Bloody January

Written by Alan Parks

Narrated by Andrew McIntosh

An exciting, evocative first-in-series noir novel set in 1973 Glasgow, a city on the cusp of a heroin epidemic, featuring detective Harry McCoy.



When an eighteen-year-old boy shoots a young woman dead in the middle of a busy Glasgow street and then commits suicide, McCoy knows it can't be a random act of violence. With a newbie partner in tow, McCoy uses his underworld network to build a picture of a secret society run by Glasgow's wealthiest family, the Dunlops. Drugs, sex, incest; every nefarious predilection is catered to, at the expense of the lower echelon of society, an underclass that includes McCoy's best friend from reformatory school—drug-Tsar Stevie Cooper—and his on-off girlfriend, a prostitute, Janey. But with McCoy's boss calling off the hounds, and his boss's boss unleashing their own, the Dunlops are apparently untouchable. McCoy has other ideas.



Fans of William McIlvanney's Laidlaw books and Oliver Harris's The Hollow Man, Ian Rankin's and Dennis Lehane's fiction, and TV shows like Luther will find themselves thoroughly satisfied here.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Apr 23, 2019
• ISBN: 9781684573592

Alan Parks

Alan Parks worked in the music industry for over twenty years before becoming a full-time writer. His debut novel Bloody January was one of the top crime debuts of 2018 and was shortlisted for the prestigious international crime prize the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. February’s Son, book two in the series, was a finalist for a Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award. Parks lives and works in Glasgow.

Reviews for Bloody January

[zmagic69 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent first outing. Glasgow Scotland in the early 70’s in winter sounds like a truly dreary dismal place.
A young girl is killed in broad daylight then the killer blows his head off.
Detective Harry McCoy is the inspector in charge. A man with quite a few demons of his own.
Can’t wait to order the 2nd book in the series.
The Scottish slang may be a bit of a challenge but nothing like an Irvine Welsh book.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was quite impressed with Bloody January by Alan Parks. This is a series debut set in 1973 Glasgow that features Detective Harry McCoy. In this outing, he goes up against a wealthy, powerful and corrupt family as he searches for the reason a young woman was gunned down on the street. As well as the murder investigation, the book highlights this as a time that heroin was becoming more readily available on the streets.

McCoy has plenty of issues which gives the author many different avenues to explore in future books. This story highlighted his childhood difficulties and his obligations to a well known Glasgow underworld boss that he struggles to withdraw from. Labelled as “Tartan Noir”, I found the book to be gritty and dark with a high body count and plenty of violence.

Bloody January is a bleak and atmospheric story about a flawed detective who has some difficulty staying on the right side of the law. The setting and timing are interesting and the plot moved quickly through the bars, slums and whorehouses of 1970s Glasgow. I am looking forward to continuing on with this series and learning more about Detective Harry McCoy.

[miss.mesmerized · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

‚It can‘t have been that bad.‘ But it was.

January 1973 first brought a promotion to Detective Harry McCoy of Glasgow police, but then things wrecked havoc. When Howie Nairn, a prisoner in the Special Unit of Barlinnie wants to see him, he is a bit irritated. Why especially him? And what does he have to say? Nairn tells him to take care of a certain Lorna who works in a posh restaurant and is likely to be killed the next day. McCoy doesn‘t really believe him but nevertheless sets out to search for her. In vain. He can only watch how the young woman is shot in central Glasgow by a man who then commits suicide. Quite a strange thing, but things are going to get a lot more complicated and soon McCoy has to realise that the laws aren‘t made for everybody.

Alan Park‘s first novel of the McCoy series lives on the atmosphere of 1970s Glasgow. The city hasn‘ t turned into the town it is today but resembles a rather rund own place where police and gangland work hand in hand - have to work hand in hand if they want to solve any case at all. McCoy is rather unconventional in his work, but he certainly has the heart in the right place and fights for justice.

There are two things I really liked about the story: on the one hand, it is quite compilicated and all but foreseeable, on the other hand, Alan Parks‘s has chosen unconvenient aspects which he puts in a different light which shows the complexity of reality and that live is not only black and white but full of shades of grey. McCoy can work for the police but maintain good relationships with old friends who control the criminal world. The recognised upper class are not the good-doers but also have their dark sides. And many people struggle to make a living, wanting to be good but at times have to ignore their own values simply to survive.

A novel which is full of suspense, with a convincing protagonist and perfectly crafted atmosphere of a dark Glasgow.

[eyejaybee · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Over recent years, Scottish Noir has become established as a major genre within crime fiction, and the works of Ian Rankin, Stuart MacBride and Val McDermid have become bestsellers all around the world. All three of those authors have favoured dark crimes committed against grisly settings, investigated by gritty cops who are prepared to cross the customary lines of propriety and fair play in order to secure a result.

Harry McCoy, protagonist of Alan Parks’ debut novel Bloody January, is another decidedly gritty detective who makes John Rebus or Logan McRae seem like Dixon of Dock Green. The book is set in Glasgow in the bleak, freezing opening days of 1973, and McCoy sometimes seems almost to be fighting the wintry city itself. As the book opens he has been summoned to Barlinnie Prison to speak to an inmate who has an urgent message for him. That message turns out to be a warning that a woman called Lorna will be killed the following day. The inmate does not have, or, at any rate won’t reveal, any further information. McCoy does what cursory investigation the meagre time allows, and identifies a potential victim, but is sadly unable to prevent her murder, or the grotesque events that follow it.

It has become rather a cliché now for fictional detectives to be at least as troubled as the criminals and victims among whom they function. McCoy is no exception, and he has enough emotional baggage to fill a freight wagon, and might struggle to spell ‘unassailable rectitude’, far less wallow in it. His woes and angst are all too plausible, however, and his off-duty hours are spent drinking heavily, downing speed and consorting with prostitutes in a relentless cycle of dissolution.

At the most basic level, the plot is grim, the setting is bleak and the characters are, for the most part, ghastly. The book is, however, utterly compelling. Parks has a straightforward style that snags the reader’s attention from the start, and won’t let go. I am wondering whether this might be the first novel in a series and am already looking forward to the next instalment.

[rowingrabbit · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Detective Harry McCoy should have listened to his snitch. Now he’s sitting beside the body of a teenager who just killed himself after shooting a waitress in the middle of a busy Glasgow street. Harry doesn’t now it yet but things are about to get much worse. So much so that years from now they’ll still refer to it as Bloody January.

This is a dark police procedural that takes us back to 1973. Glasgow is a gritty, violent place with territorial crime bosses, bent cops & an established class system. There are 2 sets of rules…one for those with influence & another for those deemed disposable.

Harry falls somewhere in the middle. He’s an old school cop, struggling to adapt to changes within the department & society. While he works hard to put away the guilty, he has a soft spot for those who are down on their luck. He has his own set of rules when it comes to keeping the peace that includes a close relationship with hard man Stevie Cooper. Most of his colleagues figure Harry is in it for the perks but we come to learn it’s much more complex than that. Their history gradually unfolds as the main plot plays out & it gives us heartbreaking insight into Harry’s character.

The bodies continue to pile up over the course of a few weeks & everything seems to point toward the wealthiest family in Glasgow. Lord Dunlop is an arrogant, privileged man well known to Harry. His position comes with influence that reaches the highest levels of government & law enforcement. So it’s no surprise when Harry is duly warned: stay away from his Lordship & find another suspect.

Ah, but what fun would that be? Besides, Harry has been saddled with a shiny new partner named Wattie & someone has to teach him the ropes. And as Harry drags him down dark allies full of prostitutes, criminals & the homeless, Wattie’s eyes are well & truly opened.

I’m astonished this is a debut novel. It’s well paced with a narrative that perfectly evokes the setting. Scenes are full of the clothing, hairstyles & music of the day & that mixed with dialogue full of local vernacular leaves you in no doubt of the time or place. But just a heads up, there is plenty of violence & sexual abuse. It informs the plot lines & fits the story but some may find certain scenes upsetting.

This is a well written, atmospheric addition to the genre of tartan noir & if Harry should pop up in a book #2, I’ll be more than happy to go along for the ride.