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2025 McIlvanney Prize (shortlist)
A dark, raw, and comic Glaswegian detective thriller: the follow-up to Squeaky Clean, winner of the McIlvanney Prize for best Scottish crime book of the year.
‘Energetic, inventive and witty, laying on the tension as it builds to a nerve-shredding finale.’ — Chris Brookmyre, author of The Cracked Mirror
DCI Alison McCoist is back in action, and her promotion hasn’t earned her any friends. In fact, it’s made her even more unpopular. Struggling to balance her new responsibilities with the growing pressure to prove herself, McCoist finds herself tangled in a web of crime and corruption.
Chuck Gardner owns a confidential paper-shredding business, but his addiction to gambling has left him deeply in debt. When he stumbles across some incriminating documents, Chuck becomes unwittingly caught in a deadly game of power and deceit.
Meanwhile, McCoist is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery – a rat-nibbled corpse under a flyover. As she investigates, both Chuck and McCoist are sucked into a deadly stramash of gangland wars and police corruption.
Can Chuck solve his gambling and gangster problems before some heed-banger feeds him into his own shredder? And can McCoist claw herself out of this latest shitemire without her own shady dealings coming to light? It might depend on how far she’s prepared to go…
Paperboy is the darkly comic follow-up to the McIlvanney Prize winner, Squeaky Clean. The author, Callum McSorley, has been hailed as one of the most exciting new voices in crime writing, and has been praised by authors like Chris Brookmyre and Kevin Bridges.
Genre: Mystery
‘Energetic, inventive and witty, laying on the tension as it builds to a nerve-shredding finale.’ — Chris Brookmyre, author of The Cracked Mirror
DCI Alison McCoist is back in action, and her promotion hasn’t earned her any friends. In fact, it’s made her even more unpopular. Struggling to balance her new responsibilities with the growing pressure to prove herself, McCoist finds herself tangled in a web of crime and corruption.
Chuck Gardner owns a confidential paper-shredding business, but his addiction to gambling has left him deeply in debt. When he stumbles across some incriminating documents, Chuck becomes unwittingly caught in a deadly game of power and deceit.
Meanwhile, McCoist is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery – a rat-nibbled corpse under a flyover. As she investigates, both Chuck and McCoist are sucked into a deadly stramash of gangland wars and police corruption.
Can Chuck solve his gambling and gangster problems before some heed-banger feeds him into his own shredder? And can McCoist claw herself out of this latest shitemire without her own shady dealings coming to light? It might depend on how far she’s prepared to go…
Paperboy is the darkly comic follow-up to the McIlvanney Prize winner, Squeaky Clean. The author, Callum McSorley, has been hailed as one of the most exciting new voices in crime writing, and has been praised by authors like Chris Brookmyre and Kevin Bridges.
Genre: Mystery
Praise for this book
"Shows off McSorley's confident street-humour, deft plotting and frequently surprising turns of phrase. The energy coming off this book is enough to power you through any number of late nights. The most fun you can have at a crime scene." - Alan Bissett
"McSorley consolidates his status among crime fiction's rising stars. Paperboy is energetic, inventive and witty, laying on the tension as it builds to a nerve-shredding finale." - Chris Brookmyre
"Callum McSorley has done it again! Paperboy is a wickedly funny return to Glasgow's underbelly, where the city's renowned wit nestles alongside brutal violence. The beleaguered DCI Alison McCoist is again the perfect protagonist and McSorley is a master of the hapless character drawn into criminal chaos... I can't wait for the next instalment. Cracking!" - Heather Critchlow
"Magnificent metaphors; dialogue that skips across the page; McCoist with her smart mouth and predilection of getting smashed around the face-there's nothing I didn't love about this brilliant book. The most fun you can have with an industrial paper shredder." - Sam Holland
"A deliciously gruesome, darkly comic and twisty piece of work. McSorley's Glasgow is an irresistibly dangerous world full of characters you won't easily forget." - Tom Newlands
"Just when you're thinking Squeaky Clean is probably the perfect crime novel, along comes Paperboy. The biggest laughs, the seediest urban underbelly, the most irreparably flawed yet inexorably engaging cast." - Sofia Slater
"Had me laughing out loud one moment and gritting my teeth the next. It's dark, delicious and desperately funny. If Paperboy was a stick of rock it would have Glasgow's Underworld running right through the middle. Bring on the next anarchic outing for DCI McCoist." - Marion Todd
"Absolutely loved Paperboy, as dark as a dungeon at midnight but a lot more fun. Sparkling dialogue, startling violence and some truly terrifying villains. And as for Ally McCoist, what can I say? She shoots, she scores!" - Trevor Wood
"McSorley consolidates his status among crime fiction's rising stars. Paperboy is energetic, inventive and witty, laying on the tension as it builds to a nerve-shredding finale." - Chris Brookmyre
"Callum McSorley has done it again! Paperboy is a wickedly funny return to Glasgow's underbelly, where the city's renowned wit nestles alongside brutal violence. The beleaguered DCI Alison McCoist is again the perfect protagonist and McSorley is a master of the hapless character drawn into criminal chaos... I can't wait for the next instalment. Cracking!" - Heather Critchlow
"Magnificent metaphors; dialogue that skips across the page; McCoist with her smart mouth and predilection of getting smashed around the face-there's nothing I didn't love about this brilliant book. The most fun you can have with an industrial paper shredder." - Sam Holland
"A deliciously gruesome, darkly comic and twisty piece of work. McSorley's Glasgow is an irresistibly dangerous world full of characters you won't easily forget." - Tom Newlands
"Just when you're thinking Squeaky Clean is probably the perfect crime novel, along comes Paperboy. The biggest laughs, the seediest urban underbelly, the most irreparably flawed yet inexorably engaging cast." - Sofia Slater
"Had me laughing out loud one moment and gritting my teeth the next. It's dark, delicious and desperately funny. If Paperboy was a stick of rock it would have Glasgow's Underworld running right through the middle. Bring on the next anarchic outing for DCI McCoist." - Marion Todd
"Absolutely loved Paperboy, as dark as a dungeon at midnight but a lot more fun. Sparkling dialogue, startling violence and some truly terrifying villains. And as for Ally McCoist, what can I say? She shoots, she scores!" - Trevor Wood
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Used availability for Callum McSorley's Paperboy