The dark, rawly comic follow-up to the winner of the McIlvanney Prize for best Scottish crime book of the year.

'A serious talent' Kevin Bridges

'Inventive and witty, with a nerve-shredding finale' Chris Brookmyre

'An outstanding new writer who is destined to become a very big name' Peter James

DCI Alison McCoist is back: newly promoted and even less popular.

Chuck Gardner is the proud owner of both a confidential paper-shredding business and a serious betting habit.

When Chuck finds some scandalous paperwork and McCoist investigates a rat-nibbled corpse under a flyover, they are both sucked into a deadly stramash of gangland wars and police corruption.

Can Chuck solve his gambling and gangster problems before some head-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...



Callum McSorley is a writer based in Glasgow where he grew up. His debut thriller, Squeaky Clean, was inspired by years working in a carwash in the city's East End. It won the McIlvanney Prize for Best Scottish Crime Book of the Year, was a Times Crime Book of the Year and a Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month. It's sequel Paperboy (also starring DCI Alison McCoist) was a Times crime book of the month and shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize. The third book in the series, Rat Race, is forthcoming from Pushkin Vertigo.



Twisting plots, grotesque lowlifes, black comedy, puns, over-the-top violence - and dialogue that bounces along to the rhythms of Glaswegian street slang



Callum McSorley has doubled down on what made Squeaky Clean such an amazing debut: his second novel is a cavalcade of gruesome violence, a welter of bodily fluids and a torrent of fantastically filthy language... A brilliant black comedy that repeatedly makes you squirm. Fizzing with energy and full of heart, it's one of those books that you simply don't want to end



Only two novels in, McSorley is already writing like a master of Tartan Noir. Gritty, atmospheric, and propulsive. The language here crackles with a memorable line in each paragraph. Incredible!



Violent, profane, hilarious



The vibe is Taggart rewritten by Mick Herron. Gritty gang violence, plenty of black comedy, imaginative plot twists, wonderfully grotesque characters ... and reading them has also expanded my lexicon of insults



Plunges us straight back into the world we were introduced to in the first novel; a world of Weegie gangsters, Glasgow banter and truly horrible deaths. I mean, proper gory deaths. But funny, too. Which means, this is the opposite of cosy crime. The result is very Glasgow and all the better for it



Extremely funny, exciting and ultimately touching



A Glasgow noir that will thrill and amuse those with a wicked sense of humour and a love of gritty crime fiction



Brutally funny and brilliantly plotted, with an engaging cast of characters



A terrific mix of twisting police procedural, pitch-black comedy, slapstick, puns and over-the-top violence. And, of course, the dialogue is delivered in Glasgow's finest street slang. Think Mick Herron meets Taggart



The new star of tartan noir



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



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



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!



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



Side-splittingly funny and fascinatingly brutal in equal measure



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!



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



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



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



A grisly and darkly funny crime caper, written in Glasgow patter



Praise for Squeaky Clean:



An amazingly accomplished debut



Shattered from staying up until the daft hours finishing this. Loved it... A serious talent



A manic tale of blood and suds told with laconic humour and warmly engaging characterisation. Callum McSorley is definitely a talent to watch. I knew within a page that I was in good hands



An astonishingly good debut. Wonderfully rounded characters, misfits all, who we really care about, in a compelling story laced with humour and humanity. Callum McSorley is an outstanding new writer who is destined to become a very big name in the genre



A wonderfully rich and funny new voice in Scottish crime. McSorley has created characters you invest in and plot that keeps you hooked right from the start



An absolute knockout of a debut! Pitch-dark and yet dripping with warmth, Squeaky Clean is a truly fresh take on the classic thriller. Packed with brilliantly drawn characters, laugh-out-loud humour, and lots of blood - what's not to love? Can't wait to see what my new favourite detective does next.



An uproarious, sardonic noir thriller from the Glasgow depths... Brutal, wonderfully humorous and a great addition to Tartan Noir, this novel unveils a terrific new talent



An outstanding work of tartan noir. McSorley's nightmarish Glasgow with its crime and vice is wonderfully drawn in all its gritty beauty... What a magnificent debut!



McSorley writes with a wonderfully light touch... There is humour on every page, too - this really is a very funny book despite the dark material. Both main characters are works of genius, and I very much hope there will be a sequel



A smart, nasty and really rather heartbreaking thriller set in and around a Glasgow car wash. Our introduction to DI Alison McCoist (yes, yes, she's heard all the jokes) and likely to be the first of many



Violent and action packed but full of wit and dark humour



A fantastic new voice in Tartan Noir, it was gritty, bleak and definitely violent but expertly balanced with plenty of dark humour. I was so thrilled that the story was set up perfectly for a sequel



Fresh and vibrant... A superb debut. Callum McSorley is a new kid on the Scottish crime block



A fast-paced thriller with a dark sense of humour, a grisly crime caper in the vein of Breaking Bad and Guilt



An absolute blast, and only strengthens the Scottish reputation for producing exceedingly good crime thrillers, tinged with laconic wit, and dark, dark, humour... It reads like a brilliant mash up of Irvine Welsh and Alan Parks... I can't recommend this one highly enough



An account of urban degradation, organised crime, social misery, police corruption and hard men, with a brilliant plot and some wit, both in story and language... Tough and impressive, but will not be waved around by the Glasgow tourist board



Gritty, bloody and oozing with the menace of the underworld... McSorley has crafted an accomplished novel that is already being hailed as a classic of the Tartan Noir genre. [Squeaky Clean] cracks along at a rare pace, and combines an easy writing style, an ear for dialogue and a nice line in dry wit... The sort of page-turner which ensures that once you've started, you'll keep going until the final, gripping denouement



A stew of brutality and dark humour, peppered with some great characters