I’d recently read quite a bit of Tartan-Noir and was excited to read Squeaky Clean by Callum McSorley. I was also convinced to read the book as it was described as: wayward Scottish police meets Breaking Bad which made it sound fun.

It’s a great rollercoaster of a ride covering the underbelly of Glasgow. I enjoyed the dark humour and the way in which the dialogue was written in dialect. It made it feel very Glaswegian.

I really got behind DI Alison McCoist and found her an interesting protagonist. I can’t wait to read more books by Callum McSorley.

This book was okay. The characters weren’t particularly Likeable.
I liked the style of writing- the characters were mostly all Scottish, so it was written how they spoke.
I found myself not fully engaged.
If you like books about gangs, drug lords, blackmail, detectives and corrupt police, then you’ll like this book.

This would make a great tv show. Lots of gritty realism and pitch black humour. I loved it!

I know it’s a cliche but I couldn’t stop turning the pages (well, tapping the kindle but that doesn’t sound right) to find out what was in store for Davey and DI Allison McCoist.

With witty, dialogue and a fast paced story, this is surely going to be a bestseller. I can’t wait for more in the series.

WARNING: it's another unpopular opinion review!!

Right... I didn't expect this to happen to be honest. There was just something about Squeaky Clean that made me want to read it as soon as I first saw it. I love a Scottish setting in my stories, and the mix of dark comedy and Scottish crime sounded like a match made it heaven. The blurb made the story sound SO good, and I was excited to finally dive in. Unfortunately it didn't end up being the reading experience I thought it would be for me, and I ended up having to make the difficult decision to turn it into my third DNF of the year.

Before I continue I have to stress that I still love the premise of this first book of a new series. The idea of having a disgraced cop as one of the main characters is an ingenious one, as it opens up so many possibilities for both humor and interesting situations. Add the organized crime angle with Davey's POV, and there was a lot of promise overall. The Scottish setting itself makes for a great backdrop, but here is were it partially went wrong for me as well. As a philologist, I usually love the incorporation of local dialects, but there is local flavor and there is completely overdoing it. This Glasgow dialect was an absolute headache and nightmare to properly understand, and with the majority of the plot being dialogues it was sheer torture to keep reading.

This wasn't my only issue with Squeaky Clean though. I also struggled considerably with the main characters; they were all extremely unlikeable, and I honestly couldn't care less about what happened to any of them. There was also way too much swearing going on; instead of making the characters feel more authentic, they became even bigger caricatures. To make things worse, I simply couldn't see the humor at all, and there was not even a tiny chuckle to be found in the first 20%. This might have been partly due to my struggles with the strong dialect, but still... I spotted a few parts that I think were supposed to be funny, but the humor just didn't hit the mark for me. Very disappointing to be honest, especially considering I usually love my humor on the dark and sarcastic side.

I initially attempted to keep reading by skimreading all the dialogues, but since that is basically the majority of Squeaky Clean I just couldn't see the point of continuing. Especially since it was already abundantly clear that Squeaky Clean just wasn't the book for me... I seem to be in the minority though, so don't give up on my account if you think your knowledge of Glasgow dialect is up to standards and like the sound of the blurb.

Callum McSorley is a new writer on the Tartan Noir scene and with his debut novel he makes a huge splash. I absolutely loved this story of the dark underbelly of Glasgow, peopled by monstrous thugs and pitiful losers, watched over by a sometimes heroic, sometimes incompetent and sometimes corrupt police force, the whole thing leavened with a hearty helping of the darkest humour. All the major characters (damaged misfits everyone of them), and some minor ones too, are superbly drawn. Most of them provoked nothing but the deepest loathing from this reader with empathy and sympathy reserved for just one of the protagonists. The device of writing most of the dialogue in the Glaswegian dialect (or is it actually a language in its own right?) was surprising and just a little unsettling at the start but it soon became an integral part of the enjoyment of this terrific book. I honestly cannot recommend it highly enough.

Squeaky Clean by Callum McSorley is the dark comedy crime novel for everybody that has enjoyed at least one book by either Ivine Welsh or Ian Rankin (both I was obsessed by in my 20s, and now, I have another outstanding Scottish author to add to my favourites list in this genre!)

I was utterly howling throughout this book. I cannot even. I was sputtering, gasping for air, full on uggo laughing and no, I didn't care because Squeaky Clean is brilliant!

Winner of the McIlvanny Prize for Scottish Crime of the Year and rightly so. The characters are beatifully developed, the dialogue and banter is on point and the storyline a scorcher

DI Alison McCoist is really not like in her station, most think she is a mess, either corrupt or just a naff police officer. However, nobody thinks much of a carwash employee called Davey Burnet either. Until events cause them both to cross paths with the twisted psycopathy of Glasgow's premier crime boss

An absolute screamer of a novel that will leave scorch marks on your psyche and your sides split from laughing, The narrative is snarky, blunt and brutal but oh so relatable and utterly gripping, I cannot wait to read more!

Thank you to Netgalley, Pushkin Press, Pushkin Vertigo and the author Callum McSorley for this incredible ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

I have Scottish grandparents so I always jump at the chance to read some Tartan Noir. I absolutely loved this mix of the tough and gritty crime underworld with moments of pure hilarity, and the fact that a lot of the spoken elements were written in the Glaswegian dialect made it feel so much more authentic. There were some brilliant characters here, particularly Davey who is unfortunately one of those people who seem to attract bad things happening to them, but happily for me this made for a really entertaining story. A dark and brutally funny debut, I would love to see some of these characters return in a sequel.

This was great fun, real Tartan noir and with a brilliant hero a scary villain and a cop called Ally McCoist how can you go wrong?

It took a while and some help from my Scottish partner to get used to the dialect and patois but after a time you barely notice it and just enjoy a cracking good tale with excites and intrigues all the way through.

It has a bit of everything and will surely be a massive seller. I can heartily recommend it.

Squeaky Clean is the very assured ,and already very successful, Scottish Crime thriller by Callum McSorley. If you're a fan of Stuart MacBride, Chris Brookmyre and Irvine Welsh you'll love this......and not be fazed by the sweary and bloody storyline.

Detective Inspector Alison McCoist and car wash attendant Davey Burnet have something in common, they've both made bad mistakes at work. The main difference is that while McCoist's cost her ridicule and left her under suspicion by her colleagues, Davey's put him in the middle of a war between rival gangs of equally psychotic thugs.
With Alison seeking redemption and Davey desperately trying to stop his entire world falling apart this is a very funny and fast-moving story full of flawed,but very well-drawn,characters. McSorley balances some quite disturbing scenes with plenty of humour and empathy as some of the characters struggle to do the right thing against all the odds.

Some readers might struggle with the dialogue and a "Weegee-English" glossary would have been good but as with an Irvine Welsh book it's a learning curve,albeit mostly one of learning new Scottish obscenities.

Great read,great fun.

No, sorry, this wasn’t for me. Just couldn’t get into it at all, as there was no instant appeal.
Perhaps I found it too similar to one or two other authors, whose books I had read, but by the time I had read half a dozen or so, had had enough.

So..... I'm not a fan of books that are just so dramatically Scottish. And I am Scottish. But not..... like that Scottish lol. I get it, its glasgow, some people do talk like that, I just probably wouldn't associate with them though lol. It actually pains me as a Scot lol. Anywho that aside it's a well plotted out book. Its got a bit of gangster vibes and a bit of police procedural thrown in but I did really like that it was just mainly about Davey and the nuances of being human. Not everything is black and white, the good guys aren't always good and the bad guys aren't always bad. It's a bit too dark and brutal for my liking and dare I sound sexist for saying it.... probably more of a man's book who might not be quite as sensitive to the content. Jist wisny fir me lawd 👍

What’s not to love about a book that’s dark, written with foul language and you read in your head with a Scottish accent! Love it… it’s my first by this author and I’m hoping he fine tunes and writes more. Reminds me of another author haha ( JD Kirk!)

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me the chance to read this advance copy.

It worries me that a lot of my favorite crime authors are getting older, and one day perhaps not all that far off, series I have been reading for a long time will come to an end. Which is why I'm so happy to have stumbled onto Callum McSorley and DI Alison McCoist. I hope to reading about her and her dog Bruce for many years to come. The dialect of the dialog took me a minute to get used to, but I did and it was easy reading by the end.

Squeaky Clean is a compelling story, that's well told - exciting twists and turns throughout, everything you want out of a good crime novel. It hooked me early on, and I read it quickly. Looking forward to Paperboy!

Thank you NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the eARC.
Davey is a car washer who unexpectedly gets sucked into doing favors for an absolute beast of a
Glasgow mob boss. I felt so bad for him, his life has become a total nightmare.
Alison McCoist is a disgraced DI trying to claw her way back. Again, I felt sympathy and was so glad when she ended up with Bruce, her rescue puppy, practically the only light in her life.
My late husband was Scottish and I had surprisingly little trouble with the Glasgow accent, I actually enjoyed it immensely.
A terrific book, raw, brutal and at times hilarious, I loved it! Can't wait for the next one!

Set around the nefarious goings on in a Glasgow car wash this was an absolute blast, and only strengthens the Scottish reputation for producing exceedingly good crime thrillers, tinged with laconic wit, and dark, dark, humour. There’s gangsters, a maverick female detective, the wonderfully named Alison McCoist, and a gritty, pull-no-punches storyline that had me laughing and gripped in equal measure. It reads like a brilliant mash up of Irvine Welsh and Alan Parks, and if you love your Scottish crime edgy, viciously funny and completely engaging, I can’t recommend this one highly enough.

The pages turn with ease in this tartan noir crime thriller. Caught in the middle between Glasgow gangsters and the police, carwash cleaner Davey boy must do whatever it takes to stay alive. A staggeringly brilliant debut sprinkled with deadly dark humour.