawson and Inspector Laidlaw.
William McIlvanney's Laidlaw, is able to tear down stereotypic views of a murder mystery "who done it" and replace it with a more complex psychological thriller "who done it? why? and what caused them to do it?" A definite must read for the literate and a great book to detour young girls from going to bars.