Books by Louise Welsh
The Second Cut
by Louise Welsh
It’s taken a couple of decades, but the protagonist of The Cutting Room is back. Rilke is a middle-aged auctioneer in Glasgow, who enjoys hooking up with other men on Grindr. A friend gives him a tip about a house clearance, is found dead the following day, and the story unfolds from there. The author, Louise Welsh, is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow and the book is on the literary end of mystery-writing. As the author of Trainspotting put it in his interview with us, “to my mind she is not really a crime writer. She is a very serious literary writer working in crime”
“I think she is a very interesting writer. To my mind she is not really a crime writer. She is a very serious literary writer working in crime. She is a bit like Dostoevsky in the way that she uses the existential thriller and the crime genre as a way of exploring individuals’ relationships with society. She has this very interesting protagonist Rilke, who is this predatory homosexual, and that’s the kind of character you don’t really see in standard British crime books because the people in there are normally white male divorced alcoholics who listen to jazz. So, for me, that is interesting. The plotline is basically the same as that terrible film 8mm with Nicolas Cage but it is one hundred times better written.” Read more...
Irvine Welsh recommends the best Crime Novels
Irvine Welsh, Thriller and Crime Writer
Interviews where books by Louise Welsh were recommended
Irvine Welsh recommends the best Crime Novels
We learn much more from failure than we do from success, says Irvine Welsh. The author of Trainspotting recommends his own favourite crime novels.
The Best Mystery Books of 2022
2022 was a great year for books in the mystery genre, with some great plots and unforgettable characters, at least one of which (The Maid) has gone on to start a series. Settings included everything from snowy Scandinavia to World War II Hawaii.
