Cast a Cold Eye
Robbie Morrison
13 April 2023
9781529054064Synopsis
Cast a Cold Eye by Robbie Morrison is a dark historical crime novel and the sequel to Edge of the Grave which won the Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut award and was shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger.
Glasgow, 1933
Murder is nothing new in the Depression-era city, especially to war veterans Inspector Jimmy Dreghorn and his partner ‘Bonnie’ Archie McDaid. But the dead man found in a narrowboat on the Forth and Clyde Canal, executed with a single shot to the back of the head, is no ordinary killing.
Violence usually erupts in the heat of the moment – the razor-gangs that stalk the streets settle scores with knives and fists. Firearms suggest something more sinister, especially when the killer strikes again. Meanwhile, other forces are stirring within the city. A suspected IRA cell is at large, embedded within the criminal gangs and attracting the ruthless attention of Special Branch agents from London.
With political and sectarian tensions rising, and the body count mounting, Dreghorn and McDaid pursue an investigation into the dark heart of humanity – where one person's freedom fighter is another's terrorist, and noble ideals are swept away by bloody vengeance.
Vivid characters, a finely drawn Glasgow in the 1930s and a page turning narrative. What more could you want?Alan Parks, author of May God Forgive, winner of the 2022 McIlvanney Prize
Jimmy Dreghorn is back—with a vengeance. Cast a Cold Eye is a twisting, sharp-edged tale of a violent past echoing in a violent city. 1930s Glasgow is masterfully conjured in every soot-stained tenement, every smoke-filled pub, every menace-shadowed street corner. Morrison is on top form here. SuperbCraig Russell, international bestselling author of Hyde
A joyous Glaswegian nightmare. Sectarian ley lines, loyalty and betrayal, love and loss. By turns brutal and hilarious, told in a rich vernacular with an acute sense of time and place, the return of Dreghorn and McDaid in Cast a Cold Eye is another triumph from Robbie MorrisonDominic Nolan, author of The Times Book of the Month, Vine Street
