More Accolades for Harry McCoy Series by Alan Parks

BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER, the third title in the 1970s Glasgow-set Detective Harry McCoy series by Alan Parks, has been picked as a Times Crime Book of the Month. FEBRUARY’S SON meanwhile, just out in paperback, has been nominated for an Edgar Award in the category of Best Paperback Original.

The Edgar Awards honour the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television, and will be presented on 30 April 2020 in New York. FEBRUARY’S SON, the second in the Harry McCoy series, was published in the US by Europa Editions and in the UK by Canongate in 2019. Translation rights have been sold in six languages so far: German (Heyne), French (Editions Rivages), Italian (Bompiani), Spanish (Tusquets), Catalan (La Galera), and Swedish (Modernista). 

BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER, will be published in hardback by Canongate on 5 March and was picked as a NetGalley UK Book of the Month, as well as garnering a second Times Crime Book of the Month accolade.

‘BOBBY MARCH WILL LIVE FOREVER is even better than its predecessors,’ writes Mark Sanderson in The Times: ‘As its plot twists and turns, provoking laughter and tears, it highlights the sexism and corruption of the period. Glasgow, reeking of “hot asphalt and drains and bins gone over in the heat”, is as fascinating and dangerous as Harry’s best pal, the gangster Stevie Cooper. Alan Parks has clearly studied the masters of tartan noir (William McIlvanney, Denise Mina, Ian Rankin), but has his own voice. He shows how, among the welter of violence, a spontaneous act of kindness can have just as great an impact.’

Alan Parks is now writing the fourth Harry McCoy title. See more on the series here.


Praise for the Harry McCoy series

‘McCoy is so noir he makes most other Scottish cops seem light grey.’ — The Times

‘A riveting book, begging to be read in as few sittings as possible… The macabre and morally ambivalent FEBRUARY’S SON is not one that will be quickly or easily forgotten.’ — The National

‘A riveting journey through the grim and gritty dark side of 1970s Glasgow… A powerful slab of tartan noir.’ — Herald

‘Pitch-black tartan noir, set in Seventies Glasgow… Compelling… With an emotional heart that's hard to ignore.’ — Daily Mail

‘Excellent… Full of surprises, streaked with compassion… McCoy and Cooper… make one hell of a damaged duo. Their fascinating relationship provides the real intrigue.’ — Evening Standard

‘The no-holds-barred action and dialogue smack you in the face like a Glasgow kiss. Cracking.’ — The Sun


Alan Parks has worked in the music industry for over twenty years. His debut novel BLOODY JANUARY was shortlisted for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. He lives and works in Glasgow.

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