Ahead of its debut later this month, plaudits are already ringing out for Alan Parks’ new novel GUNNER – the first in a new World War Two-set trilogy – which has made the longlist for this year’s prestigious McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The book will be out in hardback, eBook and audio from Baskerville from 17 July 2025, supported by an array of events in both Scotland and England.
Already a winner of the prize, having scooped the 2022 award for his acclaimed Harry McCoy novel MAY GOD FORGIVE, this year’s longlist recognises Alan’s first foray into wartime Glasgow with wounded cop Joseph Gunner, as he is drawn into an investigation which threatens to bring the frontline much, much closer to home. He is nominated alongside fellow writers Lin Anderson, Tariq Ashkanani, Daniel Aubrey, D.V. Bishop, Heather Critchlow, Allan Gaw, Liam McIlvanney, Callum McSorley, Denise Mina, Ambrose Parry, Ian Rankin and Douglas Skelton.
The shortlist will be revealed in September, with the overall winner to be announced at the opening ceremony of the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival in Stirling, on Friday 12 September. Other recent winners of the prize include Chris Brookmyre, Callum McSorley, Craig Russell and Francine Toon.
Yassine Belkacemi, Editorial Director at John Murray and Baskerville, acquired UK and Commonwealth Rights (excluding Canada) for the trilogy last year, with translation rights quickly snapped up in France (Editions Payot & Rivages), Italy (Bompiani), Spain (Tusquets) and the Netherlands (House of Books). The multi-award winning Harry McCoy series – including McIlvanney winner MAY GOD FORGIVE – is published by Canongate in the UK and in the US by Europa, with translations available in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and Sweden, and the Film/TV rights under option.
Congratulations Alan!
About GUNNER
March, 1941. Joseph Gunner is back on the streets of Glasgow after being wounded on the front lines in France.
Keeping the pain in his leg at bay with the help of morphine, Gunner, a former detective, is hoping to keep his head down as the Luftwaffe begin bombing Glasgow.
But when he runs into his old boss Drummond, he is persuaded to help examine a body found in the wreckage. When the body turns out to be that of a German, mutilated to disguise his identity, Gunner reluctantly agrees to investigate.
As Gunner begins to hunt for the truth he runs into old flames, bitter enemies, before finding himself embroiled in a high-level conspiracy that reaches far beyond his hometown of Glasgow.
Partly inspired by the true story of Rudolph Hess's secret mission to broker appeasement with Britain during WWII, GUNNER is an atmospheric and addictive new thriller from one of Britain's best-loved writers.
Credit: Kevin Thomson
About Alan Parks
Alan Parks worked in the music industry for over twenty years before turning to crime writing.
His debut BLOODY JANUARY was shortlisted for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière, FEBRUARY’S SON was nominated for an Edgar Award, BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original, the Prix Mystère de la Critique in the foreign fiction category, and was shortlisted for the Macavity Award for Best Mystery Novel and THE APRIL DEAD was shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. The fifth Harry McCoy book, MAY GOD FORGIVE, was published in April 2022 and won the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2022. It was shortlisted for the 2023 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and longlisted for the 2023 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. TO DIE IN JUNE, the sixth entry in the series, was published by Canongate in 2023, and longlisted for the 2025 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. The Harry McCoy series is optioned for television.
Alan was born in Scotland and attended The University of Glasgow where he was awarded a M.A. in Moral Philosophy. He still lives and works in the city as well as spending time in London.
Praise for GUNNER
‘Great storytelling… I loved it’ – Peter James
‘Great stuff… a vivid sense of place and time and what a main character!’ – Ian Rankin
‘A lean, mean and ruthlessly readable thriller.’ – Vaseem Khan
‘A brilliant milieu, fantastic characters, an exciting story – in other words another typically great Alan Parks novel.’ – Adrian McKinty
‘A superb thriller with a gripping, constantly surprising plot.’ – Andrew Taylor
‘Transports you to the streets of war-torn Glasgow. A gritty, immersive, genuine page-turner.’ – Bridget Walsh, author of the Variety Palace Mystery Series
‘Pulls the reader in from page one. Wonderful, gutsy writing.’ – David Gilman
Praise for Alan Parks
‘One of the great Scottish crime writers’ – The Times
‘Tipped to become an enduring classic of tartan noir.’ – Sunday Post
‘Dark and gritty… Gripping.’ – Crime Monthly
‘A brilliant series’ – Sunday Times Crime Club
‘Bloody and brilliant’ – Louise Welsh (on BLOODY JANUARY)
‘Pitch-black Tartan noir: bleak, but with an emotional heart that's hard to ignore.’ – Daily Mail (on FEBRUARY’S SON)
‘Manoeuvring through the mean streets of Glasgow, the morally ambiguous, deeply flawed McCoy makes an ideal antihero.’ – Publishers Weekly (on BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER, Edgar Prize Winner 2022)
‘Altogether one of the best police thrillers of the last few years.’ – Morning Star (on THE APRIL DEAD)
Visit Alan’s website
Follow Alan on Twitter
