'Unputdownable' Sunday Times
'I was hooked from page one' Guardian

When Rilke, a dissolute auctioneer, comes upon a hidden collection of violent and highly disturbing photographs, he feels compelled to discover more about the deceased owner who coveted them. Soon he finds himself sucked into an underworld of crime, depravity and secret desire, fighting for his life.

About the Author

Louise Welsh is an award-winning author of eight novels. The Cutting Room, her debut novel, won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award and the Saltire First Book of The Year Award. In 2018, she was awarded the Most Inspiring Saltire First Book Award winner by public vote. She is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow.

@louisewelsh00

Reviews
One of the most intriguing, assured and unputdownable debuts to come out of Scotland in recent years . . . A stunning work of fiction * * Sunday Times * *
A remarkable first novel * * New York Times * *
I was hooked from page one. Rilke is not Welsh's only great creation. The huge supporting cast of misfits and outsiders . . . are equally memorable. And Glasgow becomes a character in itself: it is oppressive, foreboding - a dark place for a dark tale * * Guardian * *
Astonishingly this is a first novel, catapulting Welsh straight into the superstar league, while establishing Rilke as a true original * * The Times * *
Welsh upturns tropes and adds depth, seedy detail and Gothic lyricism to the page-turner framework * * Telegraph * *
The Cutting Room fixes itself among a formidable modern pantheon that includes the novels of Ian McEwan and A.L. Kennedy * * LA Times Book Review * *
This elegiac, elegant and atmospheric book is an original and compelling first novel. Rarely can such Gothic material have been treated with such subtlety * * Daily Telegraph * *
Welsh's prose can flit from clipped and short to elegant and graceful . . . As taut a thriller as you'll get; full of unexpected alliances, double crosses and a brutal denouement worthy of classic American hard-boiled fiction * * Big Issue * *
Welsh succeeds in making Glasgow her own * * Observer * *
An astonishingly accomplished debut, this is always in my top ten books of any genre . . . Welsh brilliantly draws a gothic Glasgow of despair and decay as she lays bare the depths of human deviance * * Guardian, Top 10 Scottish crime novels * *


Awards
Winner of CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2002 (UK) and Saltire Society First Book of the Year 2002 (UK). Short-listed for Guardian First Book Award 2002 (UK).



Book Information
ISBN 9781838850906
Author Louise Welsh
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Canongate Canons
Publisher Canongate Books
Weight(grams) 223g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 19mm