TWO crime writers carried off the top prizes last night as the Bloody Scotland book festival got underway in Stirling.
Alan Parks won the McIlvanney Prize for May God Forgive, while Tariq Ashkanani took the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize with Welcome to Cooper.
Ayo Onatade, chair of the McIlvanney Prize judges, described May God Forgive as “a terrific continuation of Alan Parks’ police procedural ‘month’ series”.
Onatade added: “May God Forgive is every bit as entertaining, gritty, darkly humorous and steeped in the grimy underbelly of Glasgow as the previous books.
“A fantastic book with an intriguing cast of characters that not only keeps to a tight timeframe, but is fast, hard, edgy and thought provoking.
“Nineteen seventies Glasgow has never been so thoroughly invoked – a truly gripping read.”
Before becoming a novelist, Parks worked in the music industry – his debut novel, Bloody January, was published in 2017.
Arusa Qureshi, chair of the judges for the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize, described Welcome to Cooper as “well-structured, bleak, and just the right amount of disturbing”.
Qureshi added: “Tariq Ashkanani has crafted a terrific debut that doesn’t provide an obvious hero but instead, draws out the flaws and bad choices of its central characters.
“This provides a sense of discomfort that stays with you throughout but that’s where the beauty lies.
“I found myself going back and re-reading once I’d finished to make sure I had every detail right, which I think is the mark of a really clever and riveting story.”
Ashkanani is a solicitor in Edinburgh – his second novel, Follow Me to the Edge, was published in March, and is also set in a small town in Nebraska.
Read more literature news and reviews on Scottish Field’s books pages.
Plus, don’t miss our latest book reviews in October’s luxury issue of Scottish Field magazine.
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