Strange Loyalties

This extraordinary and beautifully written novel, the third to feature Glasgow police detective Jack Laidlaw ( Laidlaw and The Papers of Tony Veitch are the others), sets a high standard among contemporary thrillers. It begins not with a crime but with Laidlaw's despair at his brother's death in a traffic accident. He has a burning need to make some sense of that death: ``Where did the accident begin? That's what I want to know. In the middle of the road? At the kerbsic ? In the pub before he went out? In the fact that he drank too much? When did the accident begin?'' Jack's inquiries into how Scott Laidlaw came to his untimely end lead to much larger questions about the nature of pain and injustice and--not least of all--about the meaning of his own life and how it encompasses the impending failure of his relationship with the woman he loves. Trying to piece together the events of his brother's final days, Laidlaw embarks upon a journey into moral darkness. The investigation eventually ties in with a case being pursued by Jack's partner in his absence, but the real secret, hinted at in the paintings that Scott left behind, lies in a tragic event long past and in the sadness of Jack's youthful innocence, which he has lost but not forgotten. Strange Loyalties, like its detective hero, is captivating and unforgettable. (May)