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Louise Welsh

Louise Welsh’s debut novel The Cutting Room was nominated for several literary awards including the 2003 Orange Prize for Fiction. It won the Crime Writers’ Association Creasey Dagger for the best first crime novel. Welsh’s second major work, the novella Tamburlaine Must Die, fictionally recounts the last few days in the life of 16th-century English dramatist and poet Christopher Marlowe, author of Tamburlaine the Great. Her third novel, The Bullet Trick, is set in Berlin, London and Glasgow and narrated from the perspective of magician and conjurer William Wilson. Her fourth novel is Naming the Bones. Her fifth novel, The Girl on the Stairs is a psychological thriller set in Berlin. Her sixth novel is A Lovely Way to Burn, and its sequel, Death is a Welcome Guest. Her next novel will be a sequel to The Cutting Room and is to be published in 2021.

Books in order of publication:

The Cutting Room (2012)

Tamburlaine Must Die (2004)

The Bullet Trick (2006)

Naming the Bones (2010)

The Girl on the Stairs (2012)

A Lovely Way to Burn (2014)

Death is a Welcome Guest (2015)

 

Praise for The Second Cut

"Complex and very atmospheric, with plenty of sardonic humour and sharp observations about injustice, like its predecessor this is a hardboiled gem" The Guardian

“If writing a sequel to a bona fide Scottish classic weighed heavily on Louise Welsh you’d never know. The Second Cut grips from the very opening pages. The Glasgow it portrays is seamy but humane, its cast of characters flawed but endearing. The whole thing is compelling, immersive and brimming with life. A great achievement.”  Graeme McCrae Burnett

‘I doubt I’ll read a better book this year. Dark, funny and humane, Louise Welsh tells the stories that nobody else dares’ Val Mcdermid

‘One of the most enjoyable mysteries I’ve read this year, The Second Cut had me from the word go. Rilke’s world feels rife with possibilities for dark doings – and Welsh’s writing is fresh, funny, fearless and fun' Joseph Knox

‘This return to the world of Rilke is a masterclass in engaging storytelling. Emotionally complex, and full of dark wit and deviant energy, this is a wonderful examination of the state of our culture today’ Doug Johnstone

‘If writing a sequel to a bona fide Scottish classic weighed heavily on Louise Welsh you’d never know. The Second Cut grips from the very opening pages. The Glasgow it portrays is seamy but humane, its cast of characters flawed but endearing. The whole thing is compelling, immersive and brimming with life. A great achievement’ Graeme Macrae Burnet

‘Plunges the reader straight into Glasgow’s underbelly. This is hard-boiled Scottish crime writing at its best’ Sara Sheridan

‘Richly layered, gloriously carnal, bursting with patter and irresistibly seductive’ Chris Brookmyre

‘Twenty years is a long time to wait for a “sequel” but Louise Welsh has made the wait completely worthwhile. In Welsh’s writing, Rilke’s world remains recognisably queer – not sanitised, not tidied, not safe before the watershed – and all the better for it . . . (Please can the next one come a little sooner?)’ Stella Duffy

‘Getting another look behind the curtain at Rilke’s world was a squalid thrill. Louise Welsh reclaims her crown as the queen of Glasgow’s grubby glamour' Kirstin Innes

‘Brilliant’ Alan Parks

'I am too long in the tooth to make predictions, but I would not be averse another instalment at all.' Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman

'Rest assured, when Welsh again hits the stage with public readings forThe Second Cut friends now know not to question what she’s doing there: she’s introducing a city and a nation to itself.' Sunday Times Scotland

'[a] highly entertaining novel' Sunday Telegraph

'Well-wrought...The specificity and style of Welsh's prose - peppered with such fine Scottish words as 'bawface', 'coorie' and 'shoogly' - the depth of her characterisation and depiction of place, her gallows humour and her compassion all make The Second Cut a superb piece of work.' The Times

'The tone and depth of observation in The Second Cut raise it from a whodunnit into something more impressive and enduring.' The Herald

The Second Cut has been selected by The Times & Sunday Times as the best CRIME BOOK OF 2022.

Louise Welsh Titles